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TICKET ARCHIVE -> REPEAT: FINDER NOT CONNECTED WITH REALIT

Susanne.dabney - May 9, 2008 - 2:29 pm

1. FINDER BRINGS UP WRONG, PERHAPS OLD?, DOCUMENTS.


2. LAST PORTIONS OF DOCUMENT ARE LOST WHEN I REOPEN IT.


I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR EXCELLENT AND ACCURATE HELP.

SUSANNE

DeltaMac - May 10, 2008 - 8:20 am

Hi Susanne - my name is Dale, and I will do my best to try to help you.
I don't quite understand your questions. Can you use more words to help explain your problem?

Such as - Finder brings up wrong (old?) docs.
Do you mean that you see a list of documents that you have previously trashed? Or that you open a document, and it is an older document, perhaps an older version that you are sure does not have a change that you have made to that document (?)

Is this the same problem as your #2 question? (last portions are lost)

What do you use for a word processor? AppleWorks, or Microsoft Word, or TextEdit, or something else?
Are you opening those (wrong?) documents from the Open menu in your word processor, or do you just find them on your hard drive, and double-click to open? (please don't answer with just a yes or no, but provide as much detail as you can, even if it seems too long, OK?
- Dale

Susanne.dabney - May 10, 2008 - 9:30 am

Thanks, Dale!

The Spotlight rarely brings up documents that have the words I
requested. I can identify those that are trashed, but when I click on the documents listed, they do not have the words I requested. I see no pattern in their mistakes.

The big finder, mid-screen, is little if any better. Occasionally it will
give an answer, usually on the document I am working on, not others,
and it gives a lot of numbers and letters, not the name of any document given and not where to find it.

The words I am asking for do exist in documents, but the finders will not locate them

I am working on a book with hundreds of sources and finding the words I need is essential, and I've lost what was once my best help. This has been gradually getting worse until it is 90% useless.

Is it possible to reset the finder to match current words?

The second question is separate and I may need to ask it in another session. It involves all the new portion of a document disappearing
after being saved.

Gratefully,
susanne

Susanne.dabney - May 10, 2008 - 9:31 am

DeltaMac - May 10, 2008 - 10:41 am

You threw me off-track. Finder is the general system-wide access to everything. virtually everything that you see on-screen is provided by the Finder. It's an integral part of OS X, as well as older versions of the Mac OS. You are really referring to Find, as in finding/locating files. The Finder provides that function through Spotlight, yes?

That being said - Yes, you can reset the Spotlight database.
Open your System Preferences/Spotlight.
Click on the Privacy tab.
If there is anything in the list, select each one, and click on the (minus) at the bottom of that window to remove each one.
Then, click on the (plus), and choose your hard drive to add that to the list in the window.
Close System Preferences. Then re-open System Preferences/Spotlight.
Again, Privacy tab. Click on your hard drive as the only item in the list, and click the (minus) at the bottom of the window. Close System Preferences. Now, your system will rebuild the Spotlight database, which could take quite a long time. I have seen this run for several hours. You can monitor the progress by clicking on the Spotlight icon in your menu bar. If the search window comes up, instead of a progress bar, then Spotlight is complete. Try your search then.

There are also utilities that can make this reset process a little simpler, and can help with other issues that can affect the performance of your system. It can also help with other issues that you may be having now.
OnyX is one good choice - http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html
Get the version for your OS X system version.
Another decent one is MainMenu - http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/25902

Last question - what software are you using the most? Is it AppleWorks, by chance?
- Dale

Susanne.dabney - May 10, 2008 - 4:58 pm

Yes, it's Appleworks almost entirely. I have Microsoft Office, but rarely use it.
I am delighted -- thrilled!! to be able to reset the Spotlight.
I'll be back in touch when I try it.
susanne

DeltaMac - May 10, 2008 - 6:58 pm

Thought it might be Appleworks.
That can have some 'issues' occasionally.
Go into your Documents folder, and open the AppleWorks User Data folder. Then open the Starting Points folder. Open the Recent Items folder. There should be at the most 10 items. More will slow AppleWorks down. If there is more than 10 items there, you should drag that Recent Items folder to the trash, and empty the trash.
You will briefly lose the Recent Items from your AppleWorks File menu, but it's a small loss, as your AppleWorks will be back up to speed again.
If you remove that Recent Items folder. Quit AppleWorks, then you should go into your user/Library/, then to the Preferences folder. Drag the AppleWorks folder you find there, to the trash. Now you can open AppleWorks again. You will find the AppleWorks settings back at original defaults, which is sometimes a big improvement.
- Dale

Susanne.dabney - May 10, 2008 - 9:20 pm

This sounds much simpler. I'll let you know how it works.

Many thanks--
susanne

TechSupport - May 13, 2008 - 9:30 pm

We apologize for not being able to resolve the issue you asked of us. It is the absolute worst case scenario for us to do this. In our review of why this happens, it generally is related to either the particular issue being addressed or frequently, incomplete or incorrect information provided. We hope by moving your request to the public forums that you will be able to get a solution without leaving you empty handed.

Your ticket has been closed with our support team. Your request has just been posted to Mac OS X System & Mac Software and is available for your viewing at:

http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300461

Again, thank you for using Macosx.com. We hope you will consider using us again in the future.