Getting Spotlight to Search System Files by Default !??!

9 out of every 10 times I need to use spotlight, it's to find a system file. Usually something involving latex. I know that I can modify a finder search by choosing "other" + "System Files" + "include". But i'd rather just be able to turn that on by default. Is there a command line entry that I will force to spotlight to always search system files?
Message was edited by: jerryross2

see this macosx hint.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080229204517495&query=finder%2Bse arch

Similar Messages

  • A way to search System Files and by File Name as default?

    Hello.
    Is there a way I can make the default search both include searching by File Name and searching System Files?
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    Thanks.

    If you bring up the Finder window search using Command-Shift-F you will get the default of a file name search (unfortunately it has no criteria whatsoever, so if you want to modify the search with an added criterion you have to click the wee little + icon).
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    Francine
    Francine
    Schwieder

  • Search doesn't seem to be searching system files

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    Hello,
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    Hi everyone,
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    Thank you for your reply.  Sorry, I have been there, done all that and much, much MORE.  I have read everything Mac thread around and tried all the workarounds to force spotlight to reindex the drive.  I still don't know that is even the problem.
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  • Getting rid of redundant system files

    My new MacBookPro appears to have lots of redundant files (compared to my iMac G5), which stem from the fact that OS X was pre-installed. I would like to understand some of these files and want to get rid of them. Hence I ran OmniDiskSweeper.
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  • Servers get Disconnected while searching for files

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    Mitch

  • How do I get Spotlight to search a shared Time Capsule drive?

    I purchased a 2TB Time Capsule that I am storing all of my photos, videos, etc. on, but I've found that Spotlight does not index and search that drive. I have searched everywhere for a solution, but can't find one.  Does anyone have a solution to this?  It is not physically attached to my MacBook Air - I am accessing it wirelessly.
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    Welcome to Darwin!
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    Francine
    Francine
    Schwieder

  • Spotlight content search : excludes files with .php5 extension

    My Spotlight does not find strings in files with .php5 extension. It probably does not consider these as text files.
    How can I change that ?

    I guess I found the right page :
    http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Carbon/Conceptual/understandingutis/understand_utis_intro/chapter_1_section_1.html#//appleref/doc/uid/TP40001319-CH201-SW1

  • Search by File Extension

    Is there some way to get Spotlight to search by file extension? Say I wanted to find all Adobe Illustrator files on my computer. The only way I have found to sort of effectively find adobe illustrator files on my computer is to do this:
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    Powerbook G4 1Ghz   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

    Probably because you used the default seach goodies which, for reasons best known to the programmers involved, explicitly and invisibly exclude vcards and some mail type file.
    Try this:
    1. Open your hard drive and hit command-f
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    Francine
    Schwieder

  • Getting Spotlight to look inside Word files

    Hi,
    I'm trying to get Spotlight to search the contents of Word files on one of my machines running Tiger (10.4.11). It works fine on one machine (fresh install of Tiger), but the one I want it to work on doesn't return any Word files on the same search. I've looked in system.log for error messages, but don't see any.
    How do I get Spotlight to search inside Word files on a machine running Tiger that was upgraded from Panther to Tiger?
    Also, is there any way to customize Spotlight to tell it to search just Word files in a given directory tree?
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    Ed

    Hi BDAqua,
    I looked into my problem more closely, comparing a typical search for a string that's only inside a specific Word file on two different G4s, both running the same version of Tiger and Spotlight. One machine was fine, returning the one and only file that had the string in the contents of the Word file. The same search on the problem machine returned other files in the search results, but not the one expected.
    Turning to the issue of permissions, I note for others who may read this, that a full, clean install of Tiger on a new disc will, by default, result in each $USER belonging to a group with the name $USER. Whereas an upgrade install of Tiger on a machine that, prior to the upgrade, was running either Jaguar or Panther, will result in each $USER belonging to a group called "staff". This was the default setup on earlier versions of Darwin that has since changed under Tiger.
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    I then ran across Main Menu which allowed me to force a re-indexing of Spotlight. That did it! My test search then worked fine on the problem machine.
    Thanks again for your help and getting me to think thru the problem.
    Ed

  • Search by file size in Spotlight

    I want to find all of the "Large" files on my drive to do some house cleaning. Is there a way in Spotlight to search for files larger than a certain size? I do not seem to be able to delete files from the spotlight window. I search for a file name and find I have duplicates of the file and would like to delete the some of the duplicates but can not delete them.
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    The important thing, if you want to be able to move files to the Trash from the results, is to do a Find (Cmd-F) in Finder.
    Just set the criteria to Size-GreaterThan-
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  • Solution for spotlight not finding all files and plea to apple...

    ok, here is the deal:
    you are looking for a file named "new_template.lso" which is a logic song template, that you created with logic studio.
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    looking for it via the spotlight menu shows nothing.
    looking for it with the finders search reveals ... nothing. *** ?
    here is the wonderful solution:
    -open a new finder search: cmd-f.
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    -now go to the first dropdown menu and choose the newly added "system files" entry.
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    this solution isn't even possible in the spotlight menu!!!
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    i am 32 years old.
    i use my computer to make a living.
    i used macs since 10 years.
    i promise i will not sue apple if i find and delete files by mistake.
    seriously this dumbing down the system starts to get unbearable.
    does anyone know of a workaround?
    are there any hidden preferences for spotlight, which i could change so it shows "system files" by default???

    I completely agree. Everyone who has a problem with this (and I see it is a hot topic in these forums) should send apple a a note and tell them that we don't all stick to iLife and some of us go into the LIBRARY. Leopard is great, but Tiger let me efficiently find stuff in the library and I was always confident I'd find all I needed.
    Send your comments here to apple feedback. http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html/

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