indexing and searching hundreds of PDFs

I am looking for a program that can index search huge amounts of PDF files. It also should have advanced search capabilities (phrases, list of words, dates etc) and it should have result previews.

Any ideas? The one I came across is copernic desktop. But I didn't find the advanced search... and there were no result previews for pdf files (at least I didn't find it).

The Ideal software would be like this: I put all the PDFs in a folder > Software indexed all the files in the folder and subfolders. once it's finished indexing I can enter advanced searches in the software and it immediately shows me not only the files which contain the search terms but also a preview (like google results, where you can see the search term highlighted in context)

this software (I use the 'free' version) may be what you need

Ultra File Search - File Search Utility

the view settings can be details, list, icon, or tile

check it out

tman69 said:

this software (I use the 'free' version) may be what you need

Ultra File Search - File Search Utility

Thank you tman. I just checked it. The "non free" version allows searching of PDF files. However, the program lacks the most important feature. I does not build a search index which once it's done makes "search while you type" possible. Without an Index each search takes around an hour.

I just searched my C drive for .pdf files--it found 56 in about 3 seconds (true it doesn't search as you type--but for free--it's a damn fine tool that beats the hell out of 'windows' search

You can check out Google Desktop and see if this might work for you.
It's discontinued, but you can still download it.
I haven't used it, but mention it because you said
"(like google results, where you can see the search term highlighted in context)"

Read more at
Google Desktop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Download Google Desktop 5.9.1005.12335 - FileHippo.com