A Windows 7 search alternative ?

zigzag3143 said:

juandante said:

Hello, I am looking for a 3rd party search tool wich is about similar to Windows XP search tool.

It should be able to open with the Ctrl+F key in the Explorer.

Thanks for the help and sorry for the mistakes (I'm not English)

There is something called check everything download it here. Everything Search Engine

Good luck

Ken

Searched for "Glary" in Everything Search and Windows Explorer search C Drive.

Only difference is GlaryInitialize is showing up in Everything Search but not showing up in the Windows search

Name: GlaryInitialize
Path: C:Windows\System32\Tasks
Size: blank
Date Modified: blank

I then opened C:\Windows\System32 and searched for "Glary". Nothing showed up.

Everything is faster even with Windows being indexed and also appears to be more comprehensive in its searches as its name "Everything" would lead one to believe.

Evidently Everything searches for more than just files.

SIW2 said:

I also find Everything Search Engine very useful.

It's very fast and efficient - without requiring masses of indexing - it's only for filenames. tho.

Others like Agent Ransack - Free File Searching Utility - to search for file contents

The horse I keep flogging is going to die one day.
These two complement each other and form the basis of my search toolkit.
"Everything" mainly for administration/computer manage activities.
"Agent Ransack/File Locator Lite" Day to day file/contents searches.

[QUOTE
I'll say it one more time, for logic's sake......find out what the problem is, rather than just instantly assume the problem is with Microsoft. If everyone had this problem, it would be called a bug, and Microsoft would be on the hook to fix it. Common sense, people. Common sense.[/QUOTE]

Instantly? Use your own common sense. I'm not some bloody hoser with 1800 posts on this board, I came here as a last resort to find a solution. I've spent days (over the past 5 months) looking for a solution, and bottom line, it just does not work. Content based searches across my network crash or give wrong results! In XP Mode they do not. P-O-S!

logicearth said:

James Colbert said:

I did add all partitions and drives to Indexing and allowed 24 hrs. for the index to rebuild. The results were that the start menu did find the file NOHSC_menu.pdf it couldn’t find before, and found it quickly. However, a search from Computer still failed to find the file at all.

A whole lot of lateness, but...

When you do the search from "Computer" it doesn't use the index. Instead it goes down the file system tree doing a filename match only. So if you have a lot of drives/data then it will take a while.

Using it from the start menu or Win+F Search then it will use the index.

WinKey+F is perfectly useless here. GROD for as long as I care to watch. However, tweaks in the setup here and there and further education on the AQS syntax has provided much better results. A search from Computer actually works pretty well now. Not perfect, but improved and quick enough for me to be content. WinKey+F is benched. No point in wasting time.

James

Hopalong X said:

This may help.

Windows Search - Configure and Use

I looked at the link. It has over 5,500 words.

No doubt that Windows7 search is designed for computers with many many files on them, my guess is upwards of 1 million.

I checked my computer.

It has a paltry 113,500 files on them, 71,500 or 63% are in the c:windows\ directory chain.

The point is for users like myself who have under 50,000 or even double that amount of files on their computer Windows 7 Search Configuration and Use is more trouble than it is worth. Especially when there are third party search programs out there for free that do what I want, don't really need to be configured and on computers with the limited number of files that I have are lightning fast.

DeaconFrost said:

jh2oman said:

MS needs to come clean on this -- as the Editor said a few posts above, a lot of people are having real problems with this. For goodness sake, FIX IT!!!!!

I can't believe I still have to ask this, but why does Microsoft have to come clean one something that works for 99.9% of the people who try it? Instead of randomly pointing fingers, why not try to find out what makes your system different than most others?

I have 6 drives mapped to different server on my current work computer, and 4 mapped at home to my WHS box. I can use the built-in search on any of those locations, and aside from the expected delay, every search works fine and returns what I am looking for.

I'll say it one more time, for logic's sake......find out what the problem is, rather than just instantly assume the problem is with Microsoft. If everyone had this problem, it would be called a bug, and Microsoft would be on the hook to fix it. Common sense, people. Common sense.

It is not always a case of there being a problem.

Many times it is a case of the proper match.

For example I use my computer for streaming videos off the Net, surfing the Net, playing some DVDs and Avi files, and doing a limited amount of Word Processing and Spreadsheet stuff.

I don't need a powerhouse computer and I don't need a powerhouse search engine that is overkill for my needs.

I am sure if I had 1 million files or whatever on my computer I would take the time learn the Windows Search capabilities and configure it to achieve my desired goals.

But my search needs are simple so I only need a simple search program that works quickly and effectively and does not take any time to learn and to configure.

You don't see any of the Indy car drivers on the regular streets driving their ethanol race cars, it would be great overkill for sitting in gridlock.

jh2oman said:

Instantly? Use your own common sense. I'm not some bloody hoser with 1800 posts on this board, I came here as a last resort to find a solution. I've spent days (over the past 5 months) looking for a solution, and bottom line, it just does not work. Content based searches across my network crash or give wrong results! In XP Mode they do not. P-O-S!

If it is a bug, aka Microsoft's fault, why would it work for just about everyone else? How about my users...all 30 of them who've been switched to Windows 7 Professional? We store everything on our servers, and I have taught all of them how to use the search so they can find files somewhere across the 150 GB of data we currently store. Not one person has complained of an issue...and these people complain about everything computer-related.

Common sense isn't always common, as demonstrated here. The longer you sit and blame Microsoft, the longer it will be until you decide to find the real culprit. I do sincerely hope you aren't ever a legal prosecutor or a detective.

Buddahfan said:

But my search needs are simple so I only need a simple search program that works quickly and effectively and does not take any time to learn and to configure.

You've got it right in front of you. What does the power of the computer have to do with it? There isn't even a learning curve, because the syntax is either readily available, or part of common knowledge, as demonstrated in the previous thread in which a user bashed Microsoft (sound familair?) for not returning all of their .sol files....several pages worth of rants, until it was discovered the OP didn't know the simple and decades old syntax of *.sol to find them. Simply put...the search feature does exactly what it is instructed to do, and it is available on screen nearly everywhere.

If my users can learn how to use it effectively, than there's no excuse for anyone else not to. These are people who often call me at home at night asking how to undock their laptops from their docking stations, what cables they need for wireless internet, and what it means when they put their computers to sleep. Yes, those are true stories.