How can I see file previews in Windows Explorer?

[Guest]

In XP Home edition, I have used Windows Explorer to search for files
containing certain text. The Explorer search windows has listed about a
hundred files containing the text, all of which are Microsoft WORD 2003 files.

I don't want to have to open each file individually to find the text I'm
looking for. I would like to open a preview pane of some kind so that I can
see a preview of each file, to know whether I should open it to search the
file completely. How can I get this preview pane kind of view?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Sounds like a great idea. Anyone who uses Adobe's Acrobat Reader knows how
handy this feature is. Unfortunately, it's not available with Windows XP. At
least, not yet.

 

[Sharon F]

In XP Home edition, I have used Windows Explorer to search for files
containing certain text. The Explorer search windows has listed about a
hundred files containing the text, all of which are Microsoft WORD 2003 files.

I don't want to have to open each file individually to find the text I'm
looking for. I would like to open a preview pane of some kind so that I can
see a preview of each file, to know whether I should open it to search the
file completely. How can I get this preview pane kind of view?

Perform a search at google.com to locate alternative find tools. For
example: Agent Ransack (free) or File Locator Pro (shareware) utilize a
preview pane in their search results window and can be found at
http://www.mythicsoft.com