OS-9 appearance problem

[John McGibney]

I have a problem with OS-9 the Appearance of Finder windows is messed up.
The finder window frame and highlight colors are washed out. finder window
frames appear as black and white instead of shades of gray. Most "highlight
colors" (text fields) appear as very pale shades of gray. The "variation"
colors appear as normal. Most websites appear with the pale colors (eBay),
some render normally. Photos appear in their normal colors. It seems to
affect only the Finder rendering and those apps that rely on it for color
info.

I've replaced the Finder and System files. Also Finder and System
preferences. I've reinstalled the Platinum Appearance file. I can't find an
appearance preference file though. I've upgraded to 9.2.2 from 9.2.1. None
of these fixes worked. I zapped the PRAM, rebuilt the desktop, I ran disk
first aid, techtool pro, norton, diskwarrior - all with no cure & no
problems reported.

If I open the Appearance file while in classic using the same system folder
everything works as it should. Everything in OS-X (jag) works as it should
as do all "Classic" applications.

I'm guessing its a bad preference file for the Appearance Control panel. But
there is none to be found.

Any clues? All help would be appreciated. I don't want to do a clean install
if it can be helped.

Happy Holidays
John