My old sager laptop no longer worked. I however was able to transfer files from it to an external hard drive. Im trying to find this file on it. However, i cannot find it. That was in window 7. My new computer is windows 10.
I know the name of the file but i cannot find it. I do not know the name of the folder. So does that mean if i type the file and its not there, that means the file is 100 percent not on my external?
Don't know much about File Seach in Windows 10.
An external drive would be a "non-indexed" location in Windows 7. Personally I keep windows search disabled and use third party replacements. One of those that is supposed to work in Windows 10 is:
You would need the LITE version which is freeware. Try the portable version for test purposes.
Example: Search for file names containing the text string "plugi" - use asterisks * for wildcards.
Or see other options for finding specific words or phrases in a file's contents.
Last edited by Callender; 07 Oct 2016 at 15:49. Reason: spelling
Another great search tool is Everything, free from voidtools.com.
It works great in W 7 and I'd guess it works in W 10 also.
It finds files as quick as you can type part of the name. It works ONLY on file names, not content.
Just want to agree with ignatzatsonic about using Everything. I have used it for some years, never fails. If you have a few drives connected, give it a second or two - wait until its screen fills up. Link below.
Everything Search Engine
No need to make this more difficult by downloading and installing external search engines when Windows can do it with ease.
Open File Explorer, select the external drive, then type the name of the file you want to search for in the search box in the upper right. Depending on how large the drive is, it might take some time but it will find all instances of that file name on the drive. There's also options available to be able to narrow down the search if you know the date the file was created or how large it is. The drive I did the search on is a 4TB drive with 3.5TB of data on it. Took about 20 seconds for Windows to find 2 instances of the file I searched for. Here's a screenshot:
Each to his own. I've lived with both. "Everything" is better, in my opinion, and it does not make searching harder - quite the opposite. You say potato...
Just downloaded and tried Everything. I think I just found my new search engine! Thanks for the link BobFairmead! Never did like the Windows search engine.
It made the OP's job "harder" because he needed to download and install a 3rd party utility when it wasn't needed. He wasn't complaining that Windows searches were slow or hard, he just didn't know how to do it.
I never said anything good or bad about "Everything", only that Windows could easily do what he asked.
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