Spotlight driving me nuts!!!

[adjei7]

OK So this is my issue.

I wanna search for a certain file, so I type the name, or a few words of the name in spotlight. It automatically searches for all instances of what I typed not just in the name of all documents but in the content too. I didn't ask for this. It annoys me greatly. Is there a way to only search the name of a file from spotlight as default?

My next issue: once the file is found, i wanna open up the containing folder. Right click doesn't allow this so i click show all which opens it up in finder. It then take ages and often beach balls on me. The file I wanted pops up at the top, but it will continue to search through the contents of the whole damn computer and beach balling all the way through. Is there not a way to stop it searching if it has found what you want?

another issue: From a finder window, the search bar gives you no options on first search. so when you search for a word, again, by default it searches for that instance of the word in the contents of documents. Not only that, it searches the whole computer by default, even if you open up the finder window in the folder you want, further getting on my nerves. I feel embarrassed to say this but the truth is, windows is better than this!

How can I stop from killing myself out of frustration over this issue? I know there is a program that allows you to enter things in spotlight and waits till you finish typing before it searches, but I don't know/remember what it is called. Any other solutions.

Yours Frustratingly.

 

[teohyc]

When you open Finder window, you can choose to search using the filename only.

 

[adjei7]

When you open Finder window, you can choose to search using the filename only.

How? All I see is the search box on the right. no options by default. Once I have already searched for something, the options come up. But I have to do a search first. I wanna select the options before I do the search, or better yet, select my own default search criteria.

 

[HengenJL]

when your on the desktop press command+F and that will open a new search window. on the right hand side there is an option for File Name. even while running a search if you select the File Name option, Spotlight will modify its search results for just the filename you are looking for.

 

[adjei7]

when your on the desktop press command+F and that will open a new search window. on the right hand side there is an option for File Name. even while running a search if you select the File Name option, Spotlight will modify its search results for just the filename you are looking for.

You're a star my friend. Thank you. That has made my life much less stressful.

 

[benpatient]

This is not working for me.

a series of screenshots are attached.

notice the highlighted file. This file is in a folder, and I want to be able to type in the last 4-5 digits of the file name (a upc number) and have my results show up.

In 10.4, this worked without any issue. Crap, it worked in windows 95.

in 10.5, it ceases to work, completely. If i remove the first number from the file name, it returns zero results. This is from a 12-digit number. That is not SMART it is STUPID. Spotlight is indexing the files, as you can tell if you look at my search results...it's there, but being ignored because spotlight thinks "filename" isn't important.

The only way to get the file name to show up is to type it in completely, from the beginning. Of course, most of our UPCs start with the same first 6 digits, sometimes the same first 8, so typing out those numbers is pointless and silly if i'm using a "search."

If I want to go into the "other" options with the "+" symbol and add the "filename" "contains" option to the searching parameters, then I can type in just the last 4 digits and it works. The problem is that checking the "always show" box for this option only affects the "main" Spotlight search, not any search initiated through the finder...you have to go in every time and re-select your options for everything to get it to search filenames. The reason you (I) need to be able to search from a finder window should be obvious: I want to limit my search to a single folder, so i open that folder, full of files that are in this case 600 pixels and PSD formatted, and that's the only folder I want to search for this string. There are 6 different versions of every image in this folder sitting in other folders just like this one...full-res CMYK images, JPG thumbnails, and everything inbetween. They are all named starting with the UPC number, so a full system Spotlight search returns them all as results...so I have to look at each one to see which is the version I want.

The old windows explorer search was awful and terrible and every other bad adjective, but it at least would show me a file that i searched for if it was available. This has me wanting to re-install Tiger AGAIN.

Somebody tell me there's a simple solution, please!

 

[heatmiser]

Somebody tell me there's a simple solution, please!

Upgrade to Tiger or wait it out in Leopard. Apple decided to fix something that didn't need fixing, and until they acknowledge they made a mistake, we're all going to have to suffer with a broken Spotlight.

 

[benpatient]

I just wish they would have spent the money, time, and resources it took to put together those TV ads where the mac makes fun of the PC for "upgrading" to XP from Vista to bring in a real human being who does work on their machines to ask their opinion on things like this before they shipped it out to the world as a paid upgrade.

It would be funny if it weren't so sad, and it weren't wasting me so much time.

I'll be staying late at work tonight because of this one thing. And I guarantee that until it's fixed, I'll be spending 2 hours a week more time doing something than I was spending doing the same exact thing in 10.4. Oh well, at least my menu bar is translucent so I can see my desktop background!

 

[richard.mac]

Upgrade to Tiger or wait it out in Leopard. Apple decided to fix something that didn't need fixing, and until they acknowledge they made a mistake, we're all going to have to suffer with a broken Spotlight.

what? wheres the info to back this up? im pretty sure Apple wont change the Spotlight behaviour in Leopard. if they were happy with it in the GM build (i.e. retail version) they will be happy with it now.

unless a lot of users do a feature rquest like they did with the translucent menu bar and menu stacks with folder icons.

 

[heatmiser]

what? wheres the info to back this up? im pretty sure Apple wont change the Spotlight behaviour in Leopard. if they were happy with it in the GM build (i.e. retail version) they will be happy with it now.

unless a lot of users do a feature rquest like they did with the translucent menu bar and menu stacks with folder icons.

No evidence; just a hunch. They might not change it, but I'm pretty sure they're going to at least add the option to make the search more comprehensive in future .5.x releases. They've already changed the menu bar, Stacks, and (internally, at least) Spaces between 10.5.0 and 10.5.2.

 

[richard.mac]

No evidence; just a hunch. They might not change it, but I'm pretty sure they're going to at least add the option to make the search more comprehensive in future .5.x releases. They've already changed the menu bar, Stacks, and (internally, at least) Spaces between 10.5.0 and 10.5.2.

yeah i want my system file search back… at least let me spotlight my home library folder

maybe we should feature request? 2 requests closer to the feature change.