Not to be a smartass, but have you tried deleting the application preferences file and then relaunching Quark?

No worries. not to be a dumbass but i can't find it .i have attached a screen shot. i do have quark 6.5, 7.0 and 7.1

From the Quark forums:

When you launch QuarkXPress, some conflicting components may prevent the application from loading properly. The XPress Preferences file, fonts, XTensions, printer descriptions or other supporting files may be damaged or incompatible.

Solution: Rebuild a new set of Preferences in the local QuarkXPress folder. To do so:

For Mac OS 10.3.x - 10.5.x:
1. If the application crashes, Force Quit out of QuarkXPress.

2. On the Finder level, go to the Hard Drive > Applications > QuarkXPress folder.

3. Inside the QuarkXPress folder, create a new folder by going to File > New Folder

4. Label the new folder Preferences (use an upper case P - It is important that “Preferences” be spelled correctly).

5. Launch QuarkXPress from the QuarkXPress folder.

Also check here:

http://forums.quark.com/t/20831.aspx

excellent! I should have gone to that forum myself. Thank you very much for finding that info for me