Is there a way to perform a category search like in XP?

[ren1pa]

I'm new and searched the forum for the following and could not find anything close, so here goes:
In XP I was able to do a search by general category such as music or pictures and would get all the different types of files, such as "tiff", "jpg", for picture search etc. Is there a similar function in Seven?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Jacee]

type .jpg in the search box .... is that what you mean?

 

[ren1pa]

type .jpg in the search box .... is that what you mean?

No, not really. In XP, using "advanced", I can search 3 categories: "Pictures and Photos", "Music", and "Video". The search then return all the file types for stored music or photos.
Thanks.

 

[logicearth]

You are looking for "kind:" type that into the search box and it will give you a whole list of selections. A lot more than was possible in XP. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/technicalresources/advquery.mspx

 

[DarkPhoenix]

You are looking for "kind:" type that into the search box and it will give you a whole list of selections. A lot more than was possible in XP. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/technicalresources/advquery.mspx

I was wondering about this myself.

I miss the old XP search too.. I tried pasting "kind:" with or without quotes into the search box and all it does is open up a command prompt window.

I use XP search to find recent files.. or files by date..

I haven't looked at the link yet.. i'll do that now.

EDit: I looked at the page.. you mean to tell me it's only command prompt based, and I have to learn/memorize all the search commands to use it?.. No easy GUI? like in XP.. or am i missing something.. If thats the case.. that really sucks.. I also notice you can "get it now" downlo0ad this.. er.. this is not the same as the search built into windows but a seperate app??

Edit: Oh I see.. the download is offered for XP and Vista.. it is the same as comes with Win 7.

EDIT:
Oh I see.. I found more info here,http://windows7news.com/2009/06/30/finding-files-faster-with-windows-7-search/

After you type Kind: <-- then you type the type of file you want like docs so it would be kind: docs

I still think this sucks compared to the way XP did it.

 

[pezzonovante]

You can follow logicearth's solution by using kind:= filters. But the best method is to use the Library feature of Windows 7. By doing so you can more easily manage your music, pictures and documents. The start menu search results are categorized by libraries.

If you need to find recently modified files, just click on the search box and click on the "date modified: " filter. Then you can specify the date range.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

You can follow logicearth's solution by using kind:= filters. But the best method is to use the Library feature of Windows 7. By doing so you can more easily manage your music, pictures and documents. The start menu search results are categorized by libraries.

If you need to find recently modified files, just click on the search box and click on the "date modified: " filter. Then you can specify the date range.

The library feature only works if you actually have put these files in the library right? I like to put files for different things all over my drive depending on where I need them.. they will not always be in the Library.

I wonder if someone made a 3rd party search app to replace the win 7 app.. I will look.. I hated the new WordPad, so I was able to transfer the old XP wordpad.exe to Win 7 and it works Great.

 

[logicearth]

EDit: I looked at the page.. you mean to tell me it's only command prompt based, and I have to learn/memorize all the search commands to use it?.. No easy GUI? like in XP.. or am i missing something.. If thats the case.. that really sucks.. I also notice you can "get it now" downlo0ad this.. er.. this is not the same as the search built into windows but a seperate app??

A lot of the commands have context sensitive information, for example typing out "date" a drop down appears with a calendar for specific dates as well as a list of predefined values. Adding a few limiting values like < or > you can create a range. So yes there is a GUI, it is all integrated into the search box and context sensitive.

 

[pezzonovante]

You can follow logicearth's solution by using kind:= filters. But the best method is to use the Library feature of Windows 7. By doing so you can more easily manage your music, pictures and documents. The start menu search results are categorized by libraries.

If you need to find recently modified files, just click on the search box and click on the "date modified: " filter. Then you can specify the date range.

The library feature only works if you actually have put these files in the library right? I like to put files for different things all over my drive depending on where I need them.. they will not always be in the Library.

I wonder if someone made a 3rd party search app to replace the win 7 app.. I will look.. I hated the new WordPad, so I was able to transfer the old XP wordpad.exe to Win 7 and it works Great.

No, you can add folders from any location on your computer to the libraries. This, in fact, is the real point of libraries. Just open the specific library, e.g, the Documents library, and click on "Include Location" . From there, you can add/remove folders from libraries.

Here's an advice to manage files very efficiently: Add all your documents, music, pictures and video to the libraries. They will then be automatically indexed. After that whenever you need to find something on your computer, just type anything you remember about that file in the Start Search box. Within a fraction of a second, you will find your results. This is so efficient that I have almost stopped using Windows Explorer.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

No, you can add folders from any location on your computer to the libraries. This, in fact, is the real point of libraries. Just open the specific library, e.g, the Documents library, and click on "Include Location" . From there, you can add/remove folders from libraries.

Here's an advice to manage files very efficiently: Add all your documents, music, pictures and video to the libraries. They will then be automatically indexed. After that whenever you need to find something on your computer, just type anything you remember about that file in the Start Search box. Within a fraction of a second, you will find your results. This is so efficient that I have almost stopped using Windows Explorer.

Wow.. I have to actually add these files to the library.. Even though I really don't want them there.. just to be able to search them easier.. seems like a lot of work to me.. I would much rather have the old search tool back.. much easier, and less demanding...

Why don't Windows recognize the files types for those things and put shortcuts to them in the library (for indexing purposes) instead without making me have to move the files?

I am glad you like the system, and it works great for you.. it would drive me nuts having to do that.. Plus there are times i don't want avi's or music files in the library.. they are in other folders for a reason.. How dare Microsoft presume to tell me where to put my files then tell me it wont search for them like I want Search to unless I comply with Microsofts silly rules.

For now, I have been going to C drive in Explorer and searching my whole drive from there.

 

[logicearth]

Wow.. I have to actually add these files to the library.. Even though I really don't want them there.. just to be able to search them easier.. seems like a lot of work to me.. I would much rather have the old search tool back.. much easier, and less demanding...

No you do not need to put them in to Libraries to search...

Why don't Windows recognize the files types for those things and put shortcuts to them in the library (for indexing purposes) instead without making me have to move the files?

You do not move files to libraries, you merely point libraries to locations and it will aggregate each locations contents so they appear as one.

Why don't you at least try to experiment?

 

[pezzonovante]

No, you can add folders from any location on your computer to the libraries. This, in fact, is the real point of libraries. Just open the specific library, e.g, the Documents library, and click on "Include Location" . From there, you can add/remove folders from libraries.

Here's an advice to manage files very efficiently: Add all your documents, music, pictures and video to the libraries. They will then be automatically indexed. After that whenever you need to find something on your computer, just type anything you remember about that file in the Start Search box. Within a fraction of a second, you will find your results. This is so efficient that I have almost stopped using Windows Explorer.

Wow.. I have to actually add these files to the library.. Even though I really don't want them there.. just to be able to search them easier.. seems like a lot of work to me.. I would much rather have the old search tool back.. much easier, and less demanding...

Why don't Windows recognize the files types for those things and put shortcuts to them in the library (for indexing purposes) instead without making me have to move the files?

I am glad you like the system, and it works great for you.. it would drive me nuts having to do that.. Plus there are times i don't want avi's or music files in the library.. they are in other folders for a reason.. How dare Microsoft presume to tell me where to put my files then tell me it wont search for them like I want Search to unless I comply with Microsofts silly rules.

For now, I have been going to C drive in Explorer and searching my whole drive from there.

You still don't get it

When you "Add" a location to the Library, you are not copying the actual files/folders. What you are doing is sort of passing the address of the folders to the library. Libraries are not real folders- they are virtual folders. They are at most a few kilobytes in size.

One last thing, if you do not want to take advantage of the improved features of Windows 7, then you should never have upgraded in the first place.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

You still don't get it

When you "Add" a location to the Library, you are not copying the actual files/folders. What you are doing is sort of passing the address of the folders to the library. Libraries are not real folders- they are virtual folders. They are at most a few kilobytes in size.

Thank you for the better explanation.. that makes much more since now.

One last thing, if you do not want to take advantage of the improved features of Windows 7, then you should never have upgraded in the first place.

"Improvement" with this feature is in the mind of the beholder. Everytime you upgrade to a new OS there are going to be things you don't like about it.. That's natural. That does not mean I should not have upgraded just because there are a few features I don't like.

 

[pezzonovante]

"Improvement" with this feature is in the mind of the beholder. Everytime you upgrade to a new OS there are going to be things you don't like about it.. That's natural. That does not mean I should not have upgraded just because there are a few features I don't like.

I agree that not everyone will like every new feature. However, before taking a decision you should make an effort to learn about the feature. Now that you know how Libraries and Search work, if you still don't like them, then fair enough-- don't use them. But most of the time people dislike new features because they don't know how it really works.

 

[smsff7]

"Improvement" with this feature is in the mind of the beholder. Everytime you upgrade to a new OS there are going to be things you don't like about it.. That's natural. That does not mean I should not have upgraded just because there are a few features I don't like.

True. I am one of the people who miss the Xp search since it felt more intuitive then the search in 7. There have been times I searched for something and I got results that had nothing to do with what I was looking for like it was just pulling random files out just to take up space.

 

[ren1pa]

Thank you forum and all of you for your responses.
Dark Phoenix; I tried the following as suggested in the various responses and was pleasantly surprized. "Search" then typed "kind: music", and received all the different types of music files, mp3s etc. stored on the computer. Very fast also.