Could someone explain to me what a global index is?

[cbayer]

So, I was having a lot of trouble with my MacBook shutting itself down repeatedly and unpredictable. I did a few things (reset the PRAM, "fixed" permissions) and the problem cleared up.

Today it came back with a vengeance.

The first time it restarted, I opened the browser and got the message that my global index was in use by another application. Did I want to disable it or clear it - I chose disable.

The problem persisted - shutting down, trying to come back up, coming up for a few moments, coming up without the usual tone, fan running madly then not at all.

I reset the PRAM again.

Next time I got the global index message and chose the clear option. It's been staying up since then.

Now, granted, these things may have nothing to do with each other, but I am still curious as to what this function is.

Might be time for a new MacBook?

[cbayer]

1. Scratch that part about it staying up - it shut down seconds after I posted this, lol.

[onehandle]

2. Never heard of 'global index' unless it has something to do with Spotlight indexing.

Is it a pop up window or what?

How old is your MacBook? What version of OS X and how long has it been since you installed a new system.

[cbayer]

3. It's a pop-up and appears randomly when I open my browser (usually OMNI)

My MacBook is almost 4 years old.

I am running OS X, Version 10.5.8

That is what it came with and I have never installed a new system.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

:hi:

[onehandle]

4. I found this in the Omni forums.

From five years ago.

This is one specific thread that suggests deleting an app created file of some sort.
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=842

There are other references to an 'index' process involving history. You might want to poke around the OmniWeb forum.
http://forums.omnigroup.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3

And 10.5.8 with the original system from 4 years ago? As snazzy as OS X is, eventually it gets bogged down. I usually backup, wipe, and reinstall everything once every year or two. I just upgraded Snow Leopard to Lion after almost two. My system had become occasionally unresponsive and took forever to start and shutdown.