Spotlight has been microsoftened ...

[neerew]

In the previous OS versions, up and including Tiger, the Finder was able, well ... to _find_ files! One of my favourite searches was, routinely, to find any file modified in the current day, whether visible or not; especially upon installation of suspicious software, to check it were not messing out with my system. Good bye, this and such are gone! right now, after many hours of regular work, including editing my files and net surfing, searching "This Mac" for "last modified date is today" and "file visibility is Visible or Invisible" results into a meager 3-item list: folder "SC info", .tcshs, and folder "Volumes". I mean, I believed I modified some Preference, loaded some stuff in the browser cache, etc.

Nobody else experienced this (mis)behaviour?

[rlf]

...up and including Tiger, the Finder was able, well ... to _find_ files! One of my favourite searches was, routinely, to find any file modified in the current day, whether visible or not...after many hours of regular work,...searching "This Mac" for "last modified date is today" and "file visibility is Visible or Invisible" results into a meager 3-item list: folder "SC info", .tcshs, and folder "Volumes".

Sort of working here.  I have several partitions and when I select "This Mac", it works fine.  If I only select a particular partition - even my boot partition, then I get the same response as you.

 

However, one key to good Spotlight searches is to add one more parameter.  In the first popup, select "Other..." and find "System files".  I would put a check by it to make it always available.

Revise your search to:

• (Last modified date)  is  (today)
  
• (File visibility)  (Visible or Invisible)
  
• (System files)  (include)
  

Now, a hint which is not for the faint of heart.  You can modify the default configuration for the Find window.  The default configuration is here:

 

/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/default_smart.plist

1. Configure the Find window and make a saved search:
   • Open a Finder window (click on the Finder icon in the Dock)
     

• In the left sidebar, click on the partition that you search the most
  

• Go to File menu -> Find... (or press Command-F)
  

• Set up a search configuration that you like to use most often - don't go overboard, it will be too specific. I use:
  

• • (click the little "+" button to add criteria)
    

• • Kind is: Any
    

• • File visibility: Visible or Invisible
    

• • System files: include
    

• Save the search to your Desktop (click the "Save" button, select your Desktop)
  

[*]Drag the "Searching "This Mac" " file onto the TextEdit icon (in Applications folder, but I keep it in my Dock)

[*]Notice that the contents are part of an XML file.  Examine how each parameter you selected is set up.

[*]Also review the contents of the Finder's default_smart.plist.

[*]To change the default configuration:

• Make a backup of the original default_smart.plist
  

• Place the contents of your saved search into the Finder's default_smart.plist
  

• Set permissions (using "chown root:wheel" and "chmod 644")
  

• Logout/login or restart Finder (use "killall Finder")
  

[*]Test it out

[*]If things get screwed up, use the backup of the original default_smart.plist to replace the bad one, set permissions and restart Finder

.

[glenesis]

Spotlight under Leopard is aweful at finding things. It's a terrible program.

 

I've played with Spotlight, tried to find items within a directory that I knew what I was looking was in, and sometimes Spotlight finds ZERO items, even though I know they are there, because I am looking at them.

 

I have been using a program called File Buddy forever, and it actually does find anything that I'm looking for. File Buddy is great for manual system cleanup, as well.

[hecker]

Excellent tip, rlf. Thanks!

[U.C.]

Thanks a lot man. This helps a lot.