Leopard Spotlight and system files

Breezer

Ok guys, I'm stumped. In Tiger, I used to use Spotlight extensively when I wanted to search my system folders like /Library (in fact this was pretty much all I used Spotlight for, since Quicksilver would take down my whole system if I tried indexing the entire hard drive).

In Leopard 10.5.3, I don't seem to be able to do that, unless I actually navigate to the /Library folder in the Finder and then use the search field, which sort of defeats the purpose of Spotlight I think.

Now, I've Googled this, and found a solution: bring up a Spotlight window rather than the menu, hit the +, select 'Other' for kind and then I'm supposed to get a sheet where I can select 'System Files.' The trouble is, I don't get a sheet, I get a text field. I've tried typing 'system' and 'system files' into this, but no luck, it finds nothing.

Was this changed in 10.5.3 (I never used Leopard prior to this) and does anyone have a solution, or am I missing something? Driving me mad because I love Spotlight in Leopard otherwise.

turly

Hmm, I did this just now - I'm on 10.5.3 on intel. I followed your instructions:

Bring up the Spotlight window by pressing Control-Command-Space, then click '+' to add a query term, then click on the menu on the left that normally says 'Kind', choose 'Other...', which at least for me brings up a sheet with a hundred or so attributes ("Album", "Alpha Channel", "Altitude"... "UUID"). Choosing "System files" from that seems to do the trick.

You say you get a text field when you choose 'Other' from that menu? Weird.

--turly
http://www.finderpop.com - freebie Mac utility

Breezer

*Slaps forehead very hard*

I'm a twat! I was leaving that menu as 'Kind' and then selecting 'Other' from the menu beside it!

Thanks!

turly

Oh yeah, I see what you mean! Bit confusing ... still, it all wurx now

--turly
http://www.finderpop.com - freebie Mac utility

Sad Professor

Apple made this (stupid) change in Leopard. It's really annoying. I wish there was some way to enable system file searching without telling it every time.

SP

Breezer

Sad Professor wrote: »

Apple made this (stupid) change in Leopard. It's really annoying. I wish there was some way to enable system file searching without telling it every time.

SP

It does clean up the menu a little bit but it'd be nice to have the option alright. I did use that a lot in Tiger. I doubt it'll be changed; I know they changed Stacks and the menu bar but there was uproar over those (rightly so in the case of Stacks anyway IMO, I experienced the horror of 10.5.0 Stacks for a few hours last night). I haven't heard any outcry over Spotlight. I suppose less people would notice something like this.

ZENER

Apple removed the search facility for all system files in Leopard. I can see why, someone may delete an important file this way.

To find these files I use Apple+F. Enter what you're looking for in Search for: then click on Kind and change it to System Files and the button beside it to include. Not perfect but it works . . .

This article gives a good rundown on the pros and cons of Spotlight in Tiger V Leopard. By all accounts Leopards version is way better. Read the whole article for all the shortcuts.

ZEN

Breezer

ZENER wrote: »

Apple removed the search facility for all system files in Leopard. I can see why, someone may delete an important file this way.

I don't really buy that to be honest. Why not make them searchable but impossible to delete, the same way you can browse to them in the Finder but not delete them?

This article gives a good rundown on the pros and cons of Spotlight in Tiger V Leopard. By all accounts Leopards version is way better. Read the whole article for all the shortcuts.

ZEN

Thanks, I'll have to have a look at that. And yeah, I do like the Leopard version a lot better, I just don't see why they had to remove that feature.

ZENER

Breezer wrote: »

I don't really buy that to be honest. Why not make them searchable but impossible to delete, the same way you can browse to them in the Finder but not delete them?

Basically you can only search for files that you have permission to access - as system files are owned by root or wheel an ordinary user doesn't have permission to access them so you can't search for them.

If you have the need to access them then it's still possible, they just made it a little bit harder to deter "ordinary" users.

ZEN