"File, Find, Searching "This Mac" or "New Finder Window" not finding files ?

I an iMac 7,1, Mac OS X 10.6.8, Build 10K549,
I have noticed on many occasions recently that when I ma using either ...
File, Find, Searching "This Mac"
or
"New Finder Window"
I am NOT finding the files I am looking for ...
I now they are there, so I go through all my folders, and find the files, or folders I am looking for ...
So why could this be happening, why are they not found in the search ?
Is there a fix or addition ?

As baltwo eventually explained, you have to add the search criteria "System files" to your search, with the option "Include" selected, to find many items Spotlight otherwise excludes from search results. Alternately (& quite ridiculously), if your search is restricted to the parent folder containing the item, you don't need to add this.
For example, if you open /Library in the Finder, enter "Desktop Pictures" in the search box, you won't get it in the results with the default "This Mac" location, but if you click "Library" for the location, you will. (Yes, many users think this is bizarre, "what were they thinking?" behavior.)
What Spotlight considers "system files" is only slightly less bizarre, as you will probably discover once you start using it to broaden searches. For instance, Safari history items & Mail.app messages are not found unless you include system files, but many files like C Header Source files (in System/Library/Frameworks) are found without including system files in the search.
When it was introduced in Tiger, Spotlight was supposed to be a next-generation search engine, capable of accurately guessing what you were looking for (& filtering out what you weren't) with near-sentient intelligence. I think almost anyone who used that version will agree it did not achieve that lofty goal. Apple apparently agreed, or at least listened to the complaints enough to realize it needed rethinking. Unfortunately, what its designers came up with for the Leopard rethink feels like an early beta version, full of hastily implemented, quirky features that never got sorted out before it was released.
We can only hope that we won't have to wait for OS 10.6 for a more mature, less quirky version.

Similar Messages

In Finder how to stop "searching this Mac"?

When Finder is opened, an empty graph page opend up with the title, searching "This Mac". There are many, many pages behind it. As you delete each page, another pops up into infinity. How do I stop this searching "This Mac"?

Is Spotlight doing it?
One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...
PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive
Reboot, test again.
If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.
Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.
Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...
/private/var/run/StartupItems
/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/LaunchDaemons

How do I delete files found by Searching "This Mac"?

I am trying to get rid of the .xmp files that the PC version on ACDsee put in my files. I did a search and found 10,000 of these pest on my new iMac with
Searching "This Mac". I am able to select them all in that window, but there is not an option to delete them. I tried dragging them to the trash.
I realize these are in many folders on my computer. Is there an easy way to get rid of them all at one time? If not what would be the quickest
way to get rid of them? All help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much,
Jan

I disconnected my EHD and now it is letting me select them(dragging my mouse over about a 1000 at a time) and throw them in the trash. It must have found
some on the EHD, which I am going to wipe clean anyway after my files are moved over. I'll just check daily for new ones. Hope is is really deleting them from all those files. Over 6000 without the EHD.
Jan

I am having same problem with apple tv need 4.4 version and can not find solution this a brand new product out of box yesterday why would it not already have updated version. I am getting frustrated that I can not get this mirroring icon to work. I

I am having same problem with apple tv need 4.4 version and can not find solution this a brand new product out of box yesterday why would it not already have updated version. I am getting frustrated that I can not get this mirroring icon to work. I have tried all suggestions in this thread and nothing works. I also hooked up to laptop through iTunes with micro USB nothing!!!

The new appletv software came out 2 or 3 days ago, how would Apple get it on the device in the box in a store?
Why don't ou update the appletv software?

How to get dynamic icons like in "Searching this Mac"?

Hello,
So whenver I use spotlight to search something and click on "Show all in finder" I get the "Searching This Mac" window. The one where I can add filters and "stuff". When I resize this window, the icons rearrange themselves to allways fit the window, so that no icons are ommited. It's like they adapt dynamically to the window's size. OS is Lion.
Is there a way to get this behaviour on all finder windows? If so, how do I get them to behave that way?
Thank you in advance,
Milton Sá

I don't know of a way to make it happen automatically.
But you can make it happen with little effort. After resizing the window, press Command-Option-1
This instruction will perform a Clean Up action making the icons fill the window, using 'by name'. If you want a different arrangement function, look in the View menu, Clean Up By submenu.

After a search page renders, the NEW FF does NOT open up a choice in a new window and you lose the search page. WHY? I do not like this!

every internet browser keeps the main page that renders when you do a search. you can click on any of the options and a new window opens. the latest version of FF i downloaded today has completely removed that feature. when you click on a search choice, it opens up in the same window as the search page and you loose all your search options. that is not good..
i may have to go to Chrome now unless you can fix this

hello, this might be a preference in your google search settings. go to google.com/preferences and enable the option to ''Open search results in a new browser window''.
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/425

TS1702 I purchased PDF printer before upgrading my iPad software, but when I upgraded the software and searched in the purchased applications, I did not find it. How can I restore it?

I purchased PDF printer before upgrading my iPad software, but when I upgraded the software and searched in the purchased applications, I did not find it. How can I restore it?

Flamingo50 wrote:
I have an iPad (1) can you not upgrade the software to anything higher than 5.1.1?
Correct. The iPad 1 can only go as far as iOS 5.1.1

I know my ipod mac adres but i can not find the serial no.p.s my ipod is not with me

i know my ipods mac adres but i can not find the serial no since the ipod is not with me

this is the iMac desktop computer forum. Please re-post your question in the iPod touch forum. https://discussions.apple.com/community/ipod/ipod_touch

Why no size in "searching this mac"

why can we not change the options for what we see when "searching this mac"... i want to see the size... PLEASE fix this....
it currently seems to be just "name" "kind" and "last opened"
ugh

Glad to hear it works in Leopard. And believe me I sent feedback. I also wrote a review and put it up:
http://www.pinkmutant.com/articles/Leopard/leospot.html
I don't think I actually used the word "insane" in the feedback I sent directly to Apple, but I definitely said unkind things. Oh, and the article has been accessed 330 times since I put it up.....
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

HT4527 I attempted home sharing, but my new computer is not finding my old.

I attempted home sharing, but my new computer is not finding my old.

Use one of the other methods mentioned in that article to move your media.

I am trying to resize disk space on parallels 6 for windows XP under configure Hardrive and I get the error resizing failed unable to resize last volume the file system of this volume might be damaged or not supported? I am on a Mac using Parallels 6

I have been trying to increase my disk space for windows xp on my Imac and I am running parallels 6. before opening windows I go into configure in parallels and open the hard drive and try to move the allotted disk space from 32 gig to 64 or any other increased gig and then apply and I get the error message: resizing failed unable to resize last volume. The file system of this volume might be damaged or not supported. How do I increase the size?? I just also did a disk repair utility with Apple on the Apple side of my IMAC. Please Help!! I had uninstalled SQL server on the windows side and needed to uncompress files to install this and then I ran short on disk space.

This sounds to me that your Parallels XP file system is corrupted and not the OSX file system.
Have you checked the XP file system while running the Parallels XP yet ?
However, it would be better to ask such question in the Parallels Forum http://forum.parallels.com/
Stefan

HT6337 Allow handoff between this mac and your iCloud devices not showing up in general preferences

Is anyone not seeing this? the Allow handoff between this mac and your iCloud devices not showing up in general preferences
Imac 2011 21" mid 2011

nevermind, Just figured out that my iMac does not support it. Thanks Apple, once again coming up with stupid functionality that only works when you pay more money. 3yr old machine, I guess I need to send it to scrap heap.

Load balancing 10g forms - Connection from new browser window not supported

Load balancing 10g forms - Connection from new browser window not supported
We're experimenting with using webcache to load balance between multiple applications servers running OC4J forms processes.
We currently have one machine with infrastructure and mid-tier (BI & Forms) installed, which is being used for the webcache functionality, this is load balancing between 2 other servers each of which just have the mid-tier (BI & Forms) installation
In order to get this to work, I had to follow the instructions in the Forms deployment guide : http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/B14099_11/web.1012/b14032/tuning.htm#sthref707
The main gist of this is that you need to set the following in the orion-web.xml file in order that the sessions are maintained:
<session-tracking
cookies="enabled">
</session-tracking>
This all works fine in most cases.
The problem I am having is if I do one of the following on the client machine:
1) From IE6 / IE7 run a copy of a forms application. Then open a new window using the "New Window" menu option, and attempt to run another forms application.
2) In IE7 or Firefox 2.0 open a copy of the forms application, and then open a new tab and try and open another forms application.
If I try either of these I get a FRM-92101 error, and the following is displayed in the java console:
oracle.forms.net.ConnectionException: Connection from new browser window not supported
From trawling various forums (including metalink and otn) it looks like a problem with the way coockies are handled.
Unfortunately the usual workaround is to ensure that the session tracking option in the orion-web.xml file is disabled.
The problem is that I need this enabled in order for the load balancing to work.
Does anyone know of any other workarounds or patches that might help resolve this?
We're using Application server 10.1.2.0.2 running on windows 2003 servers.

You were right. Carriage returns were stopping it from working (the document is laid out over separate lines, so I assumed it would make no difference...).
I've now managed to get it so the forms at least run, but they are all being run in the forms OC4J instance on the same machine as the OHS.
Has anyone actually managed to get this to work, or am I doing something wrong?
I did wonder if using an OHS instance on a machine with no forms installation would make any difference?
I had raised a support call via metalink on this subject, but they eventually came to the conclusion that the only way to do this is with a hardware load balancer (Despite several documents suggesting that webcache is the way to go (including the forms deployment manual)).
I'm at the point now of giving up and writing some custom scripts to do the job instead...

I am using Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard version in Windows 8.1 and when I try to create a .pdf file, I receive the following error message "Acrobat could not open "file name.log" because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been dama

I am using Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard version in Windows 8.1 and when I try to create a .pdf file, I receive the following error message "Acrobat could not open "file name.log" because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged. To create a PDF document, go to the source application then print the document to .pdf" I am going to the source application and printing the document to .pdf yet it's saving the file as a .log file. After reinstalling the software, I initially didn't encounter this problem but on my second and third attempts to convert files to .pdf format, this error message reappeared. How do I resolve this problem?

I have a similar problem which i did not have before...and it exists only in some powerpoint files which i want to print as a pdf file...and i get the same message as above.
the log says the bellow details...what's the problem and how can i resolve it? thanks.
%%[ ProductName: Distiller ]%%
%%[Page: 1]%%
%%[Page: 2]%%
Cambria not found, using Courier.
%%[ Error: invalidfont; OffendingCommand: show ]%%
Stack:
%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%

How come in Finder, when I search "This Mac", there's fewer results than when searching somewhere more specific? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

I have my preferences set so that New Finder windows show Macintosh HD. So when I open a Finder window, five folders are shown: Applications, Library, System, User Information, and User. As an example of the subject of my question, I opened a Finder window and typed "hp" in the search field. Four results were displayed: HP ePrint.app, two other apps that open the printing queues of HP printers, and an HTML document of bookmarks with two bookmarks containing "hp" in their names. My goal of the search* was to find a folder named "hp", of which there are two that I know of on my computer. Their locations are: 'Macintosh HD/Library/Printers' and 'Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support'—neither folder was found when searched for in "This Mac" nor when searched for in "Macintosh HD". When I searched for "hp" in the Library folder, 36 results were displayed, including the two folders named "hp". Above those 36 items, it clearly indicated that my search was conducted in the Library folder, and that I was able to click "This Mac" to search my whole computer instead. Clicking "This Mac" resulted in the same four items that were found when I searched for "hp" immediately after opening the Finder window to be displayed again. In my mind, clicking "This Mac" should at least keep the 36 items found in my Library folder to remain displayed. My reason for thinking this is because the Library folder is contained in "This Mac", isn't it? The same logic applies to Macintosh HD also; why doesn't searching there return at least the same 36 results? This phenomenon of the contained location returning more search results than the location which contains it frustrates me. When I search for something, I have to guess if it's in Library or System (if it's in one of the other folders, I'm always certain of which to search). I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, it just doesn't make sense to me why I can't find things by searching in "This Mac" or Macintosh HD. Until I got this MacBook (15" Pro Retina mid 2012, 2.6/16/256) , I was a lifelong Windows user. I love my MacBook, but this search idiosyncrasy is the only thing about it that seems inferior to its Windows counterpart. Searching for something in Windows is easier to me because locations behave hierarchically. I still like my MBP way better than any other computer that I've ever owned before, I just wish Apple would change this one attribute. If anyone knows how to make the Finder search behave completely hierarchically (when the containing location returns at least the same search results as the location it contains), please let me know. Thank you.
*The "hp" folder search that I conducted was done only as an example of the issue that I discussed here. I knew where the folders were, thus, it was easier for me to explain the problem that was posed in my question.

Start with http://www.pinkmutant.com/articles/Leopard/leospot.html and http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/stopspotlightindex.html, then my mod to Finder's Find at http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080229204517495 for what you can change so you can find stuff excluded by the default structure.

"File, Find, Searching "This Mac" or "New Finder Window" not finding files ?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for