Faster Desktop Searching With Windows

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One of the major problems with desktop searching is that it can take an unbelievably long time to search your C:drive, and with the storage capacity of drives increasing exponentially as the prices come down. If you have 1 Terabyte, drive, you may be waiting forever, as search is still very inefficient.

One of the ways that you can improve the searching is by adding folders to the index.

The Windows search engine does not normally index the complete drive ,but just the contents of the profile of the user , the items in the Start menu, email messages, and any local copies of offline files.

However you can force Windows to rebuild the index by indicating what should be placed in the index so that those files can be searched.

It can be done in a few quick and simple steps.

  • Select the start button and type index and press enter. The Indexing dialog box should appear.
  • Click modify, which should open the Indexed Locations dialog box.
  • Select Show All Locations and you will need to enter your UAC credentials.
  •  In the Change Selected Locations list, you will need to expand the tree, to display the folder you wish to add to the index. Click the appropriate check box, and the folder should be added to the summary.
  • Click OK at the bottom of the Indexed Locations window.
  • Click Advanced, and then you need to enter your UAC credentials. You will then be presented with the advanced options box.
  • Click Rebuild, and you may be asked to confirm your request.
  • Click OK , and then you can close the utility.

Your searches may sometimes return results that a file that you are certain is on your PC, but it cannot be located. The problem may be that the file has not been added to the index. You can easily fix this, by accessing the Indexing Options dialog box.

Click advanced, and you will be asked to enter your UAC credentials. You should then be presented with the tabs of the different file types.

You can activate the file you wish to add to the index, by clicking the corresponding check mark, and selecting the Index Properties, along with the file contents option. If the extension is not shown, you can simply type it in, and then click Add new extension.

The Windows search engine includes a lot of other features and options, but they are not very well known. On the whole desktop search or the WSE can still be improved, If you are an explorer you may stumble across many of them, but they are largely ambiguous.

Using the advanced filters is another powerful way to improve your search results. You can assemble some very complex search parameters using operators and file properties, but the operator are not for the faint of heart and requires some practice. You can also search for files with natural language queries. In Vista the utility is known as natural language search.

  Peter Marshall

About the Guest Author:

Peter Marshall is a computer expert specializing in software reviews and Windows tips and tricks, he is also a contributor to web site www.dailydeals4you.com, which provides ESET promotion coupons and Kaspersky coupons.

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