Finder: Doesn't search external drive

[pullman]

Hi

I have a USB connected NTFS drive which seems properly mounted in Leopard. I can look around in it, copy files etc. But in Finder I can't search. Perhaps I'm missing something about how the Search box works? What happens is the following:

I select the drive in question in the sidebar under "Devices" and then I type in my search phrase (in this case ".mp3" as I want to know how many such files there are).

Finder then displays hits from "This Mac" (which is clear from the little bar above the column headings (where I can also selected "Contents" or "File Name")) and not the drive I wanted to search. Why is this?

And if I click the drive name in that bar, it says "Searching (drive name)" at the bottom of the Finder window for several seconds and then nothing, zip, nada comes up even though I know there are loads of mp3s on the drive.

I'm very confused here, please help!
/p

 

[ewilson6]

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
Click Spotlight.
Click the Privacy tab.
Drag a folder or even an entire volume (your hard drive) to the list.
Remove the item or volume you just added.
Spotlight will re-index the contents of the item you initially dragged to the list.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Hi

I have a USB connected NTFS drive which seems properly mounted in Leopard. I can look around in it, copy files etc. But in Finder I can't search. Perhaps I'm missing something about how the Search box works? What happens is the following:

I select the drive in question in the sidebar under "Devices" and then I type in my search phrase (in this case ".mp3" as I want to know how many such files there are).

Finder then displays hits from "This Mac" (which is clear from the little bar above the column headings (where I can also selected "Contents" or "File Name")) and not the drive I wanted to search. Why is this?

And if I click the drive name in that bar, it says "Searching (drive name)" at the bottom of the Finder window for several seconds and then nothing, zip, nada comes up even though I know there are loads of mp3s on the drive.

I'm very confused here, please help!
/p

The problem is that it's an NTFS drive. Mac OS X doesn't know how to write to NTFS drives, which prevents Spotlight from indexing them, and thus searching them.

 

[pullman]

Super, thanks for explaining. I read somewhere that EasyFind will do the trick.

 

[mrhs]

Finder Search Function Solution

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
Click Spotlight.
Click the Privacy tab.
Drag a folder or even an entire volume (your hard drive) to the list.
Remove the item or volume you just added.
Spotlight will re-index the contents of the item you initially dragged to the list.

I tried this solution and it worked, both for Spotlight and Finder. I have an external drive where I store the majority of my projects and resources. Until recently, Finder could find everything and I used the function frequently. Then, when I updated Mac 10.5 to the latest, it no longer worked. I added and then deleted the drive from Spotlight's privacy setting (as directed above by "ewilson6") and voila! It's back to it's wonderful (sort of) old self...
Thanks for the tip!

 

[GBPolivka]

I did this and the entire drive went "poof"

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
Click Spotlight.
Click the Privacy tab.
Drag a folder or even an entire volume (your hard drive) to the list.
Remove the item or volume you just added.
Spotlight will re-index the contents of the item you initially dragged to the list.

I dragged the external drive from Finder into Spotlight's Privacy list, and it disappeared as though it was being moved to trash, and now it won't even come up on finder. I can't undo, and I can't access the drive at all, even after powering down, disconnecting and reconnecting the drive. Please help!

 

[GBPolivka]

I did this and the entire drive went "poof"

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
Click Spotlight.
Click the Privacy tab.
Drag a folder or even an entire volume (your hard drive) to the list.
Remove the item or volume you just added.
Spotlight will re-index the contents of the item you initially dragged to the list.

I dragged the external drive from Finder into Spotlight's Privacy list, and it disappeared as though it was being moved to trash, and now it won't even come up on finder. I can't undo, and I can't access the drive at all, even after powering down, disconnecting and reconnecting the drive. Please help!

 

[SamNeeds]

Download and install an app called MainMenu. Use that to rebuild the spotlight index.

 

[KeepItFunky]

I dragged the external drive from Finder into Spotlight's Privacy list, and it disappeared as though it was being moved to trash, and now it won't even come up on finder. I can't undo, and I can't access the drive at all, even after powering down, disconnecting and reconnecting the drive. Please help!

I think one will find that SamNeeds' suggestion is not necessary. Simply, re-drag the external drives back to the sidebar, and they will reappear.

 

[claidheamdanns]

I think one will find that SamNeeds' suggestion is not necessary. Simply, re-drag the external drives back to the sidebar, and they will reappear.

How will he drag the drive back into that window if it has disappeared?

 

[Rogercruise]

Excelent!