More on search hell

Hi! gilmoses, welcome to W7F :)

Just off the top of my head, have you tried *Persist* or %Persist%

gilmoses said:

Hi,

I'm back with another frustrating search problem:
How to find a file by a string in the middle of the filename?

E.g. I'm searching for files with "Persist" in their name, in C:\Windows:

filename:Persist

10 items are found, but not this one:
"CbsPersist_20101012145040.cab" (in my C:\Windows\Logs)

That's because "Persist" does not start the filename, and is not after a dot or a hyphen.
I've tried looking in the advanced syntax for search but to no avail.

This is of course an example, I have dozens of log files with a similar naming convention (capital letter for each word start, LikeThisForExample) from which I must find a file.

Please help,

Thanks,
Gil.

You can't find those files, because by default the "C:\Windows" folder, and all it's subfolders, are not included in the search index.

I did a quick test to verify that I had files with "persist" in the filename:


But as you can see, a search in Windows found nothing:


As stated, this is because "C:\Windows" is excluded from the index:


So if you absolutely must find such files, but are not willing to add "C:\Windows" to the index, try this:

1. Open Windows Explorer, and navigate to "C:\Windows"
2. Make sure that there are no files selected.
3. Hold down the <SHIFT> key, and right-click an empty part of the list (anything not containing an icon)
4. Click the "Open command window here" option
5. A Command Prompt should open to "C:\Windows"
6. If you only want to search the LOGS folders, type "CD Logs" (without quotes) and press <ENTER>
7. Type "dir *persist*.* /a /s /p" (without the quotes) and press <ENTER>.

For more information on the parameters of DIR, type "DIR /?" (without quotes) and press <ENTER>

Code:

 
C:\Windows\Logs>dir *persist*.* /a /s /p
 Volume in drive C is Windows 7 Ultimate x64
 Volume Serial Number is 365F-53AD
 Directory of C:\Windows\Logs\CBS
08/08/2010  16:32           780,937 CbsPersist_20100808161414.cab
06/10/2010  06:12           612,423 CbsPersist_20101006220117.cab
               2 File(s)      1,393,360 bytes
     Total Files Listed:
               2 File(s)      1,393,360 bytes
               0 Dir(s)  25,829,761,024 bytes free
C:\Windows\Logs>dir *persist*.* /a /s /p /b
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20100808161414.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20101006220117.cab
C:\Windows\Logs>

Find any one of differently named files

Code:

find . \( -name "*jsp" -o -name "*java" \) -type f -ls

The -ls option prints extended information, and the example finds any file whose name ends with either 'jsp' or 'java'. Note that the parentheses are required. Also note that the operator "or" can be abbreviated as "o". The "and" operator is assumed where no operator is given. In many shells the parentheses must be escaped with a backslash, "\(" and "\)", to prevent them from being interpreted as special shell characters. The -ls option and the -or operator are not available on all versions of find.

find - Wiki

Your word would have to be inserted where jsp and java are.

Peter, would the command line work even if the HDD was not Indexed?

Anak said:

Peter, would the command line work even if the HDD was not Indexed?

Yes, it would.

Anak said:

Peter, would the command line work even if the HDD was not Indexed?

I'm not Peter but please allow me to answer: Yes.

BTW, there's two ways to use Windows search, searching index only and searching all locations.

When you search using Start Menu > Search field, you search indexed locations only. Searching from Explorer window's search field searches also non indexed locations from that location and downwards for instance searching in Explorer window for C:\Windows searches C:\Windows and all its subfolders, searching in My Computer window searches the whole computer, searching Explorer window for drive F: searches the whole drive F:.

Kari

gilmoses said:

Dzomlija,
As Anak had pointed out, you WILL find the file if you specify filename:*persist*.

I don't think a folder must be indexed in order to find a file there - that would be ridiculous. The search will just be slower.

Gil.

Sorry 'bout that, I'm a bit daft this morning [HITTING MYSELF ON THE HEAD], and should've remembered the wildcards.