Troubleshooting 101
- The first step in troubleshooting a problem is to narrow the solution space. In other words eliminating places where the problem might originate. I had hoped the logs might provide some clues, but I don't see anything in the log you submitted.
- A standard next step would be to boot from another account on your computer, launch all the disappearing apps and see if the problem persists. This is a lot harder to do accurately when there are multiple apps involved, so you might proceed directly to the next troubleshooting step.
- Eliminate the suspects
- One by one deactivate or even uninstall the apps involved: drag thing, steer mouse, application wizard, and dropbox. Since Drag Thing interacts with the Dock it would seem to be a logical prime suspect and I would start there.
- With the prime suspect deactivated or uninstalled, see if the the others disappear from the Dock. With an intermittent problem you want to run long enough to guarantee the problem would appear if present.
- If the problem is still appearing, remove the prime suspect from the list of suspects and reactivate/reinstall it.
- Choose another prime suspect, go back to step 3.a., and repeat the process.
- If that doesn't solve the problem then we will have to look even deeper.
NOTE: Some apps can leave unexpected and potentially problematic
helper apps behind and running even when the parent has not been started or is deactivated. The Activity Monitor task list may help identify and deactivate these unexpected helpers.
SIDEBAR: Apple's insistence that apps sold through the App Store must be
sandboxed has caused some developers no small amount of blood sweat and tears to implement which unsurprisingly has resulted in some complaints. But
sandboxing makes one app interfering with the operation of another app if not impossible then at least highly unlikely. None of the four apps listed are available through the App Store and I would venture that none of them are
sandboxed.
