Using spotlight to find previous system

When using spotlight, why can it not find "previous system" folder? I am trying to find it so i can delete it. I found it via finder easily enough, but im curious why spotlight could not locate it. I typed the name of the folder exactly like it is.

The only way to change where Spotlight searches permanently, is to modify its _rules.plist. See my posts in http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5195994 for the details. FWIW, mine looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>EXCLUDE</key>
<array/>
<key>INCLUDE</key>
<array>
<string>/System</string>
<string>/Library</string>
<string>/etc</string>
<string>/private</string>
<string>/usr</string>
<string>/bin</string>
<string>/sbin</string>
</array>
<key>NOTE</key>
<string>Specify paths to include or exclude, preceeding rules which target user-homes with ~/</string>
</dict>
</plist>

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