Can someone help an old time Windows user to help out with a few problems using OSX? Most of these questions have to do with the file system. 1. How do I view the paths of all the search results that appear when I use Spotlight? Obviously when lots of results are returned often each result has exactly the same file name so the only way to distringuish between them is to see where they are located. I'd like to be able to sort by path but I don't want to have to click the little i for every single search result. 2. How do I view the contents of a specific path? I want to be able to type in the path to an address bar and view it. 3. How do I view and edit the path of an open folder? How am I supposed to know what I'm looking at without the path? 4. How do I go "up" to the parent directory when I'm looking at a folder? 5. How do I view hidden folders? 6. How do I restore files that are in the trash to their original locations? Is this information lost when I drag something to the trash? 7. How do I remove an individual item from the trash without removing all of the items in the trash? I'll probably have some more questions later but if anyone can help out for now that would be great.
Can't help a great deal because I'm macless at the moment, but I will try and answer from memory. In one of the menus at the top you can do go to fiolder Remember where you are? Or the column view or something. use the drop down selector (might have to add it to your finder windows) Open the trash and delete it from the trash
answers in red: 1. How do I view the paths of all the search results that appear when I use Spotlight? Obviously when lots of results are returned often each result has exactly the same file name so the only way to distringuish between them is to see where they are located. I'd like to be able to sort by path but I don't want to have to click the little i for every single search result. unfortunately i don't know a way to do this. however upon clicking 'show all' you can reveal the file in finder 2. How do I view the contents of a specific path? I want to be able to type in the path to an address bar and view it. with finder in focus (click the desktop), press shift+apple+G. type the path you wanna go to 3. How do I view and edit the path of an open folder? How am I supposed to know what I'm looking at without the path? again there isn't a direct way to do this, although column view is really helpful. list view is also good as it lets you expand the directory tree in one window. 4. How do I go "up" to the parent directory when I'm looking at a folder? apple + up (also works to go down one folder) 5. How do I view hidden folders? it's a command you have to execute from a terminal - type 'defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true' in a terminal, then either reboot or run 'killall finder' to restart finder. done. 6. How do I restore files that are in the trash to their original locations? Is this information lost when I drag something to the trash? this is a stupid thing about finder. no, the file can't easily be restored. 7. How do I remove an individual item from the trash without removing all of the items in the trash? you mean delete it? can't i'm afraid. of course there's always rm from the terminal. there is a prefpane (payware, $9) called Compost that fixes your two issues with the trash, you might want to check it out. there is an amazing replacement to finder called Path Finder - it's payware, again, but it's incredible. you can even (with a bit of hacking, there are guides) replace finder completely with it. you'd probably love it. Finder is probably the weakest point of OSX - it's really nice in certain aspects, but its seriously lacking in other places. i hear it's been completely rewritten for Leopard, so let's hope they fix a lot of the issues with it (samba shares and lost network connections, anyone?)
Thanks for the replies Jamie but, I can't remember where I am often. Anyway the problem is that sometimes a program, for example Spotlight will open up a folder for you. You have no idea where that folder might be without seeing the path and the back button is disabled. Also I need to be able to copy and paste a path from a folder into the Go box. What is the drop down selector and how do you add it to Finder? How do you delete something? All I know how to do is move something to the trash.
I don't know what version of mac you're using but I don't see a delete item when you right click on a file. Also I know how to empty the trash. What I want to know is how to delete individual files. I still can't believe that you can't copy the path or a file or folder to the clipboard in anyway. Is there not a workaround of some kind?
In the finder, select view > customize toolbar, there might be some other buttons you want to add too...play around with it. As has been said, a lot of your problems with the finder (and the trash) don't really have solutions. The finder is, imo, one of the biggest flaws in osx. If you don't mind shelling out some cash, path finder is supposed to be a very good piece of software that fixes many of the problems with finder. I don't know about yours in particular, but i would be surprised if it didn't fix most of them. That, and there's more than a small chance that apple will revamp the finder quite a bit in 10.5.
Yeah, PathFinder should handle most of those problems. I'm enough of a historically anal-retentive organizational freak so it's not a huge issue for me, but I've still played around with PF and it's got quite a few features in it that Finder could really benefit from. Honestly, I doubt they'll be addressed in Leopard, so I'd try the demo of pathfinder and see if it helps at all.
I wish I could use PathFinder but for my work we have about 12 macs and I don't really want to install new software on each of them. By the way at least one the macs I'm using runs Leopard and none of these issues are addressed.
I've got a question as well. How to you easily copy and paste? Only been a mac user for a few months and love but still learning!! Steele
Rule of thumb: most old Windows shortcuts work if you replace control with command. Or you can just drag and drop, pretty much anything to anything else. If there's a little plus sign under the cursor, it's a copy. Hold option (I think? I always just hit some random key until it goes away) and it becomes cut. If there's a little arrow (control?) then it creates an alias (shortcut) to that item/folder.
