Windows Search on different file types

mborner said:

mjf said:

The fact is that some people are having problems with Windows indexed search.

It's true, I've heard some of the complaints about Windows 7 search, but like most complaints, wouldn't you agree that it's more of a user issue/misunderstanding than the fault of Windows? I mean, I understand Windows search pretty well and I've never had issues with it.

Not in this case, because people are still saying it can't do what I need - namely, search file contents on un-indexed files (something I could do in XP). This needs to be an option because I need to search many different file extensions, which I don't want to have to manually put each one into the indexing options, and some files without extensions, which I can't put in there at all.

As for user misunderstandings, if there are lots of them then at some point the fault has to lie with the interface designers rather than the users, imho.

mborner said:

I hear you loud and clear, believe me. We are all here to help each other. Here's a tip that may or may not help you out. Rather than worry about manually adding file types or extensions to your index, why not just index the area, folder, or drive that these files are on. Most likely, all of your search issues will go away. Just trying to help.

My understanding is that it doesn't address the issue - only recognized file types will be indexed. That was the default in XP as well, but in XP there was an option to index unrecognized file types, which has gone away in Windows 7. That's what I'm trying to ascertain, though (if I've missed something), so if anyone knows of a way around this let me know! Sorry if I sound negative - it wasn't meant to be at you, merely at the difficulty of figuring out 100% how the search works for advanced purposes and the seeming removal of features that were there before.

Well teleute did you try "Agent Ransack" ??

After singing it's praises I did another little test:
I searched 400 pdfs (around 1GB) for an obscure reference to 13x19" which I new existed in one document in 3 places.
It found the references in 2min 20sec. This was with the programs multithreading turned off. This option is quite a bit faster but can cause a bit of disk thrashing which I don't like.
Most "normal" searches are much faster of course.

I realise that for very large scale database searching you cannot use non indexed searching.

mjf said:

Well teleute did you try "Agent Ransack" ??

I'm trying it out right now. Happy so far, but I'm going to play awhile before I'm sold on it. However, I'm still hoping to gather some definitive knowledge on the Windows search itself, in case I'm asked, and for curiosity.

Thanks!