how do I search for specific file types?

[Guest]

In XP I could search for Video's with a simple click. I didn't need to know
all the file types. How do I do this in Vista? And, what if I want all my
Excel files created in the past 2 days? Do I have to search for everything
with an XLS extension to find my files? This is okay if I know the
extension, but in XP, I could use the drop down to identify the file type I
wanted to search for. Is there any way to do this in Vista?

Sorry if this is a duplicate question. I asked in the general group before
realizing this sub group existed. And, I don't know how to remove my
question from the general group.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Keith Miller MVP]

For videos, in the Search box type:

kind:video

Date range search for a specific file type is easiest via Advanced Search
which should be accesible via the right-hand pane of your start menu. Click
the drop arrow labeled 'Advanced Search' and you can specify creation date
after a specified date. You can use '.xls' in the Name box or 'type:Excel'
in the Search box.

The Help & Support topic named 'Tips for finding files' is a good
introduction to searching in Vista.

 

[Daniel Noll]

For videos, in the Search box type:

kind:video

Date range search for a specific file type is easiest via Advanced
Search which should be accesible via the right-hand pane of your start
menu. Click the drop arrow labeled 'Advanced Search' and you can
specify creation date after a specified date. You can use '.xls' in the
Name box or 'type:Excel' in the Search box.

I wonder why it's type: for one and kind: for another.

I guess I'd expect kind:spreadsheet to pull up Excel files, i.e. "kind:"
is generic whereas "type:" is specific.

Daniel

 

[Keith Miller MVP]

Kind is a 'rollup' of file types. .bmp, .jpg, ,tif are all of the kind
'picture'

You can select the 'Kinds' column in a detail view in Explorer to see what
is assigned for Excel spreadsheets. (I haven't installed Office under Vista
yet, I only have it under XP, which doesn't have 'kinds'.

 

[Daniel Noll]

Kind is a 'rollup' of file types. .bmp, .jpg, ,tif are all of the kind
'picture'

You can select the 'Kinds' column in a detail view in Explorer to see
what is assigned for Excel spreadsheets. (I haven't installed Office
under Vista yet, I only have it under XP, which doesn't have 'kinds'.

Unfortunately it's a "document", which isn't really appropriate and is
unhelpful in an office environment where 90% of the content is *actual*
documents which clutter the search results.

But oh well... it can probably be fixed via hacking the registry to
change the kind of this type of file. I might as well add the
OpenDocument ones while I'm at it.

Daniel