Indexing...am i missing something??

[David]

Am I to understand that until an index is rebuilt there is absolutely NO
WAY for me to find a file by searching?? Can't Vista find a file that
isn't indexed?? good god, please, somebody tell me I'm wrong!! So
anytime I add files to my PC, there's no telling how long it will take
to find them? or to find them on a networked drive? arrgh! I thought
indexing was just to speed things up--not as the ONLY method for Vista
to locate a file. IF that IS the case, that's about as messed up as I
can imagine, for an OS in this day and age.

I'm suddenly very pissed off at Vista....

Dave

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> David

Am I to understand that until an index is rebuilt there is absolutely NO
WAY for me to find a file by searching?? Can't Vista find a file that
isn't indexed?? good god, please, somebody tell me I'm wrong!!

You're wrong.

Choose the "Advanced Search" option, and enable the "Include
non-indexed..." checkbox.

 

[David]

Hi Dave,

Oh no. You can always do a search in Vista for any file any time with
perfect results with a full non-indexed search. You just need to set
the search options for it. This is why I always do a non-indexed
search. It may take a bit longer, but the results are always accurate.
See this link for how.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/75447-search-options.html

The Index is good for a quick search within a defined area, not a full
search of the whole hard drive. The index will take longer to update
it's list if you make a lot of changes all the time. To help with this,
try to leave a little more idle time for it to catch up with you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

thanks, Shawn. Just a few minutes ago i did uncover an option to search
non indexed files. I think it took a total of 6 extra mouse clicks to
get to that search function. sigh. I wish i could just set the main
search box to search for non indexed files from the get-go instead of
going to the advanced screen.

Search Tools isn't always visible on the toolbar, either....sigh. I
keep forgetting what I've got to do to get that option to appear. I
don't think Gates and company spent enough time on useability. Geez!

dave

 

[David]

In message <[email protected]> David


You're wrong.

Choose the "Advanced Search" option, and enable the "Include
non-indexed..." checkbox.

but that seems to just enable the non indexed feature for that search
window. once closed, i'm back to square one with search only looking
for indexed files. btw, i just found that feature a few minutes
ago...buried about 6 mouse clicks from where I want to search from (a
folder).
dave

 

[Charles W Davis]

I moved 54GB of files to my new Vista machine. I left it on for seven days,
the index is complete. I'll save more time searching over the next two
weeks, than the delay during that first seven days. I can usually locate
what I am looking for by the time I type the 3rd letter.

You ought to take out your vindictive attitude on your lack of knowledge of
the subject, not the best new operating system ever.

 

[David]

You ought to take out your vindictive attitude on your lack of
knowledge of the subject, not the best new operating system ever.

LOL. "vindictive"??? Grab yourself a dictionary next time and choose
the appropriate word so that your communiciations don't come across so
off-the-wall, eh??

Dave

 

[Guest]

So what if you have a click a few more times. and it isn't 6 extra clicks
either, just go to start, up to search on the right side then advanced, click
include non indexed etc etc.
I don't get how people can complain about clicking a few times,,,what's it
take about a half a second out of your day? Remember when we didn't have
computers to do things for us so easily a long time ago? I think people
complain too much. Things are never good enough for some people. Is it
gonna hurt your finger to click a few more times? LOL

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> "Charles W Davis"

I moved 54GB of files to my new Vista machine. I left it on for seven days,
the index is complete. I'll save more time searching over the next two
weeks, than the delay during that first seven days. I can usually locate
what I am looking for by the time I type the 3rd letter.

Seven days? Wow... What type of files?

Admittedly my profile is only about 20GB total, but the index takes less
then overnight to rebuild (I've never timed it, but I have smacked the
rebuild button when I've left for bed, it was always done by the
morning)

Much of that is photos, but no music or movies or other large files that
typically don't get indexed. I also don't index my chat logs (although
I will start, once someone builds a search filter that handles them more
gracefully)

 

[Telstar]

So what if you have a click a few more times.

Multiply this by the lifetime use of the system please. It is typical lack
of attention to detail by MS.

 

[Celegans]

Hi Dave,

Oh no. You can always do a search in Vista for any file any time with
perfect results with a full non-indexed search.

brink, I don't think your statement is true.



In Vista you can search for a file by filename, but you CANNOT search within
a file unless it has an "approved" extension. The ability to search files
as effectively as Windows Explorer from Windows 2000 IS NOT POSSIBLE with
Vista. In a very condescending way, Microsoft doesn't allow guided
non-indexed searches of any files by an intelligent user. Microsoft has
decided that one cannot search within files in Vista unless a files is
indexed -- or if a file could be indexed.



So, files like in the R statistical analysis language (*.r files) cannot be
searched for content in Vista because Microsoft hasn't blessed the "R" file
extension. Thousands and thousands of files that may have originated in the
past with "wrong" extensions or thousands and thousands of files that
originated in Linux/UNIX and didn't "obey" Microsoft's "rules" cannot be
searched in Vista. It's a Vista feature that one cannot search these old
files, or file from other platforms? There are GB of data on Linux file
systems that I might want to search from Vista, but there's no way it makes
sense to index these files first.



Windows Vista search is AWFUL for scientific computing. But the scientific
market is small enough that Microsoft probably just doesn't care. National
Instruments said this: http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5604#toc6
"While Windows Vista searching capabilities may satisfy general users, they
may not be adequate for engineers and scientists. Windows Vista helps you
quickly locate saved files based on metadata, but you cannot search file
content to identify meaningful information."

Medical/scientific equipment manufacturers WILL NOT want an indexing service
running while their device is recording or analyzing real-time data. Can
Microsoft certify to the FDA that their indexing service will not affected
the real-time computing capabilities of a Windows Vista box used in a
medical device? It's far easier to turn off such unneeded services.

This has not been helpful in getting this problem resolved.

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/pages/advanced-search-techniques.aspx



So Windows Vista "Ultimate" let's you have a movie as a background but
doesn't let you search all your files. Microsoft just doesn't care about
scientific users because the market is too small.