Search can't find a file?

[MikeB]

I have a file in my appdata folder that I'd like to check and see if
duplicates exist in other (sub) folders. I copy the filename exactly
and then paste it in the search box on the start button. Vista says
there are no such files. Meanwhile I'm looking at at least one copy of
the file in another window?

How can I search my entire harddrive for a file since the old XP
search seems to have been removed?

Thanks

 

[Jim]

I have a file in my appdata folder that I'd like to check and see if
duplicates exist in other (sub) folders. I copy the filename exactly
and then paste it in the search box on the start button. Vista says
there are no such files. Meanwhile I'm looking at at least one copy of
the file in another window?

How can I search my entire harddrive for a file since the old XP
search seems to have been removed?

Thanks

Try using
http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/
much better .

 

[Mark Levitski]

Buy Mythicsoft's commercial Search: "FileLocator Pro".
You can still use their FREE "Agent ransack" but usually free things aren't
perfect + its development stopped in 2003.

Funny thing old AgentRansacl is still better than WindowsVista MOROnic
SEARCH that fails to the left and to the right, a couple of Microsoft moron
MVP's on this Newsgroups will try to convince you it works.
It doesn't. They imagine I enter search queries improperly, they don't even
know who I am and ho wi've been working with computer databases.

Although I find it a bit suspicious you couldn't find a filename, which
Vista seems to handle not too bad, it does find everything I expected.

What makes me angry is search by file CONTENTS, I create test files and
WIndowsXP finds them all, Vista misses a file or two and there's no logic in
what it misses.
Sometimes it doesn't like to find old files, sometimes it misses a file
freshly created, it doesn't like binaris, hexadecimals/hash, technical
files.

But sure it finds music and video... what rubbish. This is not a business
operating system.
So get Mythicsoft's, and just accept the fact with Vista you have to BUY a
lot of tools that were supposed to be part of OS as it was in WindowsXP and
2000NT before it.

 

[Mark Levitski]

Buy Mythicsoft's commercial Search: "FileLocator Pro".
You can still use their FREE "Agent ransack" but usually free things aren't
perfect + its development stopped in 2003.

Funny thing old AgentRansacl is still better than WindowsVista MOROnic
SEARCH that fails to the left and to the right, a couple of Microsoft moron
MVP's on this Newsgroups will try to convince you it works.
It doesn't. They imagine I enter search queries improperly, they don't even
know who I am and ho wi've been working with computer databases.

Although I find it a bit suspicious you couldn't find a filename, which
Vista seems to handle not too bad, it does find everything I expected.

What makes me angry is search by file CONTENTS, I create test files and
WIndowsXP finds them all, Vista misses a file or two and there's no logic in
what it misses.
Sometimes it doesn't like to find old files, sometimes it misses a file
freshly created, it doesn't like binaris, hexadecimals/hash, technical
files.

But sure it finds music and video... what rubbish. This is not a business
operating system.
So get Mythicsoft's, and just accept the fact with Vista you have to BUY a
lot of tools that were supposed to be part of OS as it was in WindowsXP and
2000NT before it.

 

[Retroman]

I have a file in my appdata folder that I'd like to check and see if
duplicates exist in other (sub) folders. I copy the filename exactly
and then paste it in the search box on the start button. Vista says
there are no such files. Meanwhile I'm looking at at least one copy of
the file in another window?

How can I search my entire harddrive for a file since the old XP
search seems to have been removed?

Use Advanced Search and choose the option "include non-indexed hidden, and
system files". By design, indexed searches ignore AppData folders because
they may contain temp files that would bog down the indexer.

Doug M. in NJ

 

[Tae Song]

I have a file in my appdata folder that I'd like to check and see if
duplicates exist in other (sub) folders. I copy the filename exactly
and then paste it in the search box on the start button. Vista says
there are no such files. Meanwhile I'm looking at at least one copy of
the file in another window?

How can I search my entire harddrive for a file since the old XP
search seems to have been removed?

Thanks

Open Explorer
Files Tools -> Folder Options -> Search Tab

Under "How to search" grouping
Select Don't use the Index when searching the file system (might be slow)

Hit Apply Button


Some useful filters

ext:dll (list all files with extension dll)
ext:-dll (exclude from list all files with extension dll)

size:>10KB (list files with size greater than 10KB)
size:<100KB (list files with size less than 100KB)
size:1KB..10KB (list files with size between 1Kb and 10KB)

date: (created?)
date:yesterday (list files from yesterday)
date:<yesterday (list before yesterday?)
date:>yesterday (list files after yesterday?)
date:lastday (same as date:yesterday?)
date:lastweek (find all files from previous week)
date:lastmonth (find all files from previous month, it's June so all files
from May)
date:6/8/2009..6/9/2009 (list files with date between 6/8/2009 and 6/9/2009)
date:6/8/09..6/9/09 (same as above)

datemodified: (same syntax as date)

More information on Windows Search Advanced Query Syntax
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/technicalresources/advquery.mspx


Then there is always good ole command prompt...

dir *.dll /s /p

 

[MikeB]

Open Explorer
Files Tools -> Folder Options -> Search Tab

Under "How to search" grouping
   Select Don't use the Index when searching the file system (might be slow)

Hit Apply Button

Some useful filters

ext:dll (list all files with extension dll)
ext:-dll (exclude from list all files with extension dll)

size:>10KB (list files with size greater than 10KB)
size:<100KB (list files with size less than 100KB)
size:1KB..10KB (list files with size between 1Kb and 10KB)

date: (created?)
date:yesterday (list files from yesterday)
date:<yesterday (list before yesterday?)
date:>yesterday (list files after yesterday?)
date:lastday (same as date:yesterday?)
date:lastweek (find all files from previous week)
date:lastmonth (find all files from previous month, it's June so all files
from May)
date:6/8/2009..6/9/2009 (list files with date between 6/8/2009 and 6/9/2009)
date:6/8/09..6/9/09 (same as above)

datemodified: (same syntax as date)

More information on Windows Search Advanced Query Syntaxhttp://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/tec...

Then there is always good ole command prompt...

dir *.dll /s /p

Thank you. I'd much rather figure out how to use the supplied stuff in
Vista then fork over even more $$ for yet another piece of software.

Mike

 

[+Bob+]

Thank you. I'd much rather figure out how to use the supplied stuff in
Vista then fork over even more $$ for yet another piece of software.

Mike

Agent Ransack is free. So are some of the others. You should note the
links now as Vista search sucks - you'll be back at this problem
again.

 

[Nil]

But I agree for many tasksk Ransack is OK. Heck, for many
searches even Vista is OK.
Unfortunately the kind of technical searches I conduct are no
match for Vista's search engine.

Do you use FileLocator Pro? If so, maybe you can answer a couple of
questions about it for me...

I like Agent Ransack, it searches are quick and thorough, but one thing
really annoys me about it that I hope FileLocator is better about. When
I search for a file, I often want to work on other files in it's
folder. I depend on the Windows search option to Open Containing
Folder. Ransack has no way of doing it that I can see, unless the
search result is a folder itself, in which case you can right-click and
choose Explore.

So, does FileLocator Pro have a way to open the folder a file it has
found resides in?

 

[Mike]

If yuou find spare $40 AND if your career depends on computer, spend that
small amount and get FileLocator Pro from the same Mythicsoft.

You know the problem with AgentRansack?
it's old, development stopped in 2003.
You get what you pay for, and something free is bound to be less than
perfect....

But I agree for many tasksk Ransack is OK. Heck, for many searches even
Vista is OK.
Unfortunately the kind of technical searches I conduct are no match for
Vista's search engine.

Like searching for your brain, or parents?

 

[Mark Levitski]

If yuou find spare $40 AND if your career depends on computer, spend that
small amount and get FileLocator Pro from the same Mythicsoft.

You know the problem with AgentRansack?
it's old, development stopped in 2003.
You get what you pay for, and something free is bound to be less than
perfect....

But I agree for many tasksk Ransack is OK. Heck, for many searches even
Vista is OK.
Unfortunately the kind of technical searches I conduct are no match for
Vista's search engine.

 

[Retroman]

Unfortunately the kind of technical searches I conduct are no match for
Vista's search engine.

What version of Windows Search are you using? To find out, go to Control
Panel - Programs - Programs and Features - Installed Updates, then scroll
down to the end of the list and verify that "Windows Search 4.0" is shown.
If not, download it from Microsoft. Early versions of Vista used version
3, which had some problems.

I've been using WS 4 for two years and my experience is the opposite of
yours. I find that it supports complex queries and that it works very
well indeed, after I learned the new syntax. Could you please supply some
example queries that fail?

Also, are the searches that fail indexed searches? Does the problem
happen with all folders or just certain ones? If the latter, which ones?
Is the problem with content searches or with filename searches or both?

Doug M. in NJ

 

[Tae Song]

Open Explorer
Files Tools -> Folder Options -> Search Tab

Under "How to search" grouping
Select Don't use the Index when searching the file system (might be
slow)

Also...

On this tab...

Under "When searching non-indexed locations" grouping
Select Include system directories

Otherwise Search will not find DLL, OCX and other system type files located
under Windows directory.

 

[Mark Levitski]

There's no entry for WIndowsSearch - any version.
I will see if it's available as standalone and why didn't show up on
autoupdate list.

 

[Mark Levitski]

Indexing is off and this's been my habit since the day Indexing even
appeared in OS.
Hence I confugured Vista search to seacrch nonindexed locations, etc... look
I am pretty good at computers. Don't even suspect my settings, I can spend
a week in front of this laptop, pretty presistent.

However Search4 you mentioned is news to me, certain things aren't listed on
autoupdate list, I am still disallowed SP1 service pack.
However having read about worsening problems SP1 was supposed to fix, e.g.
local file copy, I am not evene interested.

I really stopped caring today.
I am getting old wasting a life on this crap.

So it will hump along until Windows7 and we will remember this Windows
version as something as bad as Windows3.0
remember Win3.1 was an emergency answer to Win3.0 disaster?

WindowsXP was so good it backfired - now people compare every new Windows to
WInXP.
XP srands for EXPERIENCE & excellence.
Vista stands to hasta La Vista crapware.

 

[Retroman]

Indexing is off and this's been my habit since the day Indexing even
appeared in OS.
Hence I confugured Vista search to seacrch nonindexed locations, etc... look
I am pretty good at computers. Don't even suspect my settings, I can spend
a week in front of this laptop, pretty presistent.

However Search4 you mentioned is news to me, certain things aren't listed on
autoupdate list, I am still disallowed SP1 service pack.
However having read about worsening problems SP1 was supposed to fix, e.g.
local file copy, I am not evene interested.

Don't believe everything you read, SP1 works just fine and is well
worthwhile. If you are being not offered SP1, it usually means that you
have a driver that is incompatible with the SP1 installer. In most cases,
the solution is to simply uninstall that driver temporarily, after which
SP1 will be offered. After installing SP1, reboot and reinstall the
driver. But first check with the company that provided the original
driver, since they may have an update for Vista or special instructions
for Vista users.

I really stopped caring today.
I am getting old wasting a life on this crap.

So it will hump along until Windows7 and we will remember this Windows
version as something as bad as Windows3.0
remember Win3.1 was an emergency answer to Win3.0 disaster?

WindowsXP was so good it backfired - now people compare every new Windows to
WInXP.
XP srands for EXPERIENCE & excellence.
Vista stands to hasta La Vista crapware.

Mark, the version of Vista that you are using is two years old!
Complaining about bugs that were fixed years ago is just wasting everyones
time. It's your responsibility to put your PC into a condition where it
can accept OS upgrades. Since you say that you are "pretty good at
computers", that should be easy.

Doug M. in NJ