[Zoom]

I've had this problem for a long time now, but I'm blown it off. But it's annoying me.

I have my Mac set to index all volumes around 4am. But whenever I get up, it's always stuck in the middle of my boot drive, saying it's going to take 12-24 hours to complete.... something like that, a LOT.

Why? I always end up cancelling.

[OldManMac]

How long does it actually take? Have you ever done a full index, or just cancelled? Mine says the same thing, and I just let it go, and it usually does it in under an hour. The first time also takes longer than subsequent indexes.

[Zoom]

I think I have the thing set to start at 4am or so, and by 8am or 9am it's still going and the progress bar is about 40% done. I can't recall if I've ever just let it go. But the "time remaining" is something in the "many hours" range. I'll try it again tonight and see what happens, if I remember.

[loudpedal]

I have the same problem. I've started it at about 11:00 pm and by about 7:30 the next morning it still says it has something like 16 hours yet to go. I've never completed a single index (in the two years since I've bought the computer new). I never realized that it was that important until about 6 months ago.

[Zoom]

Originally posted by loudpedal:
<STRONG>I have the same problem. I've started it at about 11:00 pm and by about 7:30 the next morning it still says it has something like 16 hours yet to go. I've never completed a single index (in the two years since I've bought the computer new). I never realized that it was that important until about 6 months ago.</STRONG>

Okay, I'll bite. Why is it important? And have you figured out why this happens and/or how to fix it?

[iSilver]

in my experience this happens because of the large number of files on the disk being scanned.

You may not realise but if you have a couple of games on your Mac, ALL of the supporting files for the game will be indexed. Samr goes for supporting files for applications.

I use the "Labels" feature to avoid this problem. Select all the files you don't wish to be indexed, give them a "Label" from the finder to colour them, then use the preferences in the index files application to tell it not to index the files with the colour you just labelled your files with.

This reduced my indexing time by heaps.

[loudpedal]

Hey, I just got my HD indexed in a reasonable time! A couple of things have changed since my last attempt. They are:

HD crash, new hard drive. 12 GB to 20 GB
updated OS from 9.0.4 to 9.2.1
RAM upgraded from 128 MB to 384 MB. Memory allocation for Sherlock II not increased manually.
HD contents gone from 2.5 GB to 3.5 GB

As I was setting up Sherlock II to search for some hidden files, I noticed in the Sherlock II preferences that there was a setting for indexing speed. Since I haven't changed this manually, I have to assume that the default setting was set more toward slower (which made the system more responsive during the index). When I set the index to go as fast as possible (and just let the computer sit during the index), the index completed in about 3-4 hours.

If anyone else wants to increase the indexing speed setting in Sherlock II prefs and post if it makes a difference in your indexing time, I'd appreciate it. Too many things have changed on my system for me to say for sure that this made the huge difference in initial indexing speed.

Zoom, it's important because it will increase the probability that data will be recovered in a HD failure and it is necessary to have the HD indexed so that you can search to see if a file contains certain words.

[fisherKing]

just curious...why index at all?
search on the mac is pretty fast these days...
how much speed do you really gain with indexing (& is it worth it?)


OOPS! just tried it...guess you need it to search for CONTENT (as opposed to just searching for files)

[ 12-22-2001: Message edited by: fisherKing ]

[pete.z]

I'm a geek,I know,but after you finished the 1st complete indexing,it's taking a very short time for the next.
Mine is doing it every day,and it only takes about 5 minutes.
Like I said,I'm probably a geek for indexing everyday......

[DayDream Believers]

Thought from our group is turn it off and use UltraFind 2.5 or higher. It is the best all around utility I have ever used.

Best part it searches for words in a .doc that you may have forgotten about or even confined searches.