Searching The Imac

[Lost in LOS]

Everyone said the mac is easier than windows but so far I think not. maybe I am not too bright but things seemed easier on windows. for example, search. I can click search on windows and then ask for a detailed search and find any file, any content, any word on the entire computer. i would like to do the on my mac but after a week of trying everything, including reading on google i give up. I downloaded Sophos Anti virus and every time I run it it says a move The Switch.avi has malware in it. I keep trying to search everywhere but cannot find that file, at lease 12 hours so far. Every-time I run the program it say I still have it.

It acts like it is in my backup volume [time machine] which is lots of info. It say it is in movie folders, I can check manually in my hard drive for that and the movie is gone. But it now says it is in a movie folder in my backup disk. Well there are hundreds of movie folders with movies in them, since time machine does a copy many times each day. I have tried manually and gave up finding it. I tried the finder, typed in The Switch.avi and it never finds it. I told it to look in my hard drive, my backup etc, any option I could find but no such luck. Doesn't this search let you put in some parameters? i looked under preferences and there is not much there. In window, I could name the file and tell it to search the computer and backup and it would find it for sure. As a test I typed in another movie name that comes up in the backup at each save and that never shows up. Am i doing something wrong or does is this finder not really a search engine for the computer? Isnt there a simple option somewhere to find this file anywhere on my computer.

Windows will find any word in any file, i just need the whole file

[puuchai299]

Does your screen have like a small hand magnifier type icon in the very top right corner called Spotlight?? just to the right of the time,if so click on that and type the name in there.

[nullx8]

just press F6 and type it ... the Search WILL find it .. unless you have changed settings (settings you not even have on windows)

if you search it in the finder ... the search can be limited to the area where you are at the moment (stis is indicated by extra buttons along the search bar)

btw. why you not browse to the location the Virus scanner tell you the file is ?

[msg362]

just press F6 and type it ... the Search WILL find it .. unless you have changed settings (settings you not even have on windows)

if you search it in the finder ... the search can be limited to the area where you are at the moment (stis is indicated by extra buttons along the search bar)

btw. why you not browse to the location the Virus scanner tell you the file is ?

Why have you bothered to install a virus scanner?

[nullx8]

Why have you bothered to install a virus scanner?

good question i don't have (i can eat reccources without help) ;P

[VerbalKint]

in any finder window is a search field (right top)

just type in what you search....a small bar shows up under your search where you can type in specifics about your search

If it doesn't show up,....it's not on your machine

Could the problem be the Virusscanner ???

btw. a virusscanner for the mac.....??

have seen virus nor scanner since my first apple in 1987

[Lost in LOS]

Thanks for the help. I read on Thaivisa where some people recomended this antivirus program, including a guy from a big company that uses apple and this program. Not sure if I need it but am trying to go with the flo. If I dont need it why does this file come up every-time as malware? I did read on google that apples do get malware but rarely viruses

I did the search on the spotlight [didn't know it was there, I thought the finder was the search]. It searched my hard drive but the file is not there, I already knew that because I erased it a long time ago. How do I get it to search the Backup disk, because the time machine has made many copies of it. when I check the spotlight I cant find an option of what drives to check

thanks for all the help, I am sure the iMac is good but when I search google for answers it assumes I know about apple and leaves out a couple of steps.

[nikster]

I recommend you get rid of the virus scanner - you don't need it and virus scanners like to mess up your system (from Windows experience). In any case it's foolish to introduce potential system instability for an unneeded piece of software. It's already causing trouble, apparently. I am pretty sure there is no actual virus on that AVI file, if it even exists.

For search, use Spotlight. As others have said, the loupe icon in the top right corner of the screen.

I use spotlight for everything - starting programs, finding files, etc. I use the CMD-Space shortcut. The problem - and this baffles me even now - is that Thai systems are set up so that CMD-Space switches the language, and CMD-shift-Space (I think) is Spotlight. It's the first thing I change on any Thai Mac I get my hands on - CMD-Space is the one feature I use most often on my Mac.

In order to change keyboard shortcuts, type "Keyboard" in spotlight, select the System Preferences item "Keyboard" from the long list. There's other ways to get to it but Spotlight is the fastest, so might as well give it a try right now. Remove the language switching shortcut - by the way you can remove the flag icon from the menu bar too, or just turn off the Thai keyboard if you don't use it, but that's another topic.

For more detailed searches, use the search bar in any finder window - this searches sub-directories, file names, anything you can think of. You can save searches as folders in the finder left hand toolbar too. Search is instant, and excellent.

Edit: Using a Mac without using Spotlight is unthinkable for me. Might as well tie one hand behind my back.

Edited February 4, 2011 by nikster

[nullx8]

its propably then in the trash, spotlight can search the trash too but you have to enable it.

this is probably the answer why you not find it.

anyway .. i dont think there is a real threat about a malwared AVI file

[Lost in LOS]

thanks to all for your help. I will set up my keyboard the way you suggest for spotlight. As for the file being in the trash I empty it all the time so its not there. I will uninstall the antivirus program since you all suggest it. By the way, how do I get spotlight to search my external drive?

thanks for all your help, will uninstall antivirus next

I recommend you get rid of the virus scanner - you don't need it and virus scanners like to mess up your system (from Windows experience). In any case it's foolish to introduce potential system instability for an unneeded piece of software. It's already causing trouble, apparently. I am pretty sure there is no actual virus on that AVI file, if it even exists.

For search, use Spotlight. As others have said, the loupe icon in the top right corner of the screen.

I use spotlight for everything - starting programs, finding files, etc. I use the CMD-Space shortcut. The problem - and this baffles me even now - is that Thai systems are set up so that CMD-Space switches the language, and CMD-shift-Space (I think) is Spotlight. It's the first thing I change on any Thai Mac I get my hands on - CMD-Space is the one feature I use most often on my Mac.

In order to change keyboard shortcuts, type "Keyboard" in spotlight, select the System Preferences item "Keyboard" from the long list. There's other ways to get to it but Spotlight is the fastest, so might as well give it a try right now. Remove the language switching shortcut - by the way you can remove the flag icon from the menu bar too, or just turn off the Thai keyboard if you don't use it, but that's another topic.

For more detailed searches, use the search bar in any finder window - this searches sub-directories, file names, anything you can think of. You can save searches as folders in the finder left hand toolbar too. Search is instant, and excellent.

Edit: Using a Mac without using Spotlight is unthinkable for me. Might as well tie one hand behind my back.

[nullx8]

By the way, how do I get spotlight to search my external drive?

Spotlight will automatically createa a index on drives mounted to the OS ... you can see this if you have not mounted a drive for a while and press F6 or click on the Spotlight icon in the menu-bar wil have a small glowing dot ...

and if you open spotlight it will indicate the indexing progress.

[Lost in LOS]

By the way, how do I get spotlight to search my external drive?

Spotlight will automatically createa a index on drives mounted to the OS ... you can see this if you have not mounted a drive for a while and press F6 or click on the Spotlight icon in the menu-bar wil have a small glowing dot ...

and if you open spotlight it will indicate the indexing progress.

I can now search the computer for a file and it works, thanks. I am trying to follow what you are saying. If I press F6 the text in the address bar lights up, nothing else happens. if I open spotlight by clicking the icon and searching for a known file it finds it on the computer. If I then press F6 the computer makes a duup noise and it does nothing. If I open my exernal backup drive there is no way to get to spotlight. there is the search window and when I put a know file in it finds it. when i then click backup it goes away and doesnt search. In all this I have never seen the glowing dot

Sorry but I am trying hard

[nullx8]

รf I press F6 the text in the address bar lights up, nothing else happens

i'm sorry, that was my misstake .. i forgot i remapped some shortcuts a very long time ago ...

the default shortcut is Control+Space to open the Spotlight Search Window

and Control+Option+Space for a Spotlight Finder WIndow

you may not see the indexing indication .. it can be very quick after done once. since the the indexing (unlike on windows) does only incremential updates only.

[nikster]

As others have mentioned, Spotlight will always search everything - including external drives that are connected.

If you want to search a specific folder only, or generally want more search options, use the search window in the Finder - it's the same as Spotlight search, except with more options and the ability to save your search for later.

Spotlight searches everything:

Finder search searches specific folders...

And allows many options (click the + symbol to the right of the search option to see more and more options...):