I was given a couple Mac Mini's:
Apple Macintosh, Mac Mini's ( PowerMac10,1 ) and ( Macmini3,1 )
The PowerMac10,1 was "cleaned up" so good, that the System Preferences Application was deleted. I was able to get it back by Downloading the Common Updater for OS X, 10.5.8, and then Extracting the System Preferences application, manually. It will indicate in the Finder, that it is Starting, then it Disappears.
I assume this is a Settings Issue, but I have looked for corrupted Pane files, and don't see anything.
I have tried Scanning the Disk for Permission Issues and the Two or Three other problems associated with starting the System Preferences Application.
Can I create a New Admin User from the Command Line, and Try that Account??
I don't have original Install Media for OS X 10.5.8, but have older versions. Do I need to do a Fresh Install, and then Upgrade???
MarkO