MS search function horrible

[Brainless_in_Boston]

I KNOW I'm not the only one with this opinion about how crappy the MS search
function is. I have used MS products for a very long time & since Win 3.1
they seem to go steadily downhill. "We have functionality, we have SP's! We
are flawless, we have no problems with complicated stuff most people do NOT
want to learn!!" MS seems to say.

The search algorighm was apparently written in 1980. It is so freakin
useless it makes me want to smash my monitor and mail the broken chunks
directly to Bill Gates. Let HIM deal with it, as uber-geek and crowned
monopolist he should have to bear the burden of an ever larger and ever
crappier software system.

MS seems fatally unable to admit their software can't or won't do some
things, like search effectively for answers.

Case in point: today (5.9.08) I was just searching for a pdf, dutifully went
to Start/search/files.... entered a "search string" with partial name ".pdf"
looking for an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file. Search returned nothing (zero hits)
from a network drive with tons o' pdf's. Apparently MS thinks a pdf isn't a
file. SAYS WHO???

I tried a number of related searches, trying to find out HOW to find the
freakin pdf's. No effing luck from the online MS "help" site. Thru trial and
repeated error, I found that the MS search function considers a pdf to be a
picture, music, or video! At least, that's the only way I found the file I
wanted. SHEESH!! Geeve mee a break!!!!

And don't get me started on how frustrating and horrible it is trying to use
excel funcitons or (God forbid!) a macro. Haven't these MS people ever heard
about user-friendliness? Drop-down menus that easily drive functions???

Believe it not not my geeky friends, some people (like me & millions of
others) actually have NO INTEREST in being computer programmers. Really, try
hard and imagine that. Okay, try a little harder. Almost there... now, you're
almost like an average person who finds java more enjoyable in a cup with
cream and sugar rather than as a set of written lines with {text here}
{text there} all over the place......

The search algorithm is an abomination., It should be taken out and shot,
relieving us of it's misery. With all the money MS has, they can't just buy
the google algorithm? clone it or something?

Surely there must be someone that understands how to write a search for
"find pdf, find .pdf, find Adobe Acrobat file", or "find adobe pdf file" that
will ACTUALLY give me instructions as to how to FIND THE DAMN FILE!!!

My past experience with MS is they really don't care, have no interest in
actually improving their product, and are quite content having software
systems so copmplicated that people will be willing to spend $59 per hour to
(maybe) find a solution to their problems.

Along the geeky glossary lines, it is extremely frustrating having to KNOW
what MS calls different stuff in order to have a ghost of a chance to
actually, maybe find an aswer to a query usiing the search function. Believe
it or not, my children, some people don't know that "track changes" is what
you need to know to get rid of the crossed out stuff in a word.doc. If a
search to "lined out text in word document" returned a good answer instead of
these first 5 hits...

1 BUG: Heavy Full Text Query Activity Results in Unexpected Timeout Errors
2 Subject line in out-of-office messages is in a language other than English
3 WD2000: Run-time Error 5843 When You Set wdUseWord97LineBreakingRules
Compatibility Option
4 WD2000: Text Larger Than Expected or Distorted in Normal View
5 Justified Text Is Not Aligned Evenly on Lines with Footnote or Endnote
Reference Marks in Word for Mac

.... I would not be writing this.

Well, if I have made one persons day at MS a little different, I will
consider this waste of my time worthwhile.

Ciao, my dears!

 

[Nom.de.Plume]

I KNOW I'm not the only one with this opinion about how crappy the MS
search
function is.

<Remainder snipped>

Take a deep breath and calm down. The sun will shine another day.

Ken Bland

 

[David]

Case in point: today (5.9.08) I was just searching for a pdf, dutifully went
to Start/search/files.... entered a "search string" with partial name ".pdf"
looking for an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file. Search returned nothing (zero hits)
from a network drive with tons o' pdf's. Apparently MS thinks a pdf isn't a
file. SAYS WHO???

You need Agent Ransack.

 

[VanguardLH]

in

I KNOW I'm not the only one with this opinion about how crappy the MS search
function is. I have used MS products for a very long time & since Win 3.1
they seem to go steadily downhill. "We have functionality, we have SP's! We
are flawless, we have no problems with complicated stuff most people do NOT
want to learn!!" MS seems to say.

The search algorighm was apparently written in 1980. It is so freakin
useless it makes me want to smash my monitor and mail the broken chunks
directly to Bill Gates. Let HIM deal with it, as uber-geek and crowned
monopolist he should have to bear the burden of an ever larger and ever
crappier software system.

MS seems fatally unable to admit their software can't or won't do some
things, like search effectively for answers.

Case in point: today (5.9.08) I was just searching for a pdf, dutifully went
to Start/search/files.... entered a "search string" with partial name ".pdf"
looking for an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file. Search returned nothing (zero hits)
from a network drive with tons o' pdf's. Apparently MS thinks a pdf isn't a
file. SAYS WHO???

I tried a number of related searches, trying to find out HOW to find the
freakin pdf's. No effing luck from the online MS "help" site. Thru trial and
repeated error, I found that the MS search function considers a pdf to be a
picture, music, or video! At least, that's the only way I found the file I
wanted. SHEESH!! Geeve mee a break!!!!

And don't get me started on how frustrating and horrible it is trying to use
excel funcitons or (God forbid!) a macro. Haven't these MS people ever heard
about user-friendliness? Drop-down menus that easily drive functions???

Believe it not not my geeky friends, some people (like me & millions of
others) actually have NO INTEREST in being computer programmers. Really, try
hard and imagine that. Okay, try a little harder. Almost there... now, you're
almost like an average person who finds java more enjoyable in a cup with
cream and sugar rather than as a set of written lines with {text here}
{text there} all over the place......

The search algorithm is an abomination., It should be taken out and shot,
relieving us of it's misery. With all the money MS has, they can't just buy
the google algorithm? clone it or something?

Surely there must be someone that understands how to write a search for
"find pdf, find .pdf, find Adobe Acrobat file", or "find adobe pdf file" that
will ACTUALLY give me instructions as to how to FIND THE DAMN FILE!!!

My past experience with MS is they really don't care, have no interest in
actually improving their product, and are quite content having software
systems so copmplicated that people will be willing to spend $59 per hour to
(maybe) find a solution to their problems.

Along the geeky glossary lines, it is extremely frustrating having to KNOW
what MS calls different stuff in order to have a ghost of a chance to
actually, maybe find an aswer to a query usiing the search function. Believe
it or not, my children, some people don't know that "track changes" is what
you need to know to get rid of the crossed out stuff in a word.doc. If a
search to "lined out text in word document" returned a good answer instead of
these first 5 hits...

1 BUG: Heavy Full Text Query Activity Results in Unexpected Timeout Errors
2 Subject line in out-of-office messages is in a language other than English
3 WD2000: Run-time Error 5843 When You Set wdUseWord97LineBreakingRules
Compatibility Option
4 WD2000: Text Larger Than Expected or Distorted in Normal View
5 Justified Text Is Not Aligned Evenly on Lines with Footnote or Endnote
Reference Marks in Word for Mac

... I would not be writing this.

Well, if I have made one persons day at MS a little different, I will
consider this waste of my time worthwhile.

Ciao, my dears!

Feel better now after your rant. Come on back when you actually have a
question.

 

[Olórin]

I KNOW I'm not the only one with this opinion about how crappy the MS
search
function is.

<snip>

There are ways to make the XP search function work like it should (ie like
it did in Win2k). And no, it shouldn't be necessary, but don't give yourself
a heart attack over it. If you're interested in fixing the function, post
back and I'll reply.

Or, as David said, use Agent Ransack
(http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/), which simply works, brilliantly,
straight out of the box.

 

[elongp]

I want to know! We just pushed out Adobe Reader 8.12. I had to remove it from
some computers in one division because it breaks a vendor application. After
I removed the Reader (they still have Acrobat 7 Pro), they can no longer
search for text in a PDF. I've tried the perisisten handler "fix" without
success. Any other ideas? We need WinXP's search to work for this.

Thanks,
E Powell
Austin, TX

 

[Kim]

How true. Is seems MS programmers think we all want to waste our time
learning how to program, so we can work with their products.
The SEARCH function on my XP'd computer doesn't work at all. It just
automatically locks up the computer. This site is not providing any help to
fix that.

Their applications are not (never have been) user-friendly. I spend 8
hours a day at a computer getting about 3 hours of real work done - and I'm
computer literate!

Part of the problem is the Gen X,Y attitude which is, according to indepth
research: "learn how to 'work around' it". (instead of, FIX IT - because
their attention spans are too short, to actually FIX IT).

 

[Olórin]

How true. Is seems MS programmers think we all want to waste our time
learning how to program, so we can work with their products.
The SEARCH function on my XP'd computer doesn't work at all. It just
automatically locks up the computer. This site is not providing any help
to
fix that.

Their applications are not (never have been) user-friendly. I spend 8
hours a day at a computer getting about 3 hours of real work done - and
I'm
computer literate!

Part of the problem is the Gen X,Y attitude which is, according to indepth
research: "learn how to 'work around' it". (instead of, FIX IT - because
their attention spans are too short, to actually FIX IT).

:

<snip>

Do you want a fix or just to rant?

You could "work around it" by installing Agent Ransack for searching, which
would probably up your productivity (three hours' work done in an eight-hour
day? Well done for managing to stay in your job!). But as it's a
work-around, you wouldn't be interested.

Someone might take the trouble to garner details of your search function's
problem and troubleshoot it with you. However, the solution might involve
you doing technical stuff; if this is what you mean by learning how to
"program", then it sounds like you won't be interested in that, either.

Even when XP's search is working as designed, it's still rubbish and doesn't
find everything it "should". Again, someone could tell you how to "program"
your computer to rectify that as well, but it's not clear from your diatribe
to what lengths you are willing to go, if any, to fix your system.

We aren't Microsoft employees here in this newsgroup (for that's what it is,
not a website), just ordinary folk volunteering our time, experience and
expertise; you would do well to bear that in mind.

 

[charles nelson]

windows 98 did a better job with find files...New search is worthless never find any file you want unless you already know where it is at.

 

[Dan. D. Lion]

Hey, you HoopleHead Egghead: Replying to a thread from 2008 and changing the
subject line? Do you really think the OP will come back after all this time?