i went to rename a file extention in my downloads folder in my home directory and all of a sudden the finder keeps quitting and launching repetedly. What did is this?
No, that is not a kernel panic. A panic is a failure at the lowest level of the system that almost always completely locks the machine. This is what a kernel panic dialog looks like:
I'm not sure what could be the source of the problem. The latest "cure-all fix" is to delete the system caches (cue Defiant). You might should also boot from the Install CD and run Disk Utility to be sure there isn't any damage to the filesystem.
Once the installer screen has loaded, choose Disk Utility from (I think) the Installer menu. Then, select your drive, click the First Aid tab, and run both the Repair Disk Permissions and then Repair Disk functions.
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I'm not sure what could be the source of the problem. The latest "cure-all fix" is to delete the system caches (cue Defiant). You might should also boot from the Install CD and run Disk Utility to be sure there isn't any damage to the filesystem.
It's white, has a big blue X on it, are reads "Mac OS X Version 10.2" (assuming it's 10.2).
Once the installer screen has loaded, choose Disk Utility from (I think) the Installer menu. Then, select your drive, click the First Aid tab, and run both the Repair Disk Permissions and then Repair Disk functions.
Best of luck!