Finder not searching system files suddenly?

[Autokon]

Hi guys,

I'm stumped and am in need of some help. To start this off, I'm OCD, . I'm running the latest version of Mountain Lion, all updates installed as of today, 2011 27-inch iMac.

Simply, when I remove/uninstall an application... I manually remove all traces of it. I perform my own uninstall versus downloading these other uninstaller apps out there that aren't needed. I toss the main app in the trash then pull up finder and do a system wide search on "whatever its called" as well as adding system files to the search criteria (plist files, cache, etc) and nuke them. I know what I'm doing...its a simple process.

Suddenly, my finder isn't returning results on files located in /library/, such as plist files or cache folders. Now, I also have a work related Retina Macbook Pro thats got all the latest installed as well and its returning results fine. Has anyone else ran into this issue or know of a way to fix this? I've tried quite a few things from disk repairs to re-indexing...but, not luck just yet.

Example: If I try to search the ALL the files associated with "Caffeine" on my iMac it only reveals the main app, even with system files selected. However on my other work mac, it reveals the main app along with the plist and a few other caffeine related files. If I manually navigate to /library/preferences, etc, on my iMac... I can see the caffeine files in there, but they will not display in search results.

 

[Weaselboy]

Open Finder and type "test"... then in the area below the search field click the plus arrow to the right. Then in the drop down that appears and says "Kind" click there and select "System files" then in the next box to the right change it to "are included". By default system files are not included in a Finder search.

 

[Autokon]

"I toss the main app in the trash then pull up finder and do a system wide search on "whatever its called" as well as adding system files to the search criteria (plist files, cache, etc) and nuke them." (Also tried to the file visibility option as well)



It works normally on my other mac...but for some reason searching through system files seems to be broken on my iMac. I tried nuking the finder plist and the spotlist plist as well as re-indexing.

Still not working. I'm guessing a re-install of OSX and migrating the user/apps (skip settings) will likely be required.

Thx for the suggestion though!