Leopard added a search parameter for system folders. It just isn't visible by default. But it can be made visible.

From the Desktop, open a "Find" window by pressing Command-F (or go to File menu -> Find).

Near the top of the window, you should see a search parameter bar with popup menus. The default parameter is "Kind". If you don't see the popups, click on the "plus" (+) button on the right.

Click on the "Kind" popup, and on the bottom, select "Other...". A sheet window will open to show the parameters, and it has a search field. Type: system

There should be only one result. Click the "In Menu" box and then "OK". Now, whenever you want system files as part of your search, you can "include" and "don't include" them by selecting that search parameter.





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Great tip, thanks!

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Thanks for the tip! :D

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I also came into the comments to point out that there was this easier, sanctioned way to accomplish this hint, only to find I had been beaten to the punch.

This brings up a concern I've had ongoing about this site -- there really needs to be some way to warn users coming onto this site that a hint is counterproductive, and to let them know to look in the comments for a better solution. The star rating system won't allow a rating below 1 (it seems obvious that at least 0 should be possible, if not also negative ratings). Also, there should be a way for a comment like the one to which I'm replying to be promoted to replace the original hint in a case like this.

Any possibility of these sort of changes Rob? (It seems to me that the current system of relying on Rob to add his comments to the bottom of a hint fails to take full advantage of the community effort.)

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I believe you will need to be root to read those files so you would need to be root to spotlight the contents.

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Nope.

Wrong.

Thanks for playing.

You do not need to be Root anything to read those files. Admin and Standard Users can bring up a list of system files as well as read them.

Certain files cannot be saved/ written to by an Admin or Standard Account.

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When you are in a Finder folder that you would like to search, and you type into the search bar in that finder window WHY OH WHY does it switch to Macintosh HD?!

If I'd wanted to search Macintosh HD then I would have bleedin' well used Spotlight in the first place.

This is one of the few Windows-style counter-intuitive bits of strong-arming left in the OS and hopefully Snowy will get rid of it.

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Investigating all forms of household & home-business technology

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snow leopard actually has a preference for this. why this was working in tiger (10.4) by default then taken out of leopard (10.5) and made available as an option again in snow leopard (10.6) is beyond me. apple can be retarded sometimes.

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I think it was Steve Jobs (back in the day) who said that he couldn't imagine why anyone would *ever* want more than a megabyte of ram... :)

Yeah, Apple is retarded sometimes. But I haven't yet met anyone who isn't retarded some of the time. The nice thing about Apple is that they try not to make a habit out of it.

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People who have intellectual impairments/mental retardation and their families and friends would appreciate it if you didn't use the term "retarded" in that way. It demeans those who, through no fault of their own, do experience that challenge.

Please, and thank you.

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People who have intellectual impairments/mental retardation and their families and friends would appreciate it if you didn't use the term "retarded" in that way. It demeans those who, through no fault of their own, do experience that challenge.

If you are talking about people with cognitive/affective disorders or impairments, I would never call those people retarded, because they are not. The word 'retarded' implies someone who is operating well below the level they can (or ought) to be operating at. Those people I have met who have actual impairments (as a rule) do more within their limits than the rest of us do within ours, and ought to be commended for it. Don't legitimize 'retarded' as an insult to the impaired by complaining about it (because, frankly, using the word as an insult to the impaired is something only a *truly* retarded person would do).

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Nope that was Bill Gates talking of 512KB of Memory.

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Thanks for this hint!

More precisely, this is a Finder preference now.

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Boy do i hear ya! That "feature" of Leopard is routinely one of the most frustrating aspects that I battle with and rail against, almost daily. I can't fathom what in heck Apple was thinking when they changed that from the way it worked in Tiger. Beyond stupid!

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What I wonder is whether there is a way to search, or include in a search, the trash? What if you're looking for a file you misplaced that is in the trash waiting to be lost forever?

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--Chip

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(shameless self-promotion)

You could use the program "Find Any File" - it can't search the contents of files, but it finds files by their name, date, etc, pretty fast, and all across your disk, even if root access is necessary (the app provides a "Search as root" mode).



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Alternatively, set it permanently to search system files as described in my hint: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080229204517495

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