poor search

[Geta Klew]

The built-in search engine works great. But it's one of those things you
have to learn to use. Like learning to type correctly so you get word-wrap.
It's just not the kind of knowledge we're all born with.

What makes you pretty sure you're indexing everything? Did you check to see
if the Start menu search box is even looking for documents and messages?
(Right-click the Start button, choose Properties, click the Customize
button, make sure Search Communications and Search This User's Files are
selected).

Some other things to consider. Are you using Windows Mail for e-mail? Are
the documents you're trying to find in your user account folders? Have you
given the machine enough time to build the search index yet? What exactly
did you search for?

 

[Geta Klew]

Not so sure about the green bar. Maybe it's still building the search index.
I don't know coz I don't know how long you've had the machine.

If you want to learn more about searching in Vista, you can open its help
and support and search for "find file". That tells you the basics. You can
also search help for "search index" for more information. Don't search the
help for "instant search" though, because that's not really the name of any
specific feature.

 

[mj]

Hello, I don't seem to have instant search
I only have it for the start menu. I don't seem
to have it for docs and email messages. I am
pretty sure I am indexing everything. The funny thing
is that google desktop search uses the same index and
finds all the files. Come on Vista. That should not
be happening. How can I make instant search work?

thanks

 

[mj]

Thanks for your response. I had search all index checked instead of search
user. Do you think that will matter?

the reason I know search is not working is that when I bring up windows
explorer
window and use the search bar at the top right, the instant search seems to
work
ok. but when I try the same search with the search program, the one that
brings up
the search window with the various options at the top, I get nothing but the
green bar
moving to the right and no files coming up. I am talking about putting in a
very
simple file name like Susan. It works in explorer but not in search.

I made that one change. Perhaps that will work.

thanks and any more suggestions would be great.

 

[Guest]

I'm replying to this because when I click "New" and select one of the
options, nothing happens.

I'm having a problem with search that I am sure is a bug or at least poorly
designed software. I just performed an advanced search for files modified
today. The first search resulted in tons of stuff (junk mail included -
what's up with that). I clicked Documents and got nothing. I discovered
that My Documents wasn't included in the index. I added it, did another
search for the same thing, this time just on My Documents and got the results
I was looking for (what did I work on today??). I closed Search and thought,
"I should save that search". So I opened search, did the same search I did
before, and got nothing. I tried Index Locations - nothing. My Documents -
nothing. I changed the date to 3/7 - nothing. I did a custom search and
checked most of the options - nothing. Only when I did a custom search and
chose "Local Disk" did I get results. This has happened to me before, I just
figured I would take the time to find out if other people are having this
same problem. And it's not just me. If I open the search window and say
"show me the files that were modified today" I should get SOMEthing. No?

 

[mj]

As a test, I conducted the exact same search from within wlmd (the email
client) and
vista search. I chose a keyword that delivered multiple hits within
the client software, as expected. In vista I got Zero hits. It found
not one of the emails. wlmd is beta and as the product moves along
maybe the search within vista will improve. but right now, it is not at all
adept at
searching for emails created and or received by this program.