Search Function Way Too Basic!

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  1. Posts : 269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
       #1

    Search Function Way Too Basic!


    Hi,

    When I had XP I could search for a pdf anywhere in My Documents and have two words in the search that I know were contained somewhere in the pdf.

    Now I know I have a pdf somewhere with two particular words in, but as neither words are in the title, the Search function is not giving me anything in Windows 7!

    Does anone know how to do a more advanced search please?

    Thanks a lot
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 968
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #2

    Hmm it works for me when I use it outside of the start menu like when I search from My Computers:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Search Function Way Too Basic!-8-19-2011-9-07-51-am.png  
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 299
    openSUSE 13.1 64bit
       #3

    Works for me to??

    Let it pull back the initial results, then click on 'see more results' - you can then filter the file type.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks guys

    Seth - judging from the highlighted words in your pic, your search pulled docs where the word was in the title.

    I need words in the document but not in the title.

    Nigsy - I do not get a 'see more results' link!
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 3,427
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #5

    Start Menu search will pull files where the words are in the document and not in the file name, although I believe it prefers file names first. I believe the main search will do too.

    The reason seth's didn't is because he was looking for red blue, which is unlikely to appear together in a document.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    OK Nigsy, I see you used the Start button to do your search.

    Yeah I tried that too, but not only did I not get the file I wanted. ZERO pdfs came back! The only results were xlsx and docx!

    At least with the top right search box in Windows Explorer I got pdfs returned, but only with words in the title.

    Why can't they make Search like it was in XP?
    You could find millions of files that had a particular word in!!
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    SeveredSolo,

    I did the Start menu search and clicked See more results, but still only got excel and word docs.

    I also reduced the word to ONE, so that would get rid of the problem of having two words together or not together.

    But to no avail.

    I know I have HUNDREDS of pdfs with the word "article" in, but I'm getting like SIX word docs returned in a Search.

    Unbelievable!
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 3,427
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #8

    Odd... it works fine for me. Actually it bugs me a little, cuz usually I know the file name I am looking for, and it presents me with files containing that word instead.

    Only thing I can think of, are these PDF's in an indexed location?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    severedsolo said:

    Only thing I can think of, are these PDF's in an indexed location?
    What do you mean by that sorry?

    I looked in the whole of MyDocs, and the file is definitely in thewre somewhere. I have many thousands of files.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 3,427
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #10

    In order for Start Menu search to function, the files have to be indexed. Basically... it's like a "catalogue" of files. So windows knows where they are. By default Start Menu search (and regular search if you don't specify location) won't search non-indexed locations.

    I know that User files (My Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos etc. anywhere in Libraries I believe) is indexed. So make sure the PDF's are in there, and then give it a little while to index them. (not sure exactly how long it takes to be honest)
      My Computer


 
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