B
Brian Bradley
Finding WordPerfect files by CONTENT with Vista Search
I have learned just a little more about finding WordPerfect files by content
using Vista's built-in search function.
Question:
Does the information below spark a light in anyone out there for a complete
solution?
History As I Know It:
Groups and boards receive multiple reports that Vista's built-in search
function does not index and/or find WordPerfect files that have the default
..wpd extension ("WPDs") based on content. I have commented here and
elsewhere that Vista finds WP TEMPLATES ending with the .wpt extension ("WPT's")
based on content, even if WP is not installed.
Multiple users report no joy when implementing various fixes, including the
most-often offered advice of downloading and installing Corel's outdated (WP
7/8) iFilter and companion registry key. Others report resorting to Corel's
built-in "QuickFinder" applet but that it's not perfect on Vista.
I have repeatedly inquired of Corel but have never received anything other
than a scripted acknowledgment of my inquiry into the problem.
Users report having various SKU's of the Corel WP product, including old,
new, OEM, and full versions. I have posted multiple pleas in various groups
for someone to report whether they have in fact had any success. In their
brief comments or suggestions, posters seem to imply that their advice
(again, mostly to install an iFilter) works but don't clearly state that
that solution *actually* works for them. The silence is deafening.
I am no expert and cannot offer a complete solution at this point, but I
have discovered something that I hope will spark others to explore further,
as I will.
But here's my current situation that offers some glimmer of hope:
I did a fresh install of Vista (Business x86) and then installed Office
System 2007. I didn't want to gum up the works with WP - yet. (Keep that in
mind: I don't have WP installed.)
Then, using Vista's simple procedure for adding a file type (".wpd") to the
Indexing Options and by setting the indexing type to "Index Properties and
File Contents," the automatically chosen plain-text filter enabled my Vista
to index, search and find WP documents whose filenames end in ".wpd,"after a
forced rebuilding or automatic refreshing of the Index, of course.
Hurdle:
I will eventually need to create a native WordPerfect document and will
therefore have to install some version of WP. What will happen then? I
suspect that once I install WP, I will be back in the same boat as all of
us, with no capability to find WPD's based on content. I am beginning to
suspect that WP itself somehow breaks Vista's ability to index and find WPD's
by content. (There, I said it.)
I own multiple versions of WP, including an OEM version of WP X3 that does
not include Corel's QuickFinder and a full retail version of WP X3 that does
include this Corel feature. I wonder how either of those two versions will
affect my current status. (Versions of WP prior to X3 ran too poorly on
Vista to be usable by me. Your mileage with various versions may have been
different and hopefully better.)
The thing is that I need to be able to FIND my "archived" WPD's much more
than I need to create new ones, so I hesitate to install any version of WP.
I think I will experiment with saving Word documents as WP documents and see
if that yields acceptable results. Despite the invariable hype about ease
and accuracy of file-type conversions, we know all too well that complex
and/or highly formatted documents are rarely easily or perfectly converted
to other file types. (What a wonderful world that would be, though, eh? Keep
trying, vendors!)
I apologize for this long post, but I think it's sometimes necessary to
include a few more words than just "do this" or "do that." If you're
interested in reading a little more but which doesn't really add to my
admittedly scant but possibly enlightening report above, continue reading my
editorial comments below.
Editorial (?):
There are many users of WP who have remained fiercely loyal over the years,
including me. Someone is always posting somewhere that WP 5.1 was the best
word processor in the world. I've even seen that phrase used as an e-mail
signature! It sure was darn good, I'll agree. (Yes, yes, I could go back to
DOS or Windows 98, but would YOU?) But Word has been an excellent product,
too, after it became WYSIWYG.
I've always wondered what the true state of the situation was: Has Microsoft
(intentionally or not) somehow made it very difficult or impossible for
WordPerfect products to work well on MS OS's, or has Corel, through all its
changes in leadership and ownership simply not been able to rise to the
challenge? Another burning question of mine has been, "Which is best - to
install WP first, or Word first?" in case one or the other plays havoc with
the other. (Tell me you haven't thought that.) But I could never see a
difference.
As an independent transcriptionist and part-time court reporter, I've always
had to use both Word and WordPerfect. For years I chose WP over Word when my
clients did not have a preference. After having struggled with the
ill-behaved later versions of WP, especially on Vista, I began using MS
Office System 2007 instead of Word XP (2002) or Word 2003. The Ribbon
required some relearning of where things are, as we've all found out, but I
could immediately see that the Ribbon was logical and well thought out. The
capability, performance and - most important - stability of Office 2007
running on Vista surprises, encourages and reminds me of the way
applications used to just keep going and going and going. I can't think of a
single time any of my Office 2007 apps (well, Word and Access, mostly) has
crashed on Vista, and the casual comments posted on boards and in groups and
formal reviews in that regard seem to corroborate that finding of general
stability. I know how to troubleshoot apps, especially those that I'm very
familiar with, and I just couldn't stand any longer the constant and
unsolvable crashes of WP X3 on Vista.
But I digest. The purpose of this post is to let you know that there might
be some light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who need to find WPDs
by content on Vista. I'll report back anything else I find, of course, but
it will be a while. I'm going to sit tight for a while on the partial
success that I have. As always, if anyone out there has had complete
success, for gosh sake please clearly state so and tell us how you managed
to do it.
Brian
I have learned just a little more about finding WordPerfect files by content
using Vista's built-in search function.
Question:
Does the information below spark a light in anyone out there for a complete
solution?
History As I Know It:
Groups and boards receive multiple reports that Vista's built-in search
function does not index and/or find WordPerfect files that have the default
..wpd extension ("WPDs") based on content. I have commented here and
elsewhere that Vista finds WP TEMPLATES ending with the .wpt extension ("WPT's")
based on content, even if WP is not installed.
Multiple users report no joy when implementing various fixes, including the
most-often offered advice of downloading and installing Corel's outdated (WP
7/8) iFilter and companion registry key. Others report resorting to Corel's
built-in "QuickFinder" applet but that it's not perfect on Vista.
I have repeatedly inquired of Corel but have never received anything other
than a scripted acknowledgment of my inquiry into the problem.
Users report having various SKU's of the Corel WP product, including old,
new, OEM, and full versions. I have posted multiple pleas in various groups
for someone to report whether they have in fact had any success. In their
brief comments or suggestions, posters seem to imply that their advice
(again, mostly to install an iFilter) works but don't clearly state that
that solution *actually* works for them. The silence is deafening.
I am no expert and cannot offer a complete solution at this point, but I
have discovered something that I hope will spark others to explore further,
as I will.
But here's my current situation that offers some glimmer of hope:
I did a fresh install of Vista (Business x86) and then installed Office
System 2007. I didn't want to gum up the works with WP - yet. (Keep that in
mind: I don't have WP installed.)
Then, using Vista's simple procedure for adding a file type (".wpd") to the
Indexing Options and by setting the indexing type to "Index Properties and
File Contents," the automatically chosen plain-text filter enabled my Vista
to index, search and find WP documents whose filenames end in ".wpd,"after a
forced rebuilding or automatic refreshing of the Index, of course.
Hurdle:
I will eventually need to create a native WordPerfect document and will
therefore have to install some version of WP. What will happen then? I
suspect that once I install WP, I will be back in the same boat as all of
us, with no capability to find WPD's based on content. I am beginning to
suspect that WP itself somehow breaks Vista's ability to index and find WPD's
by content. (There, I said it.)
I own multiple versions of WP, including an OEM version of WP X3 that does
not include Corel's QuickFinder and a full retail version of WP X3 that does
include this Corel feature. I wonder how either of those two versions will
affect my current status. (Versions of WP prior to X3 ran too poorly on
Vista to be usable by me. Your mileage with various versions may have been
different and hopefully better.)
The thing is that I need to be able to FIND my "archived" WPD's much more
than I need to create new ones, so I hesitate to install any version of WP.
I think I will experiment with saving Word documents as WP documents and see
if that yields acceptable results. Despite the invariable hype about ease
and accuracy of file-type conversions, we know all too well that complex
and/or highly formatted documents are rarely easily or perfectly converted
to other file types. (What a wonderful world that would be, though, eh? Keep
trying, vendors!)
I apologize for this long post, but I think it's sometimes necessary to
include a few more words than just "do this" or "do that." If you're
interested in reading a little more but which doesn't really add to my
admittedly scant but possibly enlightening report above, continue reading my
editorial comments below.
Editorial (?):
There are many users of WP who have remained fiercely loyal over the years,
including me. Someone is always posting somewhere that WP 5.1 was the best
word processor in the world. I've even seen that phrase used as an e-mail
signature! It sure was darn good, I'll agree. (Yes, yes, I could go back to
DOS or Windows 98, but would YOU?) But Word has been an excellent product,
too, after it became WYSIWYG.
I've always wondered what the true state of the situation was: Has Microsoft
(intentionally or not) somehow made it very difficult or impossible for
WordPerfect products to work well on MS OS's, or has Corel, through all its
changes in leadership and ownership simply not been able to rise to the
challenge? Another burning question of mine has been, "Which is best - to
install WP first, or Word first?" in case one or the other plays havoc with
the other. (Tell me you haven't thought that.) But I could never see a
difference.
As an independent transcriptionist and part-time court reporter, I've always
had to use both Word and WordPerfect. For years I chose WP over Word when my
clients did not have a preference. After having struggled with the
ill-behaved later versions of WP, especially on Vista, I began using MS
Office System 2007 instead of Word XP (2002) or Word 2003. The Ribbon
required some relearning of where things are, as we've all found out, but I
could immediately see that the Ribbon was logical and well thought out. The
capability, performance and - most important - stability of Office 2007
running on Vista surprises, encourages and reminds me of the way
applications used to just keep going and going and going. I can't think of a
single time any of my Office 2007 apps (well, Word and Access, mostly) has
crashed on Vista, and the casual comments posted on boards and in groups and
formal reviews in that regard seem to corroborate that finding of general
stability. I know how to troubleshoot apps, especially those that I'm very
familiar with, and I just couldn't stand any longer the constant and
unsolvable crashes of WP X3 on Vista.
But I digest. The purpose of this post is to let you know that there might
be some light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who need to find WPDs
by content on Vista. I'll report back anything else I find, of course, but
it will be a while. I'm going to sit tight for a while on the partial
success that I have. As always, if anyone out there has had complete
success, for gosh sake please clearly state so and tell us how you managed
to do it.
Brian