Indexing PDF Files on Vista

[Puppy Breath]

In Ultimate they're selected for indexing by default. I would assume they're
also selected in Business edition. Just make sure to put them in an indexed
location. It takes a while to index brand new files. And it only indexes
during idle time. So don't expect immediate search index gratification right
after downloading or creating a pdf file.

If you want to check the file types and indexed folder click Start type inde
and click Indexing Options. Click the Advanced button.

 

[Guest]

How can i index pdf files on windows vista business?

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> "Puppy

In Ultimate they're selected for indexing by default.

But only if Adobe's reader is installed.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Yuri

If you have installed Adobe Reader version 8, the pdf should have been added
automatically to the search index.

You can check this in Control Panel/Indexing Options/Advanced Button/File
Types Tab. Scroll down and make sure that the .PDF file extension is
included in that list.

If PDF is not in that list type PDF at the bottom lrft of that dialog box
and click the Add New Extension button.

 

[Guest]

What i actually wanted was to search for the contents of the pdf files.
However after following what you have said i found an option to "index
properties and file contents", and i opted for this one. That should do it,
shouldnt it. merci beaucoup.
And by the way, the pdf extension was indeed indexed by default.

 

[Guest]

Hi!

The pdf extension is being indexed, but it does not search for the content
of the files, which was what i intended all along. I have Foxit Reader
instead of Adobe Reader.

Can Vista search the content of the pdf file?

Yuri

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> Yuri

The pdf extension is being indexed, but it does not search for the content
of the files, which was what i intended all along. I have Foxit Reader
instead of Adobe Reader.

Can Vista search the content of the pdf file?

You can try using the "plain-text" filter, but this may or may not get
you the results you expect.

I'm trying the latest Adobe Reader (I'm a Foxit user normally) to see if
I can tolerate it enough for the searching feature.

 

[Guest]

PDF files are printer instructions. Plain Text is fairly useless.

 

[Daniel Noll]

In message <[email protected]> "Puppy



But only if Adobe's reader is installed.

That's slack. The format is well documented.

Daniel

 

[Ilia Sacson [MS]]

The format is also well copyrighted...

That's slack. The format is well documented.

Daniel

 

[Daniel Noll]

The format is also well copyrighted...

Doesn't seem to stop everyone else implementing text extractors for it.

Daniel

 

[Guest]

I have the same problem, no indexing of the contents of pdf files in VISTA
whatever buttons I push. If someone knows an answer I would be really
grateful.

 

[Dave Wood [MS]]

There's not a built-in filter to index PDF documents in the box in Vista,
but if you use the latest versions of the products you mention below I
believe you get support for indexing and searching the contents of PDF
files. You can use the Indexing Options Control Panel -> Advanced -> File
Types to see if .PDF files are being indexed.

Also I'm not sure which products support 64-bit Vista ...

 

[Dave]

You need to have an ifilter for pdf files installed. If you have Adobe or
Foxit, they should already be installed.
You also have to check the locations being indexed.

http://www.ifilter.org/

 

[John Hanley]

Not sure this is helpful, but: I have some PDF documents in which the text
content is actually a 'picture' of the text and not truly searchable text.
When one tries to search those 'picture' PDF's (Ctrl + F), no results are
obtained. I imagine that a Vista search for text within such forms of PDF's
will also not return a result. Does that make sense, and would that be the
case in your PDF's?

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi John,

I just tried searching for text within several PDF file and and there were
no results. It only searched on file names.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Bert Kinney]

On a side note, I use Foxit Reader 2.0 to view PDF files and the PDF file
type is present in the file type advanced indexing options.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org



Foxit Software
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that. Following your post I updated my acrobat reader from version
7 to version 8 and suddenly, it works (after reindexing the whole lot). Your
help is much appreciated.

 

[John Hanley]

I also did a similar test just now. I have several PDF's within which I get
search results with Ctrl+F when the file is open in Acrobat 7.0 . However,
searching for the same term (within a file) using a Vista search does not
give that file as a result...which I think is what you were experiencing. I
also see in my Indexing Options that there is a check mark for pdf, so I
seem to have the same mystery as yourself. And then a later post said that
the problem was solved by upgrading to Acrobat 8.0, which I shall look into.
Cheers....

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi John,

Yes, the Vista search will not look inside PDF's.

In an open PDF Foxit Reader's search function works fine, as long as the
contents are not scanned in images.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org