Stop Spotlight From Indexing External Drive

Hello!
I have a Spotlight question & a Command-F query for which I can't seem to find answers. I'm hoping one of you has a solution to share.

Each time I connect my external hard drive, which has three volumes, Spotlight starts re-indexing. This slows the computer way down. The re-index proces takes about 45 minutes. I've tried using the Spotlight Preferences "Privacy" tab by putting all three volumes in the list to skip. It works for that session, but only after the re-index is complete on all three. The next time I connect, the re-index starts over as if the volumes were not in the privacy list.
Is there a way to have Spotlight ignore these drives automatically?

Question Two is also a Spotlight question (I think). I apologize if Command-F and Spotlight are two different programs & I'm double dipping.
If I do a Command-F search, how do I clear the entry memory?
Example: If Cmd-F and ask for "Checking Account", it does its thing & finds it. The next time I Cmd-F, there are the words "Checking Account". If I delete it, it will still be there on next open. It is no big deal, I'm just curious if there is a plist of old searches I can ditch. I didn't find anything.
What I do now is type random characters in the search box. I'm just wondering if there is a master list somewhere on the hard drive?
Thanks for ay ideas!
Paul

Go to System Preferences, Spotlight and then the "Privacy" Tab.
Add the External Hard Drive to the Privacy Tab which will prevent it from being Indexed by Spotlight.

DavidH

Go to System Preferences, Spotlight and then the "Privacy" Tab.
Add the External Hard Drive to the Privacy Tab which will prevent it from being Indexed by Spotlight.
DavidH

Hi David H,
Thanks for answering.
I didn't explain well in my original post about the privacy setting:

I had tried putting the drive as private in sys pref, but here's the snag-
I have to connect the drive for System Preferences to see it to add it to the list. Once connected, I have to let it index before I can put it in the privacy list. OK- No big deal.
But...
Next time I connect it, the privacy setting is ignored, and it re-indexes all three volumes.
Crazy, huh?