Search Function Way Too Basic!

Thanks for your prompt reply SeveredSolo.

All of my files are within the folders you mention. And this one has been since last year, so the time can't be an issue.

I have now found the file through an email search, but this Search issue is not solved.

The pdf file had both the word "article" and the name of the author in it, and was from September last year.

So what should I have done to locate this file, had I not been able to do it any other way?

Also, the title is 4 words together as one word. And the annoying thing is, it does not return the doc in a search if I search for any of the words separately either; only EXACT titles!!

When you say "indexed" do I have to "tell" my PC to index stuff? And how do I do that please?

thanks a lot

ignatzatsonic said:

Your hard drive may not be indexed.

Right click the drive in Explorer and look at properties. Is there a checkmark in the bottom box that refers to indexing?

Hi, yes, the index box is checked on the C drive!

thanks

Hi thanks,

Did we cross posts?

Yes, it is already checked thanks. Damn - I was hoping that was what I was doing wrong!

Type index into the start search and it should present the indexing options entry - open this and in the advanced options section you can specify which of the file types are searched fully and which are searched filename only.

The actual quality of the search will depend on what search algorithms are available, These are provided by 3rd party for the various file-types there are separate suppliers of these algorithms, some free and some paid for .... will see if I can source some

Update

The windows search 4.0 on which the built in search in Win7 and Vista is based, utilised a system of optional .DLL files called iFilters to enhance the basic search, this may still be the case but I CANNOT CONFIRM THIS.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...s/ifilter.mspx
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloa...jsp?ftpID=2611
http://www.ifilter.org/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...(v=VS.85).aspx

Barman58 said:

Type index into the start search and it should present the indexing options entry - open this and in the advanced options section you can specify which of the file types are searched fully and which are searched filename only.

The actual quality of the search will depend on what search algorithms are available, These are provided by 3rd party for the various file-types there are separate suppliers of these algorithms, some free and some paid for .... will see if I can source some

Hi Nigel thanks

I have now changed it to include Index Properties and File Contents, thanks.



(it also said it would take some time to update).

But next to pdfs it says "Registered Ifilter is not found". Is that important?

thanks

I used iFilters quite a bit in Vista but have not done anything with them since. it may be worthwhile trying more than one installable filter until you get one to show in the list correctly, (may just need a re-boot).

The default in win7 without the iFilter is a text search and may actually be good enough for your needs.

Check for the Ifilter DLL and check that it is saved to the correct place (should be in System32 if I recall), also be careful if you are on a 64Bit system as the iFilter must match the OS

Barman58 said:

I used iFilters quite a bit in Vista but have not done anything with them since. it may be worthwhile trying more than one installable filter until you get one to show in the list correctly, (may just need a re-boot).

The default in win7 without the iFilter is a text search and may actually be good enough for your needs.

I am hoping so.

Barman58 said:

Check for the Ifilter DLL and check that it is saved to the correct place (should be in System32 if I recall), also be careful if you are on a 64Bit system as the iFilter must match the OS

There is nothing called ifilter.dll in System32

thanks



I just did another search and it is still not working, so as the C drive is still making "busy noises" I will wait til tomorrow, and see if changing the Advanced options in Index Properties has worked.

thanks

I've just tried to add the adobe PDF filter into my system and it does not install, (not unexpected as I am on x64 ). The standard option seems to be the only one I have available, this being the plain text search, system is indexing as I type so the change from the default has been accepted

BTW the filter DLL may be called anything, (the iFilter DLL above is two words not a filename ), the built-in filter for most standard files is called "Query.dll"