Why does my search take so long?

When I try and search a folder or external drive for a specific file, it takes forever and i haven't waited around long enough to see if it actually does find anything.

I am using Finder to open my drive, then using the upper right search bar to search for what I want. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Mac mini

Model Identifier: Macmini4,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 8 GB

Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

Boot ROM Version: MM41.0042.B00

SMC Version (system): 1.65f2

Serial Number (system): xxxxxxxxxxx

Hardware UUID: 62B7E722-D82E-5838-BA6E-B6AF9F18FA02