search function

[mattsajay]

i have a new mbp running osx10.4.9. earlier i used to have an ibookg4 running os10.4.

i had transferred a set of papers (scientific papers) from a folder from the older machine to the newer one. earlier in the finder winfdow if i searched for the name of the paper, the search result provided the right paper. however, now on the new machine, i cant seem to do that. either in spotlight or in the finder search function.

any ideas?

i had transferred the .pdf files onto an external hard disk and then transferred them onto the new machine.

 

[mad jew]

Interesting. You could try reindexing Spotlight by adding your drive to the Privacy pane of Spotlight's System Preferences pane, and then removing it. This'll take a while to complete.

 

[mattsajay]

Interesting. You could try reindexing Spotlight by adding your drive to the Privacy pane of Spotlight's System Preferences pane, and then removing it. This'll take a while to complete.

ok ... will try today and les see what happens... thanks a bunch for the suggestion.

 

[mad jew]

How'd it go mate?

 

[mattsajay]

didnt work so far unfortunately... still trying... !!!

boy, sure it does take a while!

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, the indexing does take a while, but it should be finished by now. Any changes?

 

[mattsajay]

hey mad,

could you pease post a step by step how to on indexing spotlight or anything that would help find the files even in finders search function?

thanks a billion.

 

[mad jew]

Sure.

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Go to the Spotlight section.
3. Click on the Privacy tab.
4. Click the Plus down the bottom.
5. Add your entire hard drive.
6. Close System Preferences.
7. Repeat these steps but remove your hard drive from the list this time using the minus button.

It'll take a little while and your computer will probably be a bit sluggish in the meantime. I hope this helps.

 

[mattsajay]

thank you mad!!!

it works friend!!!... for some reason putting the entire hard drive did not do the trick. putting and removing only the folder that contained my papers did it!!!!

thanks a bunch!!!

 

[mad jew]

Fantastic! It's strange that a complete reindex didn't help but I'm glad reindexing the single folder worked.