Searching for Files on a Mac

[HighTime]

So I just got an iMac the other day after having moved over from a PC. On the PC I was using a piece of software called Everything, a lightweight 463 kb app which was lovely at giving quick and detailed search results. I have a 2 TB external hard disk full of documents, is there a good search app for the Mac that I can use?

I saw Path Finder and downloaded it but it seems so complicated, bit difficult to learn, maybe if there were an easy enough tutorial which shows you how to search quickly on it, I'd go for it.

Spotlight doesn't seem to find stuff on the external hard disk quick enough, or am I supposed to index the drives or something?

I tried Easyfind, it seemed nice and light and you can search straight off but it just felt way too slow.

What do you guys recommend?

 

[Weaselboy]

I like iFileX, but it is fairly similar to Easyfind so might not be exactly what you are after. It is free though, so won't cost you anything to try.

 

[HighTime]

I like iFileX, but it is fairly similar to Easyfind so might not be exactly what you are after. It is free though, so won't cost you anything to try.

Am I missing something with Spotlight and Easyfind? I mean am I supposed to get them to index my external hard drive or something so that they will bring up results faster?

 

[Weaselboy]

Am I missing something with Spotlight and Easyfind? I mean am I supposed to get them to index my external hard drive or something so that they will bring up results faster?

Apps like iFileX do not use the Spotlight index and that is why they are slower than a Spotlight search.

Spotlight will index locally attached (like USB) drives that are formatted to the Mac OS Extended format.

 

[HighTime]

Apps like iFileX do not use the Spotlight index and that is why they are slower than a Spotlight search.

Spotlight will index locally attached (like USB) drives that are formatted to the Mac OS Extended format.

This is new to me, so the external hard drive I'm using is the one I've brought over from my PC, is that why it's not being included in search results? How do I find out if the drive is formatted to the Mac OS Extended format? I mean, obviously it won't be will it, since it came over as it is from the PC. Does that mean I'll have to backup these 2 TB on another hard drive that is in Mac OS Ext format?

 

[Ulenspiegel]

Have a look at Find Any File, it is quite fast: http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/

 

[HighTime]

I've just realised Spotlight is not searching my external hard drive at all, it gives no results from it.

 

[Weaselboy]

This is new to me, so the external hard drive I'm using is the one I've brought over from my PC, is that why it's not being included in search results? How do I find out if the drive is formatted to the Mac OS Extended format? I mean, obviously it won't be will it, since it came over as it is from the PC. Does that mean I'll have to backup these 2 TB on another hard drive that is in Mac OS Ext format?

Yes, it you brought it over from your PC it won't be in the OS X Mac OS Extended format. If you want to be able to search with Spotlight you will need to move the data off then format in Disk Utility to Mac OS Extended, then move the data back.

If you attach the drive and look at the drive in Disk Utility it will show down at the bottom what format it is in.

 

[HighTime]

Yes, it you brought it over from your PC it won't be in the OS X Mac OS Extended format. If you want to be able to search with Spotlight you will need to move the data off then format in Disk Utility to Mac OS Extended, then move the data back.

If you attach the drive and look at the drive in Disk Utility it will show down at the bottom what format it is in.

Aha, ok, thank you for that, I just checked and it's in Windows NT File System. I'll have to go and get another external hard drive just so that I can copy this stuff over.

 

[HighTime]

Have a look at Find Any File, it is quite fast: http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/

Thank you for that.