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Windows Search

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  • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

    I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

    Mike HankeyM Offline
    Mike HankeyM Offline
    Mike Hankey
    wrote on last edited by
    #6

    Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

    I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search.

    You got it right there. It amazes me that file explorer has been around for many years and instead of progressing into a leading edge tool it has digressed into a POS.

    Never use money to measure wealth! http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] My Site

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    • A AspDotNetDev

      Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

      Windows Search

      It's rubbish.

      Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

      I have never found anything I was looking for using it.

      It maintains an index of certain file types. It doesn't search for other file types. If you disable the index, it searches all files. Still, it may not be capable of searching certain file types (not sure about that).

      [Forum Guidelines]

      A Offline
      A Offline
      Anthony Mushrow
      wrote on last edited by
      #7

      I always keep indexing off. I rarely need to search my system for things and I don't need the hard disk thrashing about while windows starts indexing everything because it feels I'm not busy enough. So what if I need to wait an extra 30 seconds to find that one file I need.

      My current favourite word: Harsh!

      -SK Genius

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      • A Anthony Mushrow

        I always keep indexing off. I rarely need to search my system for things and I don't need the hard disk thrashing about while windows starts indexing everything because it feels I'm not busy enough. So what if I need to wait an extra 30 seconds to find that one file I need.

        My current favourite word: Harsh!

        -SK Genius

        L Offline
        L Offline
        Luc Pattyn
        wrote on last edited by
        #8

        I agree. No indexing for me either. :)

        Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [Why QA sucks] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

        Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, and improve readability.

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        • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

          I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

          L Offline
          L Offline
          leppie
          wrote on last edited by
          #9

          Once again I have to recommend Total Commander. :)

          xacc.ide
          IronScheme - 1.0 RC 1 - out now!
          ((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x))) The Scheme Programming Language – Fourth Edition

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          • Mike HankeyM Mike Hankey

            Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

            I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search.

            You got it right there. It amazes me that file explorer has been around for many years and instead of progressing into a leading edge tool it has digressed into a POS.

            Never use money to measure wealth! http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^] My Site

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #10

            That reminds me, I came out of work last week and someone had been fertilising the plants on the business park. "Funny," thinks I "a lot of managment meetings today."

            Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]

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            • L leppie

              Once again I have to recommend Total Commander. :)

              xacc.ide
              IronScheme - 1.0 RC 1 - out now!
              ((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x))) The Scheme Programming Language – Fourth Edition

              E Offline
              E Offline
              Euhemerus
              wrote on last edited by
              #11

              Have you considered Directory Opus? http://www.gpsoft.com.au/Intro.html[^] and http://nudel.dopus.com/opus9/[^] I have no affiliation with GPSoft but I do recommend their Directory Opus File Manager which is highly customisable, has excellent search facilities and includes its own scripting language for making custom commands and functions. It's the first piece of software that gets installed on any of my Windows installations. If they had a Linux version, I wouldn't even bother with Windows at all.

              Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

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              • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                B Offline
                B Offline
                Bassam Abdul Baki
                wrote on last edited by
                #12

                Agent Ransack, AKA FileLocator, is king.

                Web - BM - RSS - Math - LinkedIn

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                • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                  I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #13

                  I wuite agree, it is absoloute shit on win7. Next thing, try doing a search for 'contained in' on win7, it will almost destroy your brain trying to work it out.

                  Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription

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                  • L leppie

                    Once again I have to recommend Total Commander. :)

                    xacc.ide
                    IronScheme - 1.0 RC 1 - out now!
                    ((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x))) The Scheme Programming Language – Fourth Edition

                    B Offline
                    B Offline
                    B V Papadopoulos
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #14

                    Two thumbs up for Total Commander. Since I've learned to use it, I dumped windows explorer and all of its the related gui subtracts. Greetings from Greece

                    Code4Fun&&$$$

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                    • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                      I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      stevev6
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #15

                      It was my understanding that grep was fully functional long before windows came onto the scene. You have to work pretty hard to screw up a nice tool like that.

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                      • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                        I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                        J Offline
                        J Offline
                        jlwarlow
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #16

                        Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

                        I have never found anything I was looking for using it.

                        Windows search kind of works when you know how it works and either change the index or how you ask to get results, you shouldn't have to do this! Plus, you can't trust the results as it quite often misses results!

                        Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

                        So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing.

                        Same here, I use DOS or Visual Studio - always finds what I want.

                        A 1 Reply Last reply
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                        • J jlwarlow

                          Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

                          I have never found anything I was looking for using it.

                          Windows search kind of works when you know how it works and either change the index or how you ask to get results, you shouldn't have to do this! Plus, you can't trust the results as it quite often misses results!

                          Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

                          So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing.

                          Same here, I use DOS or Visual Studio - always finds what I want.

                          A Offline
                          A Offline
                          adudley256
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #17

                          same here, windows search.... don't find the file that i know is there..... Agent Ransack... finds more files than I thought was there. job done.

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                          • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                            I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                            K Offline
                            K Offline
                            Kalyan_A
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #18

                            which OS are you on? it seems to work fine on W7 x64 much quicker than its previous cousins! cheers

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                            • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                              I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                              E Offline
                              E Offline
                              eFotografo
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #19

                              If all you need to do is find files (not search for content) then you really need the "Everything" search tool from voidtools: http://www.voidtools.com/[^]. There's also a portable version, if you don't want to have to install the app. The app is insanely fast when indexing the entire disk (took a couple of minutes on my system, to index 548.809 objects), yet the index file is tiny (2.68Mb). Searches are also near instantaneous (just typed "xyz" into the search box and found 50 (!) files with "xyz" in the name - and the search finished practically at the instant I typed the last letter :-) I've been using Everything for nearly 2 years now, and can't imagine life without it! HTH, John

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                              • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                                I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                                R Offline
                                R Offline
                                RastislavL
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #20

                                I use attrib /s *XYZ* and it is as fast as dir. Purpose of attrib is different, but it finds searched files. If you want to display folders use attrib /s /d *XYZ*

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                                • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                                  I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  M i s t e r L i s t e r
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #21

                                  I always use the "Search Companion" when using windows search... I agree windows search sucks !

                                  1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • A adudley256

                                    same here, windows search.... don't find the file that i know is there..... Agent Ransack... finds more files than I thought was there. job done.

                                    T Offline
                                    T Offline
                                    TNCaver
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #22

                                    Agent Ransack was nice until Win7 when it lost the ability to integrate into Windows Exploror's right-click menu. Now I use Super Finder XT. It would be interesting to get the inside scoop on why MS thinks it has improved Windows Search when it clearly fails 99% of the time.

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                                    • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                                      I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                                      M Offline
                                      M Offline
                                      Mark AJA
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #23

                                      Bring Back Windows Search. Windows XP had a search option in the start menu that worked. When they moved it to the top right of the directory window with Windows Vista and Windows 7 it stooped working. Dose it still search all drives? No. Dose it search down all directories from the root directory? No. Only search for files in the displayed directory window and no sub-directories. Why? Dose it search for text in a file? No. And why dose it remove the displayed directory list of files and directories with the results of its search? Because they think it should be displayed in the same window. "indexing", what's that? There are no options when entering text as there was with search in Windows XP. I expect there must be some hidden menu in a directory windows menu as there is now no search window. At least we can still search using the Disc Operating System.

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                                      • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                                        I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                                        Y Offline
                                        Y Offline
                                        yoni at jefco
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #24

                                        Agree. I don't know why there isn't someone at M$ who isn't in charge of making sure that stupid broken limping scrod like this is not ever ever released. I actually sometime use Visual Studio's Find in Files when I need to find stuff. Works pretty good, and you can also use regular expressions ... err... I mean IRRegular Expressions, as they do not use the standard regex syntax the rest of the world uses. (Another thing the VP in Charge of Suppressing Limping Scrod should have caught out). [Edit - I just did a search and replace of an IP address in over 2000 files using Visual Studio, and it worked like a charm.] YS

                                        modified on Monday, October 4, 2010 6:47 PM

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                                        • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                                          I've not encountered a more useless piece of bloat than Windows Search. I have never found anything I was looking for using it. I wanted to search for any and all files with XYZ anywhere in the name, so I tried Windows Search, and it found nothing, zilch. So I opened a DOS box and did dir *XYZ*.* /s and it came up with about 25 matches in 1/1000th the time it took Windows Search to say it found nothing. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to chuck the PC off the balcony.

                                          F Offline
                                          F Offline
                                          Fabio Franco
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #25

                                          I beleive it still has search companion somewhere available if you want to search for all files.

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