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I recently downloaded an app/utility from Softronic called Emoticons. After I downloaded it, it stated it was incompatible with my mail version. I couldn't find one that was compatible from Emoticons, so I deleted it. I used AppCleaner 2 and went into my Library and deleted what I could find. I used search in Finder and could find no other bits of Emoticon. However, I keep getting this message when I boot up:

Incompatible Plug-ins Disabled

Mail has disabled the following plug-ins:

Emoticons

Contact the makers of these plug-ins for versions that are compatible with Mail 6.5 and Message 6.5.

(I have since learned about Special Characters and don't need Emoticons).

Any help would be appreciated. Layman's terms please.

Thanks.

Rita

It looks like you didn't just download that Emoticons plugin, but you also installed it. Since Mail still complains about it, your attempt to remove it didn't quite succeed.

To find out what's going on, start by quitting Mail if it's running. Next you want to check the folder 'Bundles' in the affected account's Library/Mail folder to see if there's still an Emoticons holdout around. Note that there may be both a 'Bundles' and a 'Bundles(Disabled)' folder; check them both.
A quick way to get to that Mail folder is to select the 'Go To Folder...' menu item from the Finder's 'Go' pulldown menu, paste the path ~/Library/Mail/ in the 'Go To Folder...' text entry box, and hit Go. Depending on your Mac's visibility settings, you may have to hit the Apple-Shift-G keys to make the Library folder visible.

If you find Emoticons related files (like .mailbundle), drag them to the desktop. Next, test if that Mail warning still occurs by logging out/logging in again, or restarting your Mac. If things are OK, move the plugin file(s) to the Trash and empty that.

If this procedure turns up no results or won't work, please report back.

Alternaut:

I did what you said and ended up with just a folder that said "V2". I opened it but didn't see any mail bundles, just this: Ooops, I send you all my email addresses. Oh well. Not worried about you but I deleted them in my edit.

IMAP @mail.com@imap.mail.com
IMAP-@mail.com@imap.mail.com
IMAP-@yahoo.com@imap.mail.yahoo.com
IMAP-@mail.com@imap.mail.com
Mailboxes
Bulk Mail.mbox
Deleted Messages (plantsower).mbox
Deleted Messages (@mail.com).mbox
Deleted Messages (Yahoo!).mbox
Deleted Messages.mbox
B16B0EC4-68AA-4641-B8CF-7002A958BFA7
Info.plist
Drafts (plantsower).mbox
Drafts ( ).mbox
Drafts (Yahoo!).mbox
Outbox.mbox
Sent Messages (plantsower).mbox
Sent Messages (Yahoo!).mbox
MailData
Accounts.plist
AvailableFeeds
AvailableFeeds-shm
AvailableFeeds-wal
BackupTOC.plist
DefaultCounts
Envelope Index
Envelope Index-shm
Envelope Index-wal
FlagMailboxes.plist
LSMMap2
MessageRules.plist
MessageRules.plist.backup
OpenedAttachmentsV2.plist
RulesActiveState.plist
Signatures
AccountsMap.plist
AllSignatures.plist
SignaturesByAccount.plist
SmartMailboxesLocalProperties.plist
SyncedFilesInfo.plist
SyncedRules.plist
SyncedSmartMailboxes.plist
UnsyncedRules.plist
VIPSenders.plist

Hmmm, that's odd. Your Mac stated that it disabled a Mail plugin, yet the 'holding pen' for such plugins is absent or appears to be. I wonder if the Bundles folders somehow were rendered invisible, and if adding their name to the 'Go To Folder' path I gave before would yield different results.

Next, check your Library's 'StartupItems' folder for Emoticons related files and move them to the desktop. This is the Library at the top level of your startup hard disk, not the one in your Home folder. And while you're there, you might as well check the Mail folder in this Library. Then reboot and see what happens.

....and if adding their name to the 'Go To Folder' path I gave before would yield different results. How would I do this?

Also, I don't quite understand what you mean by Library at the top level of your startup hard disk

I went to the Finder and clicked on the hard drive and this is what I saw:

VLC.app
vlc-2.0.3.dmg
Users
User Information
System
Library
XPCServices
WidgetResources
Video
UserEventPlugins
User Template
TextEncodings
Tcl
SystemProfiler
SystemConfiguration
SyncServices
StartupItems
StagedFrameworks
Spotlight
Spelling
Speech
Sounds
SocialServices
Services
Security
ScriptingDefinitions
ScriptingAdditions
ScreenReader
Screen Savers
Sandbox
QuickTimeJava
QuickTime
QuickLook
PrivateFrameworks
Printers
PreferencePanes
Perl
PerformanceMetrics
Password Server Filters
OpenSSL
OpenDirectory
MonitorPanels
Metadata
Messages
LoginPlugins
LocationBundles
LinguisticData
LaunchDaemons
LaunchAgents
Keychains
Keyboard Layouts
KerberosPlugins
Java
InternetAccounts
Input Methods
Image Capture
Graphics
Frameworks
Fonts
Filters
Filesystems
Extensions
DTDs
Displays
DirectoryServices
CoreServices
Compositions
Components
ColorSync
Colors
ColorPickers
Caches
BridgeSupport
Automator
Assistant
Address Book Plug-Ins
Accounts
Accessibility
Perian 1.2.3
opt
Library
Widgets
WebServer
Video
User Pictures
Updates
SystemProfiler
StartupItems
Spotlight
Spelling
Speech
Security
Scripts
ScriptingAdditions
Screen Savers
Sandbox
Ruby
Receipts
QuickTime
QuickLook
Python
PrivilegedHelperTools
Printers
Preferences
PreferencePanes
Perl
PDF Services
OpenDirectory
Modem Scripts
Messages
Mail
Logs
LaunchDaemons
LaunchAgents
Keychains
Keyboard Layouts
Java
iTunes
Internet Plug-Ins
Input Methods
Image Capture
Graphics
Frameworks
Fonts
Filesystems
Extensions
Documentation
DirectoryServices
Dictionaries
Desktop Pictures
Contextual Menu Items
Compositions
Components
ColorSync
ColorPickers
CFMSupport
Caches
Bundles
Audio
Application Support
Documents
Backups.backupdb
Applications

> Also, I don't quite understand what you mean by Library at the top level of your startup hard disk

Happy holidays, Rita.

It should be the sixth item down on your list. (That's an odd assortment of files you've listed there, so I'm not 100% certain about what I'm looking at.)

Edit: I should have mentioned that "the top level of your startup disk" is what you see when you click on HD, but all I see (in 10.6.8) are Applications, Library, System, and Users, hence my confusion.

I think Rita must be using List View, with the disclosure triangles for System, System/Library, and Library expanded, and the Name column, reverse order chosen as the means of sorting. When I view my hard drive's contents that way, Select All, then copy and paste, this is what I get:

Users
User Information
System
Library
XPCServices
WidgetResources
Video
UserEventPlugins
User Template
TextEncodings
Tcl
SystemProfiler
SystemConfiguration
SyncServices
StartupItems
StagedFrameworks
Spotlight
Spelling
Speech
Sounds
SocialServices
Services
Security
ScriptingDefinitions
ScriptingAdditions
ScreenReader
Screen Savers
Sandbox
QuickTimeJava
QuickTime
QuickLook
PrivateFrameworks
Printers
PreferencePanes
Perl
PerformanceMetrics
Password Server Filters
OpenSSL
OpenDirectory
MonitorPanels
Metadata
Messages
LoginPlugins
LocationBundles
LinguisticData
LaunchDaemons
LaunchAgents
Keychains
Keyboard Layouts
KerberosPlugins
Java
InternetAccounts
Internet Plug-Ins
Input Methods
Image Capture
Graphics
Frameworks
Fonts
Filters
Filesystems
Extensions
DTDs
Displays
DirectoryServices
CoreServices
Compositions
Components
ColorSync
Colors
ColorPickers
Caches
BridgeSupport
Automator
Assistant
Address Book Plug-Ins
Accounts
Accessibility
Library
Widgets
WebServer
Video
User Pictures
Updates
SystemProfiler
StartupItems
Spotlight
Spelling
Speech
Security
Scripts
ScriptingAdditions
Screen Savers
Sandbox
Ruby
Receipts
QuickTime
QuickLook
Python
PrivilegedHelperTools
Printers
Preferences
PreferencePanes
Perl
PDF Services
OpenDirectory
Modem Scripts
Messages
Logs
LaunchDaemons
LaunchAgents
Keychains
Keyboard Layouts
Java
iTunes
Internet Plug-Ins
Input Methods
Image Capture
Graphics
Frameworks
Fonts
Filesystems
Extensions
DropboxHelperTools
Documentation
DirectoryServices
Dictionaries
Desktop Pictures
Contextual Menu Items
Compositions
Components
ColorSync
ColorPickers
Caches
Bundles
Audio
Application Support
Applications

Note that I don't have VLC.app, vlc-2.0.3.dmg, Perian 1.2.3, opt, Documents, or Backups.backupdb in my list, but otherwise it's identical to hers.

I don't know what to make of Documents or Backups.backupdb appearing at the top level of the startup volume...

List view...good thinking. (I've pretty much forgotten it exists. )

Rita obviously uses her top level in a non-standard manner, so I suppose she may have created her own Docs folder there, but I, too, am at a loss about Backups.backupdb, which I thought would be an invisible but isn't (Edit: in my 10.6.8, anyhow).

Hi Artie: Thank you and happy holidays to you, too.

I don't mess with my finder window much, so I don't knwo how the list got in the order it is. But, I can't find any mail bundles or emoticon info. It's hiding somewhere, though.

Rita

I FOUND IT!!! I don't know why this made a difference, but I went into Finder - HD -View - Arrange by - Name. (I changed how it was arranged because of what everyone said about it.) Then I clicked on Mail which showed a mail bundle and then it showed the Emoticon info. I deleted it. Let's hope that works. I will restart my computer later to check!

Thank you.

Rita



and then

I tried to d/l Emoticons to see what I could see, but the available version doesn't support 10.6.8, and I don't see any older versions.

Have you looked in the Emoticons d/l package to see if it included an uninstaller of uninstall instructions?

Hmmm... I see that Softonic is pushing the dreaded MacKeeper, so I suppose anything's possible.

We crossed...now fingers crossed.

I didn't look to see if there was an uninstaller. But, I decided I didn't want Emoticons anyway because I found "special characters" under Edit. Though no one seems to see them when I send an email. They just get question marks. I wonder if that's because they hadn't checked HTML in their email. Oh well.

Oh, so MacKeeper isn't good? I was thinking about that to clean up my Mac.

Rita

MacKeeper?

Aaargh!!! (No skull & crossbones emoticon. )

Edit: For future reference, you ought to make a mental note to pay attention to the presence or lack of an uninstaller whenever you install a new app...could save yourself some trouble.

Normally, I do look for an uninstaller. This just did some weird stuff. It wasn't like a normal download. Anyway, about MacKeeper, I can take a hint!! Thanks.

Rita

So in the end, Emoticons actually benefitted you.

Yep! Everything always works out for me one way or the other..Thanks for the laugh.

Rita

OK then. No more Mail/Emoticon error messages!!!! Thanks everybody.

I'm not sure, from reading to the end of the thread, whether you've gone past Artie's link.


You absolutely do not want MacKeeper on your drive and certainly do not want to use it for any kind of maintenance.

It is a problem.

On the net you will read plenty of "personal" reviews exhorting MacKeeper but it is generally understood that the people who write them are paid to do so.

Yes, I got Artie's message. Is there a better alternative, free maybe?

I have to resort to the dreaded 'That depends', and perhaps add insult to injury by responding with some questions instead of unambiguous answers.

First, exactly what do you mean when you're talking about 'cleaning my Mac'? Are there specific items you're worried about, or do you prefer to have a utility run its entire repertoire without being bothered with the what or why? The reason I'm asking is that quite a few of the maintenance routines listed by MacKeeper aren't particularly useful or even necessary, and just waste your time. Others might do more harm than help if used injudiciously.

If you just don't know, we could go over MacKeeper's components and list what might be useful for the 'standard' user, and list alternatives. Or you could check out the views expressed in the following articles on the topic, and perhaps follow up with specific questions:

- Six ways to clean up your Mac
- Five tips for cleaning and speeding up your Mac
- How to Speed Up, Clean Up, and Revive Your Mac

I will follow up on the links. Thanks. I guess I just want to get rid of duplicates and unnecessary stuff that somehow got on my computer when I downloaded something. I like to keep things tidy but just don't know enough about it to delete things myself. I might get rid of something I need. (I am leery of MacKeeper now so will look at something else.) I wanted it to be free anyway. Thanks for your response.

Rita


quote=alternaut]
I have to resort to the dreaded 'That depends', and perhaps add insult to injury by responding with some questions instead of unambiguous answers.

First, exactly what do you mean when you're talking about 'cleaning my Mac'? Are there specific items you're worried about, or do you prefer to have a utility run its entire repertoire without being bothered with the what or why? The reason I'm asking is that quite a few of the maintenance routines listed by MacKeeper aren't particularly useful or even necessary, and just waste your time. Others might do more harm than help if used injudiciously.

If you just don't know, we could go over MacKeeper's components and list what might be useful for the 'standard' user, and list alternatives. Or you could check out the views expressed in the following articles on the topic, and perhaps follow up with specific questions:

- Six ways to clean up your Mac
- Five tips for cleaning and speeding up your Mac
- How to Speed Up, Clean Up, and Revive Your Mac [/quote]

Starting with the first article

• Delete iChat Logs. Do you actually use iChat? Ichat is obsolete and has been replaced by Messages. However look in your home folder ~/Library/Messages (or iChat) and you can find the messages there.
• eliminate application backups maybe not a good idea. Most applications that keep backups do so because they contain sensitive data such as your financial records and they are doing their best to protect it. Look in the application preferences and they will generally show if there are backups and where they are located.
• delete mail downloads In Mail ? Preferences > General you will find the option to remove unedited downloads
• delete log files let your computer run 24x7 and the log files will automatically be rotated and deleted as they age or download the freeware app OnyX and use it.
• get rid if iTunes dupes Apple Knowledge Base Article T2905
• reset Safari Safari > Reset Safari

OK. Thanks, Joemike.

On to the second article…

• Back it up If you aren't using Time Machine, IMHO you should be and your Time Machine drive should be two to three times the size of the drive you are backing up. This has little or nothing to do with improving performance, it is simply good sense.
• check login items I will combine this with the next step
• identify and eradicate offenders Download and run the freeware application EtreCheck It scans your system and identifies potential problems. If you can't interpret the results post them here and someone will be happy to help. There is another app that is very useful to me when I am in a housekeeping mood CleanApp. It isn't free but it is on sale for $5. It will cleanly delete all traces of applications, identify unused files and applications and a number of other housekeeping tasks. Personally I would not fool with getting rid of language localizations as the article suggested. Too much work and too little gain.
• clean up your hard drive That is mostly what we have been talking about so far.
• add RAM Assuming you are running Mavericks as long as the "Memory Pressure" bar in Activity Monitor is green you are golden. Mavericks memory management is very different from previous versions of OS X and most of what we knew is no longer valid. Just watch the Memory Pressure and if it is yellow start pricing additional RAM. If it turns red it is definitely time to buy.

The third article is largely a rehash of the first two and as far as I can tell adds little or nothing to the discussion, so I won't go into it in detail.

Here are my etrecheck results. All Greek to me:
Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2
1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores
4 GB RAM

Video Information:
Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:
OS X 10.8.4 (12E55) - Uptime: 0 days 5:34:12

Disk Information:
APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)
disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 499.25 GB (461.47 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N

USB Information:
Western Digital My Passport 0748 1 TB
disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
Reformatted 1 TB WD My Passport External Drive (disk1s2) /Volumes/Reformatted 1 TB WD My Passport External Drive: 999.83 GB (999.16 GB free)

Logitech, Inc. Logitech Speaker Lapdesk N550

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link
[loaded] com.freemacsoft.appcleanerd.plist 3rd-Party support link
[loaded] com.machangout.glims.loader.plist 3rd-Party support link
[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist 3rd-Party support link

Launch Agents:
[loaded] com.machangout.glims.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link
[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist 3rd-Party support link

User Launch Agents:

User Login Items:
Garmin Express Service
Safari
Mail
Calendar
AppCleaner Helper
Messages
EtreFeed

Internet Plug-ins:
GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.0.3.0 Release - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.8.0 - SDK 10.7 Outdated! Update

Audio Plug-ins:
AirPlay: Version: 1.7 - SDK 10.8
iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.1 - SDK 10.8

3rd Party Preference Panes:
RCDefaultApp
Flash Player 3rd-Party support link
Logitech Control Center 3rd-Party support link
Perian 3rd-Party support link

Bad Fonts:
None

Old Applications:
None

Time Machine:
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 35.19 GB
Reformatted 1 TB WD My Passport External Drive: Disk size: 931.16 GB Disk used: 634 MB
Destinations:
Time Machine [Local]
Total size: 310.49 GB
Total number of backups: 0
Oldest backup: 2012-08-08 20:07:53 +0000
Last backup: 2013-10-07 00:55:43 +0000
Size of backup disk: Adequate
Backup size 310.49 GB > (Disk used 35.81 GB X 3)
Mountain Lion [Local] (Last used)
Total size: 464.96 GB
Total number of backups: 1
Oldest backup: 2013-10-20 21:42:35 +0000
Last backup: 2013-10-20 21:42:35 +0000
Size of backup disk: Adequate
Backup size 464.96 GB > (Disk used 35.81 GB X 3)
Time Machine details may not be accurate.
All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU:
2% WindowServer
2% EtreCheck
1% WebProcess
0% Safari
0% mds

Top Processes by Memory:
188 MB Safari
131 MB WebProcess
102 MB EtreFeed
98 MB Mail
70 MB WindowServer

Virtual Memory Information:
1.35 GB Free RAM
1.40 GB Active RAM
191 MB Inactive RAM
1.07 GB Wired RAM
280 MB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs

I don't see any red flags in the EtreCheck report but there is one yellow flag which is an out of date JavaAppletPlugin. There are those who contend that Java Applets are evil — I am not of that persuasion myself — but you would not be ill served by downloading and installing the latest Java version directly from Oracle. (Apple no longer supports or updates Java directly.)

OK. Thank you for all your help!