Spotlight is CONSTANTLY indexing my hard drive

Mavericks Server 10.9.5.
Whenever I use Spotlight, I virtually always get "Indexing <my hard drive name>", and "Estimating indexing time".
If I put in a search term, it often works, but still with the "Estimating indexing time" barber pole at the bottom of the results window.
I have tried all the known solutions with no effect. The problem has persisted through multiple OS updates.
Possible clue: I notice a LOT (like about 5 every second) of lines like this in the System Log:
7:49:533 AM mdworker: (Warning) Import: Bad path:
(other than the timestamp, they are all exactly like this).

Safari Web Content can build up over time. You could try doing Safari>Reset Safari. I check every item in the list except "Saved names and Passwords" which would otherwise be a pain to re-enter for everything.
Note also that unlike SL, Lion does not quit the app when you click on the x, so maybe you have very many lingering in memory. This should not make a difference as normally the memory manager copes with it, but just maybe a third party app is not letting go as it should.

Similar Messages

Spotlight is not indexing my hard drive? Mail won't search for anything.

Ok, So I tried the command prompt: "sudo mdutil -E /" and it just tells me that indexing is disabled. I've tried everything I can think of. Any ideas? I can't find a way for spotlight to re-index my hard drive. Also, when I search for anything in mail, nothing will come up. And I have it set to search for everything. Any ideas with that? Help with either problem would be appreciated! thanks.

Might give a try with Spotless...
http://www.fixamac.net/software/spot/

Why can't spotlight index my hard drive?

Since Spotlight can't index my hard drive, time machine won't make any backups. The old time machine backups still work and I can see and restore old files, but I cannot create any new backups.
The problems seem to have started when I upgraded to iPhoto 11 (which would not load until the latest iPhoto update).
The drive is attempting to index for literally weeks at a time and the system becomes unresponsive.
How do I fix this? I have already brought it into the store where they fromated the drive but the problem came back.

Since Spotlight can't index my hard drive, time machine won't make any backups. The old time machine backups still work and I can see and restore old files, but I cannot create any new backups.
The problems seem to have started when I upgraded to iPhoto 11 (which would not load until the latest iPhoto update).
The drive is attempting to index for literally weeks at a time and the system becomes unresponsive.
How do I fix this? I have already brought it into the store where they fromated the drive but the problem came back.

Spotlight on my iMac running snow leopard will not stop indexing the hard drive. How can I stop this?

Spotlight on my iMac (OSX 10.6.8) has suddenly begun indexing the hard drive non-stop, causing very sluggish operation and spinning beach balls. Reinstalling the operating system has not helped, nor has repairing permissions or the disk.

One of the first things that happens when installing a new version of OS X is that the Spotlight search app is setup to index all available hard drives.
The indexing makes it faster and easier for the Spotlight Search app to find things on and off your Mac.
You can either let it take the time it needs to do this (Spotlight will only do this one time, initially) OR if you just can't or want to wait for this to complete, you need to go into OS X System Prefences panel in the OS X Dock, locate the Spotlight icon.
Click the Spitlight icon and another set of menus appear.
Find the menu item dealing the Spotlight indexing and uncheck its checkbox to disable Spotlight indexing.

Spotlight not indexing after hard drive replaced

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone knows how to encourage Spotlight to re-index? Just had my hard drive replaced as part of the recall, and now Spotlight wont index anything.
I've tried previous suggestions (adding and removing hard drive to privacy list, commands through terminal etc), but it's still not working. All the software is up to date (10.7.5).
Any ideas? It's incredibly annoying, and making working on this computer virtually impossible at the moment.
Cheers

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Step 1
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Enter "mdworker" (without the quotes) in the Filter text field. Post the most recent 50 or so messages that appear in the Console window — the text, please, not a screenshot.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into a message.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.
Step 2
Do the same with the search string "mds".

Indexing External Hard Drives Help

Hello,
I’m sure this question has been asked in some for or another previously, however, a quick search didn’t turn up the results I was looking for.
Here’s my question. In previous versions of OSX I could index certain drives, folders, etc. So how do I index external drives now? I have to search thousands of files on external drives that I need to search by file content or code strings contained within the files.
I have tried to add the search filter of “Contents”, but that really does nothing. (at least on my machine – no results) I seems as though this is because the drives are not indexed.
So, can Spotlight index external drives, or am I stuck with something like Google Desktop? If it can’t be done, I can’t imagine why Apple would have gotten rid of a seemingly common function like searching document contents on other than root hard drives.
Thanks.

Might give a try with Spotless...
http://www.fixamac.net/software/spot/
To see if it can fix it.
But, I use EasyFind...
http://www.devon-technologies.com/download/
Near the bottom of the page.

Spotlight won't search external hard drive

I have recently upgraded to Yosemite but when I use Spotlight to search for a file spotlight does not search or include any files on my external hard drive. I have had one community member suggest to explicitly check the Spotlight index via command line. I tried to follow his instructions but my limited skills produced a zero. Unfortunately, he hasn't replied back for further instruction.
Can anyone else please shed some light on this annoying problem?

Hi chalkybones,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
I understand that you would like Spotlight to locate files on your external hard drive but it is unsuccessfully locating them. In this situation I would recommend first re-indexing the folders or volumes in Spotlight if you have not yet done some. Please use the attached article as a reference on how to complete the process.
Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes - Apple Support
Cheers,
Joe

MacBook Pro 15 constantly grinding/whirring hard drive...

Hi,
A couple of days ago whilst browsing the internet, my hard drive started making a rhythmic grinding/whirring noise. It's not loud - it actually just sounds like the hard drive being accessed, but it's doing it ALL the time now, even when the computer is completely idle.
The sound is a soft grinding whirr, approximately once per second. It does stop sometimes and also varies in length/frequency, but I can't get rid of it permanenly (taking the battery out while on AC power seems to stop it temporarily though).
It's certainly NOT normal/acceptable hard drive noise, and it's never happened before. Any ideas what it might be or how to fix it?
Thanks a lot,
Rob.

Thanks for the reply - my processor is a 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
It sounded at first as if the hard drive was being constantly accessed, but now it sounds more like it's just completely worn out and is making a soft, rhythmic grinding noise as it spins. It does it even when Activity Monitor shows no disk activity at all.
Do Apple just put cheap and nasty hard drives in their MacBok Pros or something? My computer is only four months old, and has never been dropped, bumped, etc. It should NOT be making a noise like this.
Thanks,
Rob.

Invalid index key - hard drive/ OS problems

After a power surge, I was unable to boot up (using 10.5.1). However, running repairing disk permissions solved this. I still have lots of issues with the hard drive itself though - mainly with files being reported as lost, incorrect reports of the hard drive being full, lag, crashes, etc. Tried Disk Utility and Fsck, neither have been able to repair the hard drive - both report an invalid index key or problems with the catalog file.
Is Disk Warrior the only solution, or would a format and clean install possibly solve the problem? At the moment I can still access my hard drive, and a back-up then clean install is a much easier (and less costly) solution for me.
Thank you!

"Invalid index key" is a much more serious error than you're likely to actually have, since you can mount the hard disk and access files on it. If the Catalog's index key is invalid, the whole filesystem is basically trashed. It's far more likely that other components were damaged by the power surge.
In my experience, the most common components to fail this way are the logic board and/or the RAM, which means a potentially expensive trip to your local Mac repair shop.
Sometimes a computer that was damaged by a power surge behaves better if it's placed behind a line conditioner, but your mileage may vary. Most good surge protectors are also line conditioners.
-:sigma.SB

Finder started indexing my hard drive again

Today I booted up my mac pro and heard my hd was busy when idle, turns out finder is indexing the hd again, which has been in there for over a year. Why is it doing that? It takes 2 hours and slows up my computer.

Maybe the index or database is corrupt and you should just delete those mds files.

Hard drive constantly being searched

Ever since I updated to Mavericks my Hard Disk constantly searches. I have tried turning off Spot Light Indexing and Time Machine. I have even reformatted the HD and reinstalled the OS and then re-installed all my files and apps. By the way I could not find a good posting on how to easily do that, took me 2 days and hours on the phone with Mac support. When I look at the Activity Monitor it shows the Kernel is constantly accessing the Hard Drive. Is there anyway to go back to Mountain Lion?

Here is the EtreCheck dump:
EtreCheck version: 1.9.13 (49)
Report generated August 11, 2014 at 6:40:17 AM PDT
Hardware Information: ?
Mac mini (Late 2012) (Verified)
Mac mini - model: Macmini6,2
1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores
8 GB RAM
Video Information: ?
Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: (null)
DELL 2408WFP 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
System Software: ?
OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 0:35:1
Disk Information: ?
APPLE SSD SM128E disk0 : (121.33 GB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
disk0s2 (disk0s2) <not mounted>: 120.99 GB
Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 134.2 MB
APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk1 : (1 TB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
disk1s2 (disk1s2) <not mounted>: 860.52 GB
Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
BOOTCAMP (disk1s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP: 138.83 GB (85.42 GB free)
USB Information: ?
Western Digital My Book 1234 2 TB
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
EFI (disk5s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
My Book for Mac (disk5s2) /Volumes/My Book for Mac: 2 TB (1.12 TB free)
VIA Labs, Inc.    USB3.0 Hub
VIA Labs, Inc.    USB3.0 Hub
HLDS Inc SuperMulti RW
Apple, Inc. IR Receiver
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Generic Flash Card Reader
Logitech USB Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ?
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ?
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ?
[loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.9.1 - SDK 10.8) Support
[loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.0 - SDK 10.6) Support
[loaded] com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.9) Support
User Launch Agents: ?
[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support
[running] com.amazon.music.plist Support
User Login Items: ?
Boom
iTunesHelper
Internet Plug-ins: ?
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support
Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
Audio Plug-ins: ?
BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9
AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9
iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
iTunes Plug-ins: ?
Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9
3rd Party Preference Panes: ?
Flash Player Support
Logitech Control Center Support
Time Machine: ?
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Destinations:
My Book for Mac [Local] (Last used)
Total size: 2
Total number of backups: 59
Oldest backup: 2014-02-12 15:44:15 +0000
Last backup: 2014-08-11 13:36:13 +0000
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 2 > (Disk size 0 B X 3)
Time Machine details may not be accurate.
All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU: ?
      3% WindowServer
      2% coreaudiod
      1% fontd
      1% Boom
      0% Mail
Top Processes by Memory: ?
98 MB Mail
74 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
57 MB Finder
49 MB WindowServer
49 MB Safari
Virtual Memory Information: ?
2.38 GB Free RAM
1.04 GB Active RAM
3.78 GB Inactive RAM
807 MB Wired RAM
227 MB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs

Spotlight looses index for external drives

Hello
why is that I have to re index my external drives all the time. it seems to me spotlight can not keep the index, when ever i try search in my external hard-drive spotlight finds nothing even so i can see files with the search name right in front of me. I have to go to preference than add the hard drive at the no search column and delete out if it then spotlight starts the indexing again which takes 2+hours and slows things down. it is good for a while and bam it is gone again and have to do all the steps over again any idea

Mark Barron wrote:
The Spotlight search of my external hard drive gets buggy after a while and just stops seeing items on the drive. It is a terabyte drive that takes FOREVER to reindex and bogs down my MPB 2.5 in the process. Even with a Firewire 800 connection. I'd LOVE to be able to attach this to another mac and run the reindex. Guess that would only work if the index file was actually on the external drive, and not on the boot drive. The genius/apple care guys at Mac gave some vague/dodging answer like.. we don't support external hard drives.
LOL! that's a good one.
Does anybody have a real suggestion?
the spotlight index IS stored on the drive itself so if you want to reindex it using a different computer, go for it. just make sure to use the same OS computer. DO NOT reindex it using a tiger computer.

Looking for a new Hard Drive for my MacBook

I have less than 1 GB left on my Hard Drive and I'm looking for a bigger drive. I'm looking for a 250 GB as that will match my desktop. I know they were some talk about issues with the Western Digital Drives.
Any suggestions? Also, I was thinking of going for one that was 7200 RPM. Is that going to be a lot louder and kill my battery a lot quicker? Thanks!

I've got a 200GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 drive in my MacBook right now. About the only issue is that the bearings are a bit louder than the Apple OEM Seagate Momentus 5300.3 drive that was installed at the factory. Right now iStat Pro says that the hard drive temp is 72°F, which is about the same as my factory drive. Most specs say that you might expect maybe a half watt more power draw, which is unimportant if it's plugged in most of the time, and fairly small if you're on battery power.
Initially I thought my MacBook was going to destroy itself, with the fan hitting maximum and CPU cycles being used up. Turns out it was just Spotlight indexing the hard drive, and the same would have been true for any new drive installation. I didn't think it would be an issue with a cloned drive, but it was.

External hard drives always spinning....is this normal?

I have a few external hard drives for my Mac Pro, a couple Weibetech 1TB drives, and a Drobo device that I just got to work as a backup. I just switched to this Mac Pro from a Macbook, and I am noticing my external drives are always spinning, and sometimes get pretty warm. Is this normal? The drobo's fan has been on all day, and I am not using it for anything. Is this normal?
Also, if the drives are not spun up, I notice that when I do certain things, my computer spins all my drives up, and wheel spins, even if what I am doing has nothing to do with that drive. I would think that the computer would wait until you tried to access the drive to spin it up.

I've seen the useless spinup of external drives accompanied by the spinning beachball too.
It usually happens when Finder or Spotlight are started/accessed/used. (for example, I press cmd+space to open spotlight, then I have to wait for my external drives to complete spinup before I can do anything... it just sits there, showing me a spinning beachball...)
I worked around this by telling Spotlight not to index my external drives, but now I can't use Spotlight for searching files on these drives...
Let's hope this is handled better in SL...
As to why they're sometimes on all day and sometimes not, no idea. Try the free application "What's Keeping Me?" to see if there is any process still attached to a file on that drive. Perhaps some process is keeping OSX from putting these drives to sleep...

Can spotlight search for files in external drives?

I was wondering If I can index my hard drives so that when I do a search in spotlight, they show up along with the files in my primary drive.
Is this possible?

Yes, but due to connection reliability of external drives, and the constant background noise that is required to keep the index up to date on them, I turn it off for external drives. I use File Buddy or Easy Find to find files on external drives.

Spotlight is CONSTANTLY indexing my hard drive

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