Searching effectively for files on your computer

Collections of files on the computer grow exponentially after a while. Between
MP3 collections, years of emails, MS Word documents and PDF files, it becomes
difficult for even the most organized of individuals to keep up with the ever
increasing resources we accumulate. We need tools, and that cute little 'Find
File' utility just doesn't cut it after the first Gig of information.

"Desktop search" programs have only two goals: to find the desired
information, and to find it quickly. These search programs accomplish their
speed by indexing the data they search through. Instead of poring through every
file as if it was being searched for the first time, these programs prepare
an index of the essential information about each file.

There are three very good tools out there to help use with this need to recover
from the heap the documents and presentations we are looking for, to solve the
need of the moment.

Windows Desktop Search

The Beta version release of this tool was almost a year and a half ago. Since
that time the Windows Desktop Search tool has matured into a very useful and
professional level tool for the home, as well as the business user. While still
not as popular as the Google version, it does work very fast, and quickly searches
through a tremendous amount of document and email files to locate the resources
you are looking for.

Installing

Installation is very straight forward. Download the program from the Windows
Desktop Search page, and start the installation. The installing portion of the
process is only about 3 minutes, but the indexing afterwards can go on for some
time. When this process begins, don't bother to start up other programs, you
will just get ignored.

The utility can search through and find content in just about every format
being used today, including Thunderbird mail files, and PDF documents. There
are several add-ins available covering the basics. While Microsoft did release
a developers SDK for this search tool, it doesn't appear to have caught on very
well (at least not as popular as the Google Tool).

The Add-ins are easy to install as well, I installed the Thunderbird/Mozilla/Eudora
Mail Add-in with four clicks of the mouse.

Using

After the indexing is complete, searching through your computer is a straight
forward task. Either you open the main program to search through your files,
or if your installation option allowed you can use the search field in the task
bar. Either way the searches were quick on my computer and extended out to my
external and network drives as well (after I added them to the list, and waited
for the index to finish).

Tips

First tip is to let the computer sit for several hours and finish it's indexing.
You will want to also uncheck the box in the options area where Indexing while
on Battery power appears to be a default setting.

Searching does have 'search engine' quality options. For example:

eddie - finds files with the word eddie in them

eddie the cat - finds files with all three words

eddie NOT cat -- finds files with eddie, but no mention of the word cat. NOT
must be capitalized for this to work.

eddie:author -- fines files written by eddie

A large amount of the special search functions are closely related to searching
through emails. Note that for indexing to happen for email files, the Outlook
or Outlook Express (which ever one you use) must be running, and the computer
not used for a time (indexing takes a back seat when you are using the computer).

A full reference to the search types available
is here.

If you have two drives on your computer, or perhaps an external drive, you
can keep the index files on the drive of your choice, just be sure that the
drive is attached and active if you decide to search for something.

Google Desktop Search

When the Google Desktop Search first came out, it was missing several required
features, and had some strong security concerns. These concerns and required
features have all since been addressed, creating a very fast, feature rich desktop
search tool that extends the users basic abilities while not slowing down a
computer too much.

Installing

The installation, much like the MDS tool is very straight forward. As soon
as you are done installing the program however, get into the options area and
uncheck the box allowing GDS to search through secure webpage caches.

Using

The Google Desktop Search tool uses the more common syntax for searches. For
example:

eddie -- find a file with eddie

+"eddie the cat" -- find exact phrase, and do not show unless the
phrase is there.

+eddie the cat --- The word eddie is required, but not 'the' or 'cat'.

+eddie -cat -- show files with eddie but not cat

You can see a more
complete list here:

Tips

The programmer community has really latched on to the Google Desktop Search
tool. Pages and pages of add-ons are already available with more coming in every
month. These add-on tools really do extend the usefulness of the GDS, as well
as the computer as a whole. Everything from To-Do lists, to task timers, to
integration with other programs such as WinAmp and Skype, have doubled the tools
usefulness in my usage. It is quickly becoming a tool that I can't live without.

If you are going to use the tool, after the installation allow the indexing
to be completed. This could take several hours. Once that is complete, then
use your computer again.

TweakGDS should be your first add-on tool, it adds many more features to the
program which still have not be addressed by the Google team.

Try utilizing the sidebar tool, and bringing in a few add-ons to keep you amused.

Parting Shots

Both of these tools are great for finding files and keeping our data at our
figure tips. The Google GDS has surpassed the MDS in terms of community support,
programmer support and now (with all of the add-ins), player support as well.
This doesn't mean that the MDS will find the files quicker or slower than the
GDS, it just means that the GDS is much more fun.