Windows Search issue

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Do you have the latest versionWindows Search installed? It is much better than the original search in XP.

I have XP, and have been tearing my hair out when trying to use the search facilities in Vista on my wife’s laptop. If I try Windows Search (1) is it going to be like Vista, in which case I am not sure I’ll like it, and (2) if I don’t like it can I uninstall it again?

Ian

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I have XP, and have been tearing my hair out when trying to use the search facilities in Vista on my wife’s laptop. If I try Windows Search (1) is it going to be like Vista, in which case I am not sure I’ll like it, and (2) if I don’t like it can I uninstall it again?

It will be very similar. You can uninstall the update. What don’t you like?

Joe

--Joe

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It will be very similar. You can uninstall the update. What don’t you like?

Joe

I suppose that one of the things I didn’t like was not being able straight away to specify things like the dates between which a file had been modified. As far as I could see, we had to do a simple search first, and when that didn’t find what we wanted then we could do an advanced search. (If that is not actually the case, then my complaint is that the system is confusing, and not intuitive. Though perhaps it’s just that it’s not what I am used to.)

And then there is the annoying thing of Search being removed from the start menu and context menus after SP1 is installed. 

But if I can uninstall it, perhaps I’ll give Windows Search a go.

Ian

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I suppose that one of the things I didn’t like was not being able straight away to specify things like the dates between which a file had been modified. As far as I could see, we had to do a simple search first, and when that didn’t find what we wanted then we could do an advanced search. (If that is not actually the case, then my complaint is that the system is confusing, and not intuitive. Though perhaps it’s just that it’s not what I am used to.)

Search was removed from the Start menu to avoid further legal issues when Google raised a stink.

Have a look at Advanced search techniques – Windows Vista Team Blog – The Windows Blog for information on using search in Vista, Win7, & desktop search in XP.

Joe

--Joe

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Search was removed from the Start menu to avoid further legal issues when Google raised a stink.

I know. And while I appreciate that it is a good thing that MS doesn’t just have a monopoly, my view is that Google’s stink has just resulted in a change that makes life harder for ordinary users.

Have a look at Advanced search techniques – Windows Vista Team Blog – The Windows Blog for information on using search in Vista, Win7, & desktop search in XP.

Thanks, I will.

Ian

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I thought that it was indexing everything but it wasn’t. Once I had made sure that it was set to index My Documents and all the subfolders and files too, it could then find the file concerned. So it is still on probation rather than having been ousted.

Thanks for the help.

Ian

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I thought that it was indexing everything but it wasn’t. Once I had made sure that it was set to index My Documents and all the subfolders and files too, it could then find the file concerned. So it is still on probation rather than having been ousted.

Glad you found something. Good luck & keep us informed.

Joe

--Joe

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My favorite search tool is Agent Ransack (free) mentioned to me in a forum some years ago: http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/
Agent Ransack can find a *.txt or *.doc that contains certain text. XP couldn’t do either. Still use it in Vista but sadly the context menu doesn’t work. It was so nice to right-click a folder and search from there.

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I personally have found that Windows Desktop Search and XP don’t work well together. With Vista and Win 7 it does seem to work reasonably well, but with XP it causes more problems than it is worth. Good Luck, but my standard recommendation is not to install within XP. I prefer Copernic Desktop Search in an Xp install. I have experienced much less trouble.

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I personally have found that Windows Desktop Search and XP don’t work well together. With Vista and Win 7 it does seem to work reasonably well, but with XP it causes more problems than it is worth. Good Luck, but my standard recommendation is not to install within XP. I prefer Copernic Desktop Search in an Xp install. I have experienced much less trouble.

Thanks. To be honest, I knew where I was with the standard XP search facilities and they generally met my needs. I have only been trying Windows Search 4.0 because people were singing its praises here, and I thought I’d try it. It’s still on probation.

Ian

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I too like Copernic Desktop Search for finding text within documents (including emails).

For all other searching, I use Search Everything (free): http://www.voidtools.com/
It is amazingly fast once it’s indexed and can be used to find any file type, system or not.

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If you mean just the 32-bit vs 64-bit version of the patch. The 32-bit patch is meant to be used with a 32-bit version of the operating system mentioned. Generally, the install program will check to make sure that you are installing the patch on the appropriate operating system (as seen by your original error message).

If you mean the difference between 32-bit & 64-bit operating system, the diference is essentially the amount of RAM that can be addressed by any one program. There are other differences that are dependent on the OS being discussed.

Joe

OK I have downloaded and installed Windows Search 4.0 on my Windows XP machine. And now I remember why I hated Search on my wife’s Vista machine.

It’s HORRIBLE. I can’t even get it to work. Say I want to find a file called Emma.doc which I know exists in My Documents. If I type Emma.doc in either the box at the top, or in the File name box, what then? There is no button to click to start the search, so all you can do is press Enter to be told that nothing was found. If I want to specify things like when the file was modified, the only choices I get in the Date field are Any, Today, Yesterday, Last week or Last month. 

Whereas if I click the link at the bottom saying Click here to use Search companion, I can say when the file was modified, specify the file name, click a user-friendly button that says Search and it finds the file almost immediately.

There isn’t even any Help to find out how to use it. You click on Help and all you get is “Is this copy of Windows legal” and “About Windows).

So at the moment, I am not sure what I have gained by installing this. Tell me why I shouldn’t uninstall it again!

Ian

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[snip]
Say I want to find a file called Emma.doc which I know exists in My Documents. If I type Emma.doc in either the box at the top, or in the File name box, what then? There is no button to click to start the search, so all you can do is press Enter to be told that nothing was found. If I want to specify things like when the file was modified, the only choices I get in the Date field are Any, Today, Yesterday, Last week or Last month. 

Whereas if I click the link at the bottom saying Click here to use Search companion, I can say when the file was modified, specify the file name, click a user-friendly button that says Search and it finds the file almost immediately.

Yep, Enter works. Or press the button “Desktop” (it is button).

Windows Search uses an index in contrast to the Search Companion (XP’s native search). Have you let it finish its indexing of the My Documents folder, or checked that it is included in the index?

I use a combination of Windows Search, Search Companion and the Command Prompt depnding on what I want to do; and yes date strings such as >=2009-11-25<2009-11-30 in Windows Search is awkward.

I can't tell you why you shouldn't uninstall it again. I do not only use Windows Search, but that's perhaps a matter for another thread.

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Yep, Enter works. Or press the button “Desktop” (it is button).

Windows Search uses an index in contrast to the Search Companion (XP’s native search). Have you let it finish its indexing of the My Documents folder, or checked that it is included in the index?

I’m sure it must have finished indexing by now, after some 24 hours, and I have checked that the box is selected to allow the indexing service to index the My Documents folder.

It still doesn’t find Emma.doc.

If I ask it to look for *.doc, it finds only 2 documents, both of which are in the top level of My Documents, though there are other .doc files in that location. If I ask it to look for *.pdf it only finds two files, both of which are in separate subfolders of My Documents, and there are other .pdf files in the same subfolders (and in a lot of other places) that it doesn’t find at all. If I ask it to find *.rtf it doesn’t find any files, though there are plenty of those, too.

Ian

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I’m sure it must have finished indexing by now, after some 24 hours, and I have checked that the box is selected to allow the indexing service to index the My Documents folder.

It still doesn’t find Emma.doc.

If I ask it to look for *.doc, it finds only 2 documents, both of which are in the top level of My Documents, though there are other .doc files in that location. If I ask it to look for *.pdf it only finds two files, both of which are in separate subfolders of My Documents, and there are other .pdf files in the same subfolders (and in a lot of other places) that it doesn’t find at all. If I ask it to find *.rtf it doesn’t find any files, though there are plenty of those, too.

I’d try using the Advanced option and then force it to Rebuild the Index. If that does not work then I’d uninstall it and either go with the original search (which was terrible IMO) or pick some other third party product such as Copernic Desktop Search – The Search Engine for Your PC or Google Desktop Download.

Joe

--Joe

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I’d try using the Advanced option and then force it to Rebuild the Index. If that does not work then I’d uninstall it and either go with the original search (which was terrible IMO) or pick some other third party product such as Copernic Desktop Search – The Search Engine for Your PC or Google Desktop Download.

Joe

OK, thanks. I have set it to rebuild the index.

By the way, I have now found that it does have Help, just you don’t get it from the Help menu. (Silly me! Why did I think that you would?) There is a Help button way over to the right hand side, but I didn’t find it because at the width at which the window opens by default, the Help button is not visible. As far as I can see, I have to resize the window to be at least 1076 pixels wide before the Help button comes into view.

I’ll see whether it can find my files when the re-indexing has finished, but if it can’t, then the uninstall option looks attractive!

Ian

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