Search does not find all the files

[Academia]

In XP when I use Search to look for files containing some string it does not
find files that I know it should.

Is that your experience?


So I turned on Indexing which was off in the off chance that might help but
now Search still does not find the files and it is no faster searching.

Helpful comments would be appreciated


Thanks

 

[R. McCarty]

The "Default" search parameters omit things like System folders, etc. To
get a 100% search you'll need to use the Advanced search and enable a
few sub-options.

 

[Karl Snooks]

Investigate following there in the Search dialog:
Other search options
Change preferences
More advanced options

 

[Bob I]

My experience is that people that say that are wrong about how and where
search looks. And my recommendation to correct the issue is to use
"Agent Ransack" for searching instead. Free and available from the
authors web site.

 

[Academia]

So you find that it does a good job of finding the files?
Do you have Indexing turned on?

Turning on System or Hidden folders won't help me.
And Subfolders is already turned on.

Thanks

 

[Academia]

Investigate following there in the Search dialog:
Other search options
Change preferences

I can't find the above.

More advanced options

I have subfolders selected.

Does Indexing make the search faster for you?

Thanks

 

[Academia]

My experience is that people that say that are wrong about how and where
search looks.

Not sure what you mean here.
I sometimes search the entire disk without success.
Sometimes a folder and it's subfolders.
Are you saying Search would work better if I specified the search reagion
better or are you saying that even if I spefify it correctly search may not
look where I'd expect it to?

 

[R. McCarty]

Never had a case of search missing or omitting content in it's results.
I don't use indexing and usually just turn off the service and remove
the indexing attribute from my disk volumes.

However, I have my system organized in such a way that I don't use
search that often. Mainly just to find system modules to check for a
version #.

 

[Xandros]

Go here http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm scroll down to line
49 Old Style Search Engine On or Off

download the little .reg file and double click to import to your registry.
This will change search making it more user friendly. Select the Advanced
box and see if selecting Case sensitive helps.

 

[Karl Snooks]

Academia,
Yes. Indexing makes search faster.
Karl

 

[Karl Snooks]

Academia,
If the double arrows in the icon to the right of "More options" are pointing
up, then click on the double arrows. Now with the double arrows pointing
down you should see
Other search options
Change preferences

karl

 

[Bob I]

To put it simply, by default, to speed up searching XP does not look for
text in what it considers "non-text" files. You may change the behavior
by editing the registry, or by using a different search engine. I prefer
Agent Ransack, as do may others here.

 

[Academia]

I'm going to down load that but I wanted to understand what XP does first
As I understand it there are filters and each knows how to get the items
from certain kinds if file.
If you don't have a filter the file won't be searched.

I wish I knew how to see what filters are on my machine.


Thanks, I will try AgentRansack.

 

[Academia]

Thanks

As I understand it there are filters and each knows how to get the items
from certain kinds if file.
If you don't have a filter the file won't be searched.
Is that your understanding?

I wish I knew how to see what filters are on my machine.

Thanks again

 

[Bob I]

Here is the "not so simple" version.
Using the "A word or phrase in the file" search criterion may not work
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q309173

 

[Academia]

I did method 2 and checked the registry and the value is 1 so I'll see how
it works.

Thanks