Microsoft Search alternatives?

  • Thread starter Thread starter PA Bear [MS MVP]
  • Start date Start date
I have found that Google has a desktop search engine that usually works very
well. The biggest problem with GDS (actually, I've found this to be the
biggest problem with all of their products) is that you get zero support. At
least MS will provide a community space with forums and newsgroups where
MVPs can give you their infinite wisdom; the Google Groups help pages are
filled with one-post threads. Anyways, you might give it a shot--I sure
like the user-interface of GDS more than Windows Search:
http://desktop.google.com/

Having said that, GDS will index your system just like Windows Search does,
and I've never noticed any difference in terms of RAM useage or slowdowns,
etc., with one or the other. Copernic is also nice, but I"d try them only if
Google doesn't work out. They don't offer support either for their free
version, and again, their UI isn't Google's.
 
The program Microsoft Search seems to use a lot of resources plus I think it
necessitates having Indexing and possibly other Services set to Automatic
which will further drain resources. Anyway, I wonder what is respected in
the search world for 32bit XP these days? In the Mac world there are a
couple (at least) of alternatives which are waaaay better than Apple's own
search function. Perhaps the same is true in the XP world?
 
Richard Z said:
The program Microsoft Search seems to use a lot of resources plus I think
it necessitates having Indexing and possibly other Services set to
Automatic which will further drain resources. Anyway, I wonder what is
respected in the search world for 32bit XP these days? In the Mac world
there are a couple (at least) of alternatives which are waaaay better than
Apple's own search function. Perhaps the same is true in the XP world?
Click to expand...
For XP, I like the native Windows Search Companion (the search that comes
with it) instead of Windows Search 4.0.
For Vista, I use Agent Ransack ( http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/ ),
although it works well in XP, also.

SC Tom
 
Richard said:
The program Microsoft Search seems to use a lot of resources plus I
think it necessitates having Indexing and possibly other Services set
to Automatic which will further drain resources. Anyway, I wonder
what is respected in the search world for 32bit XP these days? In
the Mac world there are a couple (at least) of alternatives which are
waaaay better than Apple's own search function. Perhaps the same is
true in the XP world?
Click to expand...

Agent Ransack. Free, fast, flexible.
 
HeyBub said:
Agent Ransack. Free, fast, flexible.
Click to expand...
I looked at the Agent Ransack websites, and I am confused. I have Copernic
Desktop Search installed, and been using it for 3 years now. Does Agent
Ransack do something different?
 
Witan said:
I looked at the Agent Ransack websites, and I am confused. I have
Copernic Desktop Search installed, and been using it for 3 years now.
Does Agent Ransack do something different?
Click to expand...

Dunno. It appears that Ransack is more powerful in at least one instance: It
can find expressions within files, not just the files themselves.

For example, Ransack can find all files that have the words "turtle" "oven"
and "broil" in files that have at least one "R" in the file name created
before 1997 on all drives other than "C"
 
HeyBub said:
Dunno. It appears that Ransack is more powerful in at least one instance:
It can find expressions within files, not just the files themselves.

For example, Ransack can find all files that have the words "turtle"
"oven" and "broil" in files that have at least one "R" in the file name
created before 1997 on all drives other than "C"
Click to expand...

Copernic DST can do all that. AFAIK, so can Yahoo DST and Google DST. These
DSTs can also search messages in email clients like Outlook Express, etc. I
have learnt, however, that Copernic cannot search inside documents saved in
earlier versions of Word like Word 6, Word 2.x etc.

Regards
witan
 
Richard Z said:
Do any of these search programs use less resources than Windows Search?
The point is to have Indexing and anything related to Indexing off
otherwise you might as well use the bloated Windows Search.
Click to expand...

You can disable the Indexing service in XP without affecting Windows Search
Companion. Agent Ransack doesn't require the Indexing service to be running,
either.

SC Tom
 
The program Microsoft Search seems to use a lot of resources plus I
Copernic DST can do all that. AFAIK, so can Yahoo DST and Google DST.
These DSTs can also search messages in email clients like Outlook Express,
etc. I have learnt, however, that Copernic cannot search inside documents
saved in earlier versions of Word like Word 6, Word 2.x etc.
Click to expand...

Do any of these search programs use less resources than Windows Search?
The point is to have Indexing and anything related to Indexing off otherwise
you might as well use the bloated Windows Search.
 
Richard Z said:
The program Microsoft Search seems to use a lot of resources plus I
think it necessitates having Indexing and possibly other Services set
to Automatic which will further drain resources. Anyway, I wonder
what is respected in the search world for 32bit XP these days? In
the Mac world there are a couple (at least) of alternatives which are
waaaay better than Apple's own search function. Perhaps the same is
true in the XP world?
Click to expand...

PowerDesk has an excellent replacement for Windows Explorer that's low
cost. Dual panes a la 98 so you can see two different drives at once or
2 different folders, whatever, and several other things WE should have
had, IMO.
http://www.avanquest.com/USA/software/powerdesk-pro-7-96228

HTH,

Twayne`
 
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