System Preferences Search Not Working!

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Level 2

290 points

System Preferences Search Not Working!

Hi,

For some reason the Search bar in the my System Preferences window isn't working. If I type "dock" into it, the System Preferences window dims like it should, but none of the icons are highlighted. The Dock icon should be highlighted, but it isn't.

Does anyone know why this is happening? Seems to be related to Leopard since I never had this problem before.

17" iMac 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Nov 24, 2007 4:47 AM

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Answer 1

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Nov 24, 2007 1:29 PM in response to Reuben Feffer

Works here. Quit System Preferences, move the com.apple.systempreferences.plist file out of /username/Library/Preferences/ to the Desktop, relaunch System Preferences. If that fixes the problem, then reset the preferences and delete the moved plist file. If not, create another admin account, log into it, and see if it has the problem.

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Answer 2

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

290 points

Nov 24, 2007 5:00 PM in response to baltwo

Thanks for replying,

Moving the systempreferences.plist file out didn't seem to do anything, because the problem is still there. But I'll try again tomorrow.

Logging into the Guest account on my iMac, the System Preferences search works fine. So why doesn't it work in my Administrator account?

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Answer 3

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Nov 24, 2007 10:54 PM in response to Reuben Feffer

Most likely because there's corruption or conflicts amongst the various preference files. See the steps I posted for resolving conflicts/corrupt plists within an account at:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4703015

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Answer 4

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

290 points

Nov 25, 2007 4:30 AM in response to baltwo

Is that really safe to delete ALL my preferences files created today? Won't my iMac forget what WiFi network I'm on, my set up for Time Machine, and all my user accounts?

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Answer 5

Nov 25, 2007 6:39 AM in response to Reuben Feffer

I'm using Leopard Cache Cleaner which has a special submenu that can clean preferences. It checks each file to see if it isn't corrupted and also suggest to clear too old preference files. Very useful to maintain everything in tip top conditions. 😉

Max

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Answer 6

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

290 points

Nov 25, 2007 3:15 PM in response to Maxwell Sheffield

Is Leopard Cache Cleaner free to use? If so, what should I run in the application to get my System Preferences Search working again? I don't want to clean anything unnecessarily.

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Answer 7

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Nov 25, 2007 8:44 PM in response to Reuben Feffer

Did you read my post? You don't delete them, you delete the account, saving the data, create a new one using the same username/password, and ascertain the corrupt/conflicting ones. Once you resolve the conflict, you're back to where you were before having problems.

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Answer 8

Nov 26, 2007 1:43 AM in response to Reuben Feffer

Sorry Reuben, it's not free, but something like $8 which is worth while. If you get it, go to the clean menu and then choose Clean Preferences...The program is however in fully functionnal demo mode for 30 days.

Max

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Answer 9

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

290 points

Nov 26, 2007 10:13 AM in response to Maxwell Sheffield

This Leopard Cache Cleaner. If I do Clean Preferences, it finds lots of .plist files that it says haven't changed in over 90 days. What am I supposed to do, delete ALL of them? Or just ignore them? How do I know which one is linked to the problem I'm having searching System Preferences?

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Answer 10

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

290 points

Nov 26, 2007 10:36 AM in response to Reuben Feffer

Ok, I solved this problem myself. Here's the solution for anyone else out there with the same problem:

Quit System Preferences
Navigate to your Users > Username > Library folder
Locate the file "com.apple.preferencepanes.searchindexcache" and DELETE it
Open System Preferences

That's it. Problem solved.

Message was edited by: Reuben Feffer

Message was edited by: Reuben Feffer

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Answer 11

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

290 points

Nov 26, 2007 10:55 AM in response to Reuben Feffer

Sorry, the file location is:

iMac Hard Drive > Users > reuben > Library > Caches > com.apple.preferencepanes.searchindexcache

Message was edited by: Reuben Feffer

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Answer 12

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Nov 26, 2007 11:28 AM in response to Reuben Feffer

Thanks for the feedback. Good computing.

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Answer 13

Nov 26, 2007 12:05 PM in response to Reuben Feffer

Super Reuben

It was a cache problem then... Loepard cache Cleaner can help you to clean all caches if you want to solve such issues...

Max

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