Advanced Search

[hlewton]

Not sure if Windows 7 has or identifies a search as advanced but when I do a search in XP for ieSpell it shows up everywhere it is including the Program Files Folder where it is installed. When I do the same search on the Windows 7 machine it does not show up at all unless I am in the folder where it is to begin with. I won't always know where a file that I am searching for resides so how do I use Windows 7 search and have it be useful? Is there advanced settings for it?

Thanks

[HansV]

You can specify search settings in Windows Explorer:
- Click Organize > Folder and Search Options.
- Activate the Search tab.

Also see Find a file or folder.

[hlewton]

Thanks. I did all the above and read the link but still it did not find ieSpell or give me the options mentioned in the "Find a file or folder" link like:
2.Scroll to the bottom of the list of search results. Under Search again in, do one of the following:

•Click Libraries to search across every library.

•Click Computer to search across your entire computer. This is the way to search for files that aren't indexed (such as system or program files). However, be aware that the search will be slower.

•Click Custom to search specific locations.

•Click Internet to search online, using your default web browser and your default search provider. because I guess it has to find something before these options become available. I also saw nowhere to tell it to search the entire computer. Am I missing something?

OK before I posted the above I tried a search from within Windows Explorer itself and maybe that is where you meant for me to start the search. With that search it found ieSpell but not the instance where it shows up in the Program Files Folder. Am I still doing something wrong?

[HansV]

I don't know why it doesn't work - search does find applications for me from the search box that you get when you click Start. "Click Computer to search across your entire computer" would be the option to select if a first search doesn't turn up what you want.

[hlewton]

Thanks Hans and I too have no idea why it doesn't find it. It doesn't even find "ieSpell" even when I search only in the Program Files Folder yet in the Control Panel's "Add/Remove Programs" it shows it is installed in a folder named Program Files\(x86)\ieSpell\ And I know it is installed because it works but not as I want it too but that is in a different thread.

[hlewton]

I did another search for a database file I know is there. When I search the "Computer" the search never ends and it never finds the file. Yet when I do a search for the same file using "Libraries" as the place to search or using the search from the Start menu it finds the file almost instantly. Does this sound normal for Windows 7?

[HansV]

Windows Search indexes several locations, among which your Libraries, so searching those is very fast. Searching non-indexed locations is much slower. But why it doesn't find the file at all is puzzling.

[hlewton]

Thanks. I let it run for over a half hour maybe that wasn't long enough.

[HansV]

That's unlikely, unless you have a very slow computer. I let Windows search for a file buried several folders deep in a non-indexed location, and it was found within a minute when I clicked the option to search the entire computer...

[hlewton]

Yeah I agree there is something screwy and I don't believe I have as slow computer. As a matter of fact it is a brand new Asus Notebook and it says it has a Pentium Dual Core CPU T4500 @ 2.30 GHz 2.30 GHz with 4 GB of RAM. The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium. I don't think it would be considered slow do you think?

I tried the same search using just C: Drive and it too went on forever without finding the file. I am pretty sure I have all the options set as they should be for the search.

Thanks

[HansV]

That is perfectly adequate for Windows 7; it's a bit slower than my desktop PC but not dramatically so. Windows should be able to find any file within a couple of minutes. But I'm afraid I have no idea what could cause this - I hope someone else will have a helpful suggestion.

[hlewton]

I have been searching all over the Net for answers and it seems to be a rather common occurrence and from a lot of the posts even the suggestions to correct it don't work. I have copied a lot of suggestions which include changing entries in the Registry. If I find a solution I'll post it. In the meantime I too hope someone here as a workable suggestion because right now from all I have read it seems there may not be a viable solution. I think it was your link above that said I should not index the entire computer and I believe that came directly from MS.

I sure don't know why MS changed something that worked so well in XP to something that so many have found useless according to many of the articles I just read. I guess I'm lucky that mine does find some files when I use the "Libraries" as the place to search because apparently that isn't always the case. There was even one specific post that mentioned not finding any files located in the "Program Files" folder.

[hlewton]

I thought I had posted this before but can't find it. I have not corrected the problem so now I am looking for a recommendation for a third party desktop search engine that works well with Windows 7. I have tried one called Copernic Desktop Search and it does not do much better than Windows 7's search and it does not find MS Access database files at all. So I uninstalled it. I have looked at Google's desktop search but don't see information as to what files it will or won't find so I didn't try it. Anyone know of a good third party desktop search engine for Windows 7?

Thanks

[HansV]

Everything Search Engine has been mentioned favorably several times. It's free.

[hlewton]

Thank you Hans I will give it a try.

[viking33]

Thank you Hans I will give it a try.

I still use Locate32 which is a little elderly (2007) but it works well and fast in my Win 7 64 bit. You can get a choice a 32 or 64 bit versions here.

http://locate32.net/content/view/18/31/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[hlewton]

Thank you Bob I'll take a look at it.

[hlewton]

Thank you Hans I will give it a try.

I still use Locate32 which is a little elderly (2007) but it works well and fast in my Win 7 64 bit. You can get a choice a 32 or 64 bit versions here.

http://locate32.net/content/view/18/31/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I installed it and so far am loving it. It found everything I asked it to, quite unlike Windows 7 search and the other one I tried that would not locate *.mdb files. It seems very fast and accurate in the limited testing I have done so far. Thanks for the link.

[viking33]

Thank you Hans I will give it a try.

I still use Locate32 which is a little elderly (2007) but it works well and fast in my Win 7 64 bit. You can get a choice a 32 or 64 bit versions here.

http://locate32.net/content/view/18/31/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I installed it and so far am loving it. It found everything I asked it to, quite unlike Windows 7 search and the other one I tried that would not locate *.mdb files. It seems very fast and accurate in the limited testing I have done so far. Thanks for the link.

Glad you liked it.
The only thing to keep in mind is that if you make any major changes or additions, you should run it's Update.exe file to keep it nice and current.
Takes only a minute or two to update.

[hlewton]

Yes I will. Not sure if you know this since you said you were using an older version of Locate32 but the installation for the latest 64 bit version I installed puts a shortcuts on the quick launch tool bar to update the database and also to run Locate32. That makes it easy to remember to run the Update.exe file before doing a search.