Reindex / Re-enable Spotlight

sleepyyellow · Sep 21, 2008

hey,

i didnt like spotlight at all, so i searched how to disable it, but then i didnt know that the search was working with spotlight haha. i actually i only wanted the icon away from the menu bar but i googled a guide that made me delete the com.apple files from spotlight. also my appcleaner that i bought doesnt work anymore cuz i think it worked with spotlight to locate applications in installed.
i read a post that had the title re-indexing spotlight with external drives but i didnt quiet get the command.

does anybody know how to help me? i been googling for a while now but no solution works, or i either dont really understand.

those are the files i deleted
/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.Spotlight.plist
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist

Neil321 · Sep 21, 2008

To reindex spotlight,open spotlight from system preferences > privacy tag > click the + button > add the volume you want reindexing > wait for a minute or two > select the volume in the privacy area > click the - to remove it

sleepyyellow · Sep 21, 2008

ya tried that, it said unknown error.

thanks for the fast reply

richard.mac · Sep 21, 2008

try these Unix command/s

Code:

To only turn off indexing on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -i off /Volume/drivename/ 

To Turn off indexing and remove indices on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -E -i off /Volumes/drivename/ 

To only turn on indexing on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/drivename/ 

To turn on indexing and rebuild indices on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -E -i on /Volumes/drivename/ 

[B]To only force rebuilding of indices on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/drivenam[/B]e

gusious · Sep 21, 2008

I may be wrong but maybe you have to install the whole OSX. Isn't spotlight a huge and crucial part of OSX?

sleepyyellow · Sep 21, 2008

/Volume/drivename/
stupid question, whats the difference between the volume and drivename?

richard.mac · Sep 21, 2008

leave "Volumes" as it is. "drivename" means the name of your hard drive. so for your main hard drive it would be "Volumes/Macintosh HD" or just simply "/" and for an external drive it would be 'Volumes/nameofexternaldrive".

gusious · Sep 21, 2008

richthomas said:
leave "Volumes" as it is. "drivename" means the name of your hard drive. so for your main hard drive it would be "Volumes/Macintosh HD" or just simply "/" and for an external drive it would be 'Volumes/nameofexternaldrive".

Even if it is Macintosh HD, the HD part shouldn't be linked somehow with the Macintosh part? With a " _ " or something like that?

richard.mac · Sep 21, 2008

^ oh yeah! sorry it would be "/Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/".

i always forgot to type those backslashes as i usually just hit tab before a space i.e. type "/Volumes/M" then press tab.

gusious · Sep 21, 2008

Thanks a lot ^!!!!!

I was looking for this for a very long time cause i didn't know how to go to directories or files with a gap on their name!!!!!!

Next lesson:how to open apps through Terminal....

richard.mac · Sep 21, 2008

Code:

cd /Applications; open nameofapplication.app

^ colon allows to run two commands in one line.

easy really… next lesson?

gusious · Sep 21, 2008

richthomas said:
Code:

cd Applications; run nameofapplication.app

next lesson?

Hahahhaha!! Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!! Do i need to add the extension too?

richard.mac · Sep 21, 2008

yep extensions are needed everywhere in Unix. Mac OS X just hides them by default.

gusious · Sep 21, 2008

No need to answer! Found it! With the extension!

We only learned basic unix commands... Not things like this...

richard.mac · Sep 21, 2008

ive just learnt by using Google. ive only been using Macs/Unix for 1 and 1/2 years.

gusious · Sep 21, 2008

richthomas said:
ive just learnt by using Google. ive only been using Macs/Unix for 1 and 1/2 years.

Nice thought.... How i did think about that?

sleepyyellow · Sep 21, 2008

richthomas said:

try these Unix command/s

Code:

To only turn off indexing on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -i off /Volume/drivename/ 

To Turn off indexing and remove indices on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -E -i off /Volumes/drivename/ 

To only turn on indexing on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/drivename/ 

To turn on indexing and rebuild indices on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -E -i on /Volumes/drivename/ 

[B]To only force rebuilding of indices on a volume: 
sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/drivenam[/B]e

nope those sadly didnt work either.

sleepyyellow · Sep 21, 2008

this is the error that shows up.

pit29 · Sep 21, 2008

gusious said:
I may be wrong but maybe you have to install the whole OSX. Isn't spotlight a huge and crucial part of OSX?

That's my guess too...

sleepyyellow · Sep 21, 2008

ya does somebody know how i can backup my applications and files so i dont have to reinstall everything? does time machine do that?

richard.mac · Sep 22, 2008

^ yes. use Migration Assistant in the setup to migrate your Time Machine backup. you may have to install larger applications again like Office and Creative Suite.

chas0001 · Sep 22, 2008

Have you tried to download and install the latest combo update of OS X? It may replace the spotlight files that are missing or corrupt.

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1055comboupdate.html

sleepyyellow · Sep 22, 2008

well last night i just reinstalled it, and i made a time machine backup and it worked out fine all my documents and programs are back to normal.
and spotlight is working also...

thanks guys for all the help.

gusious · Sep 22, 2008

sleepyyellow said:
well last night i just reinstalled it, and i made a time machine backup and it worked out fine all my documents and programs are back to normal.
and spotlight is working also...

thanks guys for all the help.

Next time be careful and not mess around with OSX stuff. Even if you don't want them, leave them as they are. Or you can ask here first to get some opinions and then do whats you gotta do!

sleepyyellow · Sep 23, 2008

ya i will.

now i finally found the command on how to get rid of spotlight ONLY ON THE MENUBAR.

if anybody wants it...

Code:

Disable Spotlight from the menu bar If you want to get rid of Spotlight from the menu bar, simply open terminal and run: 

sudo chmod 0 /System/Library/CoreServices/Spotlight.app

To re-enable it you just have to run: 

sudo chmod 755 /System/Library/CoreServices/Spotlight.app

Reindex / Re-enable Spotlight

macrumors regular

macrumors 68040

macrumors regular

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors regular

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors regular

macrumors regular

Attachments

macrumors 6502a

macrumors regular

macrumors 603

macrumors 6502a

macrumors regular

macrumors 65816

macrumors regular

Our Staff