"advanced" search option

[SP]

Is there any kind of "advanced search" option? What I want to do is search
for a document when I know a key phrase inside the document but can't recall
the document name.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

The search facility in Windows Explorer can do that.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

 

[SP]

Thanks for answering but I don't understand --- please provide more detailed
instructions.

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

By "Windows Explorer," Doug means Start > "My Computer" (in Windows
XP) or "Computer" (in Vista). (When you burrow more deeply into
Windows, it's still called Explorer.)

If you're running Vista, there's a "Search" box on almost any panel
you open by (double-)clicking on a folder.

 

[Greg Maxey]

By "Windows Explorer," Doug means Start > "My Computer" (in Windows
XP) or "Computer" (in Vista). (When you burrow more deeply into
Windows, it's still called Explorer.)

If you're running Vista, there's a "Search" box on almost any panel
you open by (double-)clicking on a folder.




- Show quoted text -

Peter,

Weren't you spanked just a few weeks ago for posting here your opinion
of what other people "mean" when they post? It seems that you would
respect the fact that these people are considerably more experienced
and familiar with computers in general and Word in particular than you
are!

I still use Windows Explorer exlusively. I imagine a lot of other
people do to. I like the layout and feel of it better than My
Comptuter. When I use the term in a post it is what I mean. I don't
mean "My Computer" and I don't use Vista.

In the future and in your ongoing but faltering quest to bridle your
arrogance you might consider something like:

"Windows Explorer" is a windows application that you can use to work
with and manage files and folders on your computer. You can access it
in WindowsXP by clicking Start>All Program>Accessorries>WIndows
Explorer. You can easily pin it to your Start menu. Alternatively
you can use "My Computer" with Windows XP or "Computer" with Vista.

This way you have provided helpful information without pretending know
more than another person.

Cheers.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I'm not sure I understand this. I was not aware that Windows Explorer was
listed as an Accessory, though I suppose that makes sense. When I use it,
however, it expands My Documents (and that is the heading in the title bar),
which is rarely what I want when I open what I call Windows Explorer, using
Winkey+E. To be sure, that app has My Computer on the title bar, and it
shows me what I want to see, which is the various drives that I might want
to access.

If you use the Windows Explorer path you mention to open My Documents, then
it is that much more difficult to find system files, while are buried inside
My Computer (on C

A third way to access an Explorer window is to right-click on the Start
button and choose Explore. This opens a window with the title bar
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu, which is an intriguing
place to start but not, to me, as useful as My Computer, so I will continue
to use Winkey+E.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

By "Windows Explorer," Doug means Start > "My Computer" (in Windows
XP) or "Computer" (in Vista). (When you burrow more deeply into
Windows, it's still called Explorer.)

If you're running Vista, there's a "Search" box on almost any panel
you open by (double-)clicking on a folder.




- Show quoted text -

Peter,

Weren't you spanked just a few weeks ago for posting here your opinion
of what other people "mean" when they post? It seems that you would
respect the fact that these people are considerably more experienced
and familiar with computers in general and Word in particular than you
are!

I still use Windows Explorer exlusively. I imagine a lot of other
people do to. I like the layout and feel of it better than My
Comptuter. When I use the term in a post it is what I mean. I don't
mean "My Computer" and I don't use Vista.

In the future and in your ongoing but faltering quest to bridle your
arrogance you might consider something like:

"Windows Explorer" is a windows application that you can use to work
with and manage files and folders on your computer. You can access it
in WindowsXP by clicking Start>All Program>Accessorries>WIndows
Explorer. You can easily pin it to your Start menu. Alternatively
you can use "My Computer" with Windows XP or "Computer" with Vista.

This way you have provided helpful information without pretending know
more than another person.

Cheers.

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

And you were making such progress. (Greg initiated a perfectly civil
email conversation about a macro for reversing stretches of text.)

Do you have some concise way of explaining to a newbie that when an
experienced "old hand" refers to "Explorer," the way the newbie can
access the functions of interest is by going to "(My) Computer," while
at the same time reminding "old hands" that the newbie will not see a
choice "Explorer" or "Windows Explorer" anywhere on their desktop?

Would you be happier if I said "'Explorer' means '(My)
Computer'" (even though that's far from true)?

If _you_ want to use "Windows Explorer" in your work, that's just
fine. But you _must_ remember that _most of the peoplle asking
questions here have no idea what "Windows Explorer' is or how to find
it_.

If you thell someone to use "Explorer," you have to explain to them
how to do so -- or you have forced them to waste more time coming back
here, like SP, to ask what you meant.

I see from your "sample paragraph" below that accessing "Explorer" is
_considerably_ more compicated than accessing "(My) Computer," and
thus _dis_preferred for a beginner.

So yes, if Greg Maxey tells someone to use "Explorer" for something
without explanation, I _will_ jump in and say that Greg meant "(My)
Computer."

 

[Greg Maxey]

Peter,

While I am admittingly not as learned as you are with languages, spelling,
punctuation or grammar, I do know what I mean and I mean what I say.

When I say "Windows Explorer" it is what I mean and I offered you a
perfectly polite method of offering your preferred alternative.

The choice is simple. Change your behavior and be polite or remain being
rude and arrogant.

Cheers.

And you were making such progress. (Greg initiated a perfectly civil
email conversation about a macro for reversing stretches of text.)

Do you have some concise way of explaining to a newbie that when an
experienced "old hand" refers to "Explorer," the way the newbie can
access the functions of interest is by going to "(My) Computer," while
at the same time reminding "old hands" that the newbie will not see a
choice "Explorer" or "Windows Explorer" anywhere on their desktop?

Would you be happier if I said "'Explorer' means '(My)
Computer'" (even though that's far from true)?

If _you_ want to use "Windows Explorer" in your work, that's just
fine. But you _must_ remember that _most of the peoplle asking
questions here have no idea what "Windows Explorer' is or how to find
it_.

If you thell someone to use "Explorer," you have to explain to them
how to do so -- or you have forced them to waste more time coming back
here, like SP, to ask what you meant.

I see from your "sample paragraph" below that accessing "Explorer" is
_considerably_ more compicated than accessing "(My) Computer," and
thus _dis_preferred for a beginner.

So yes, if Greg Maxey tells someone to use "Explorer" for something
without explanation, I _will_ jump in and say that Greg meant "(My)
Computer."

--
Greg Maxey

See my web site http://gregmaxey.mvps.org
for an eclectic collection of Word Tips.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows
the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a
worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." - TR

 

[Greg Maxey]

Ms Barnhill,

"Windows Explorer" is on the Start>All Programs>Accessories tree. I have
used if for years and I use it all of the time. So much so that I have
pinned it to the Start Menu. Unlike some people, I don't like a cluttered
desktop. We all can't be like Peter T. Daniels. If "My Computer" was ever
on it then I deleted it ages ago. Yes, there is a "My Computer" on the
Start Menu as well. I don't use it, because I don't like the layout and I
have never had the interest or taken the time to see if I could make the
layout suit my needs. Windows Explorer suits my needs and that is what I
use.

You are correct. Starting Windows Explorer with Start>All
Progarms>Accessorries opens the Explorer with My Documents. That is what I
usully want. Using the WinKey+E opens almost an identical view except "My
Computer" is expanded.

With a little manipulation I can make the "Start>My Comptuter" view that Mr.
Daniels insists is the only acceptable approach look almost exactly like the
view I get with "Windows Explorer." I just haven't found a way to make the
settings stick.

Who knows (I don't) all three of them may be the very same application with
a different command line setup that determines how they initially appear.

The bottom line as far as I am concerned is that Mr. Daniels should find
another way to interject his opinions, advice and suggestions and stop
telling other people what another person means. Considering that he can
never admit that he is wrong I suppose we will all have to endure his
arrogance.

I'm not sure I understand this. I was not aware that Windows Explorer
was listed as an Accessory, though I suppose that makes sense. When I
use it, however, it expands My Documents (and that is the heading in
the title bar), which is rarely what I want when I open what I call
Windows Explorer, using Winkey+E. To be sure, that app has My
Computer on the title bar, and it shows me what I want to see, which
is the various drives that I might want to access.

If you use the Windows Explorer path you mention to open My
Documents, then it is that much more difficult to find system files,
while are buried inside My Computer (on C

A third way to access an Explorer window is to right-click on the
Start button and choose Explore. This opens a window with the title
bar C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu, which is an
intriguing place to start but not, to me, as useful as My Computer,
so I will continue to use Winkey+E.




Peter,

Weren't you spanked just a few weeks ago for posting here your opinion
of what other people "mean" when they post? It seems that you would
respect the fact that these people are considerably more experienced
and familiar with computers in general and Word in particular than you
are!

I still use Windows Explorer exlusively. I imagine a lot of other
people do to. I like the layout and feel of it better than My
Comptuter. When I use the term in a post it is what I mean. I don't
mean "My Computer" and I don't use Vista.

In the future and in your ongoing but faltering quest to bridle your
arrogance you might consider something like:

"Windows Explorer" is a windows application that you can use to work
with and manage files and folders on your computer. You can access it
in WindowsXP by clicking Start>All Program>Accessorries>WIndows
Explorer. You can easily pin it to your Start menu. Alternatively
you can use "My Computer" with Windows XP or "Computer" with Vista.

This way you have provided helpful information without pretending know
more than another person.

Cheers.

--
Greg Maxey

See my web site http://gregmaxey.mvps.org
for an eclectic collection of Word Tips.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows
the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a
worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." - TR

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

No, I did not mean My Computer. I meant what I said.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
By "Windows Explorer," Doug means Start > "My Computer" (in Windows
XP) or "Computer" (in Vista). (When you burrow more deeply into
Windows, it's still called Explorer.)

If you're running Vista, there's a "Search" box on almost any panel
you open by (double-)clicking on a folder.

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

Then why didn't you tell SP how to access "Windows Explorer," rather
than forcing SP to come back and _ask_ for "more detailed
instructions"?

 

[Greg Maxey]

Ms Barnhill,

While Doug was confirming that he meant what he said and Mr. Daniels was off
doing what he does, I did a little "lite" research.

Despite our angst with Microsoft's naming methods or choices it seems that
when one wishes to speak of the file manager application associated with
Windows operating systems from Windows95 onward and one wants to be correct
then the proper term is the one that the "old hands" use "Windows Explorer."

It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systmes. It
is also the component of the operating system that presents the user
interface on the monitor and enables the user to control the computer. It is
sometimes referred to as the Windows Shell, or simply "Explorer."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Explorer

While the "My Comuter Tool" on the start menu serves multiple functions, it
seems that "clicking" the "Windows Explorer" icon on Start>All
Programs>Accessories, the "My Computer" icon on the Start Menu, or by
pressing WinKey+e, all initiate a command line that displays some variant of
the same thing i.e., the Windows Explorer file manager application.

I have not wiped my hard drive and reinstalled Windows to confirm the
defualt diplay, but when I click "My Computer" the file manager application
opens captioned "My Computer" with a menu bar and a list of various drives,
hardware, and the shared and my documents folder in a large single window.
There are no tool bars displayed. If I were a "newbie" I would be no closer
to understanding what Doug meant than if I had stayed in bed this morning.

The file manager application associated with Windows Explorer can also be
initiated using Start>Run.

Type in: "Explorer" and press "OK" and the application opens with the same
view I see when I use Start>All Programs>Accessories>Windows Explorer"

By using command line switches any folder can be initially diplayed. For
example:

Explorer /e,/root,C:

Opens the file manager application with the C:\ directory expanded.

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314853

Special folders can also be initially shown and expanded using command line
switches and GUID information. For example, the following gives the same
display as pressing WinKey+e

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /E,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

Source:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/...cts-or-folders-when-opening-windows-explorer/

Any of these command lines could be set as the target for a desktop
shortcut.

What is to be learned from all of this? I have learned:

1. Doug meant exactly what he said: "The search facility in Windows
Explorer can do that."

2. If the sources are reliable and correct, the "Start" menu itself gets
its life from Windows Explorer. While the search facility can be initiated
from the file manager application by showing the standard buttons toolbar
(View>Toolbars>Standard Buttons) and clicing "Search," it can also be
initiated with Start>Search. Again both emerge and begin life from the
slime of Windows Explorer.

3. Nothing has changed. Mr. Daniels is not unfailingly polite. He is as
rude and arrogant as ever. Except for a very, very narrow range of
arcaneWord skills, he rarely knows what he is talking about.

I'm not sure I understand this. I was not aware that Windows Explorer
was listed as an Accessory, though I suppose that makes sense. When I
use it, however, it expands My Documents (and that is the heading in
the title bar), which is rarely what I want when I open what I call
Windows Explorer, using Winkey+E. To be sure, that app has My
Computer on the title bar, and it shows me what I want to see, which
is the various drives that I might want to access.

If you use the Windows Explorer path you mention to open My
Documents, then it is that much more difficult to find system files,
while are buried inside My Computer (on C

A third way to access an Explorer window is to right-click on the
Start button and choose Explore. This opens a window with the title
bar C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu, which is an
intriguing place to start but not, to me, as useful as My Computer,
so I will continue to use Winkey+E.




Peter,

Weren't you spanked just a few weeks ago for posting here your opinion
of what other people "mean" when they post? It seems that you would
respect the fact that these people are considerably more experienced
and familiar with computers in general and Word in particular than you
are!

I still use Windows Explorer exlusively. I imagine a lot of other
people do to. I like the layout and feel of it better than My
Comptuter. When I use the term in a post it is what I mean. I don't
mean "My Computer" and I don't use Vista.

In the future and in your ongoing but faltering quest to bridle your
arrogance you might consider something like:

"Windows Explorer" is a windows application that you can use to work
with and manage files and folders on your computer. You can access it
in WindowsXP by clicking Start>All Program>Accessorries>WIndows
Explorer. You can easily pin it to your Start menu. Alternatively
you can use "My Computer" with Windows XP or "Computer" with Vista.

This way you have provided helpful information without pretending know
more than another person.

Cheers.

--
Greg Maxey

See my web site http://gregmaxey.mvps.org
for an eclectic collection of Word Tips.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows
the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a
worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." - TR

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I don't use the My Computer desktop icon to get to (what I call) Windows
Explorer because Winkey+E is available even when the desktop is not visible.
I do leave the icon there (along with a lot of others I don't use much)
because it is a convenient way to access other information (such as the
Device Manager), by right-clicking and choosing properties. Since I run all
programs maximized, I rarely see the desktop; consequently it doesn't bother
me that I have four neat columns of mostly unused icons.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Greg Maxey]

Other than to display your unbridled arrogance, what purpose has your
post served?

Do your really think that your feeble attempt to explain what Doug
meant has brought the OP that much closer to finding his or her file?

Start>My Computer opens the "Windows Explorer" file manager
application captioned "My Computer" with a file menu and a list of
directories, hardware, and a few folders. It may or may not have a
toolbar diplayed showing an icon "Search."

There or not, the "Search" icon, if pressed, initiates the search
facility of Windows Explorer.

So if the icon where not there could we then conclude that you had
"forced" the OP to come back for more detailed instructions?

The OP can execute the search facility by pressing Start>Search.

 

[Greg Maxey]

Is there any kind of "advanced search" option?  What I want to do is search
for a document when I know a key phrase inside the document but can't recall
the document name.

SP,

I am sorry. Sometimes I let my quest to muzzle a persistent troll
come before trying to assist people with Word issues.

You can access the Windows Explorer seach facility in WindowsXP by
clicking Start>Search. When the facility opens, and assuming your are
looking for a Word document, click "Documents" then "use advanced
search options" there you will see a field to enter the key phrase
contained in your document.

I hope this helps. Your question and your follow on question was
perfectly acceptable. I wish I would have tried to help you earlier.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Another way to access an Explorer window is to double-click the My Documents
icon on the desktop. Like you, I can't be sure to what extent my
customizations are affecting my view of any of these windows, but it is
possible to display various toolbars and to customize them. I suspect that
the Folders button I have on my toolbar (to open the Folders panel if it is
not displayed) is my customization. I also discovered that the panel at the
left is called the Explorer Bar, and that there are a number of choices for
what it displays. My preference is for Folders, but when you choose to
search, you get the Search panel (which I find much less usable than in the
past).

What could be especially confusing, I think, is that several of the options
are things like Favorites and History that would provide access to Web pages
using Internet Explorer, further blurring the difference between the two
Explorer applications.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, I find it much more efficient, if I want to search a specific folder
or drive, to open an Explorer window first, open the desired folder or
drive, and then click Search on the toolbar. This restricts the search to
just that folder or drive.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Is there any kind of "advanced search" option? What I want to do is search
for a document when I know a key phrase inside the document but can't
recall
the document name.

SP,

I am sorry. Sometimes I let my quest to muzzle a persistent troll
come before trying to assist people with Word issues.

You can access the Windows Explorer seach facility in WindowsXP by
clicking Start>Search. When the facility opens, and assuming your are
looking for a Word document, click "Documents" then "use advanced
search options" there you will see a field to enter the key phrase
contained in your document.

I hope this helps. Your question and your follow on question was
perfectly acceptable. I wish I would have tried to help you earlier.

 

[Greg Maxey]

Apparently there are all sorts of ways to initiate the file management
facility of Windows Explorer. We may never discover them all. Each, or
rather many, seem to display a different initial view i.e., with or without
folders displayed, with or without toolbars displayed, etc. The key feature
between them all seems to be they are still the file management facility of
Windows Explorer. That is what it is call regardless if Mr. Daniels likes
it or not.

My point in this branch of this thread remains the same. Daniel's habit of
telling others what someone else means is rude and arrogant. Especially so
when what he tells isn't in fact what the other person meant at all.

Another way to access an Explorer window is to double-click the My
Documents icon on the desktop. Like you, I can't be sure to what
extent my customizations are affecting my view of any of these
windows, but it is possible to display various toolbars and to
customize them. I suspect that the Folders button I have on my
toolbar (to open the Folders panel if it is not displayed) is my
customization. I also discovered that the panel at the left is called
the Explorer Bar, and that there are a number of choices for what it
displays. My preference is for Folders, but when you choose to
search, you get the Search panel (which I find much less usable than
in the past).
What could be especially confusing, I think, is that several of the
options are things like Favorites and History that would provide
access to Web pages using Internet Explorer, further blurring the
difference between the two Explorer applications.

--
Greg Maxey

See my web site http://gregmaxey.mvps.org
for an eclectic collection of Word Tips.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows
the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a
worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." - TR

 

[Greg Maxey]

Or you can click a directory or folder in any Windows Explorer file
management view, then right click and select "Search" from the shortcut
menu. This also restricts the search to the selected directory or folder.

No telling what one might learn and discover once they accept that they
don't know as much as they think they know and start to explore Windows
Explorer ;-)

FWIW, I find it much more efficient, if I want to search a specific
folder or drive, to open an Explorer window first, open the desired
folder or drive, and then click Search on the toolbar. This restricts
the search to just that folder or drive.




SP,

I am sorry. Sometimes I let my quest to muzzle a persistent troll
come before trying to assist people with Word issues.

You can access the Windows Explorer seach facility in WindowsXP by
clicking Start>Search. When the facility opens, and assuming your are
looking for a Word document, click "Documents" then "use advanced
search options" there you will see a field to enter the key phrase
contained in your document.

I hope this helps. Your question and your follow on question was
perfectly acceptable. I wish I would have tried to help you earlier.

--
Greg Maxey

See my web site http://gregmaxey.mvps.org
for an eclectic collection of Word Tips.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows
the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a
worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." - TR