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Changes & improvements: --Tweaked deskbar design for better usability
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Everything (http://www.voidtools.com/) indexes your entire hard disk and then you can search for a file by typing in part or all of the filename and it will display results as you type. Then just double click to run the file or right-click for the menu to open the path. The beauty of Everything is that it can be completely portable! Cons: It does not have a right click preview of common file types (txt, doc, pdf, etc.). It works only on NTFS drives. And, Everything does not search file contents, only file and folder names. |
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Google Desktop Search
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Google sidebar and gadgets. Just type a few letters or words into the search box and your top results pop up instantly. Indexes and searches multiple email programs. | |
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Google sidebar and gadgets. Large resource utilization. Difficult to remove once installed. | |
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http://desktop.google.com/ | |
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http://desktop.google.com/thankyou.html?v=en2# | |
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1.7MB  5.9.906.4286  Unrestricted Freeware  Intel Pentium 400MHz processor. 128MB RAM. 500MB HDD space. Must have administrator privileges. |
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Locate32
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Available for Windows 98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/Vista. Much faster than Windows Search. You can choose to include or not include folder names in the search, and can search for text strings within files. | |
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Not really a con to me but it is to others--it uses databases to store information about directory structures and uses these databases in searches. Not as full-featured as Copernic or Google. | |
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http://www.locate32.net/ | |
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http://locate32.net/content/view/18/31/ | |
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1.1MB 3.1 RC3 (build 8.9210) Unrestricted Freeware Windows 98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/Vista |
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64 Bit version available | |
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Kendall Alexander.
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http://www.koshyjohn.com/software/neosearch.html
neoSearch does a very fast index of filenames only. It resembles "Everything" in that regard.
Are you sure?
Everything: 1,000,000 files will take about 1 minute
neoSearch: only 122,790 files will take 1 minute 5 seconds
I guess we can cross that one off and keep "Everything" on top of those using the "fast index" method.
Ok
Is that their report or your test?
First info is from Everything's site and the second is from Softpedia description for neoSearch.
Is it true that Google desktop search stores an index of your hard drive on the Google servers?
Desktop search wish list:
Search within files (as well as titles)
Search email (not just Outlook)
Indexing efficient on resources and fast
Search fast
term1 term2 produces AND results followed by OR results
search exact strings
Results sort can be changed by click-selecting a criterion
View into result files before opening
Locate search term in viewed files
Show result locations on disk
Open result files w double-click or equivalent
What would others add?
Slight error in your account. The free version currently will not index network shares. To get that you need the paid for professional/corporate edition
Who's account?
Which software?
How about Doc Fetcher? Does anyone here use it?
http://docfetcher.sourceforge.net/en/index.html
From their website:
"At least two things set DocFetcher apart from other desktop search applications, such as Google Desktop. First, it defaults to indexing only what you need, not to indexing the entire harddrive, and second, it indexes documents only - pictures, music, videos, etc. are omitted."
So, it only searches for documents. It does not search email, pictures, music, or videos. I cannot tell from the website if it searches for only file/folder names or if it searches for words within files/documents.
No, I have never heard of it. Please tell us more.
I work in a certain Enterprise environment where software can only be installed by domain admins. The environment does not include advanced search capabilities and even disables those native to the OS. Therefore, I needed an exe that could index and search all my files and E-mails. I discovered Gaviri's Universal Search which is not free but can be installed by a non privileged user. Unfortunately, becuase I cannot customize other aspects of the system configuration, Universal Search does not handle the Outlook (not Express) files as well as I would like. It attempts to open them in Outlook Express which does not present them properly (if at all) and does not let you see/open the attachments. Many other file types are handled flawlessly and searches are very fast. It can also be installed in a flash drive which was very useful until those were outlawed in my environment as well.
Hey
I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for but it wasn't mentioned yet and it is a very reliable tool:
It is a Desktop Search and it is also good for searching emails (and contacts, the calender, attachements). So I think although it is not for free it might be worth trying (there is a 14-days-free-trial). John
Mod: Commercial link removed
Thank you for the recommendation. However, this site is about freeware. We only review and recommend freeware. I'm sure that this is probably a good product, but I will not be reviewing it as it is not freeware.
Ultra file search
http://www.ultrafilesearch.com/
I have spent the last hour or so trying out Ultra File Search. So far, I'm impressed. Unlike a couple other programs, it found my network without a problem. I was able to search for both files/folders as well as text within network files without a problem. Granted, it is not as fast as say Copernic or Google. However, it does not index your files or create any type of database. The good side of this is that it doesn't take up system resources and you can only run it when you need it. Finding files or folders on my PC was very quick. Finding text within files took significantly longer.
The only con so far is that there is no option to preview files before opening them.
In my opinion, this is a keeper. I will be adding it to the overall review in the near future.
Thank you. I have not heard of this before. It looks very promising. It appears to be able to search files and folders and text on your local drive, network drives, DVD/CD's, and flash drives. It also appears to find files which contain one or more specific words or sentences (searches within files?).
I will check this one out.
"it is able to sort out files and folders according to their properties (e. g. Modified Date) and find files which contain one or more specific words or sentences."
"this Utility does not enter into competition with desktop search softwares which index and search documents according to their contents"
The description sounds excellent. What about the contradiction?
you left out the most important part "which index and search documents according to their contents"
this program doesn't index, it just searches hence it's slower than software that makes an index first.
Left something out? What?
The prog can find files based on content, but it does not do it by indexing. Does that resolve the contradiction?
How fast is it? Any speed comparisons? Copernic can also be pretty slow these days.
I didn't do any official speed tests, but it is slower than Copernic and Google. However, it also does not index your files, so that is expected. If you want almost instant search results then you are going to have to go with a program that indexes your files. The speed of this program will obviously be dependent upon the number of files it has to search.
As common as embedded NAS servers are these days, the ability to index a network share is a really big deal. Many desktop search products do not allow this. For those of us who use NAS servers to hold lots of stuff and need to find it there, this is an even bigger concern than searching emails. Please add at least a note to each product letting us know whether it supports indexing NAS files.
(BTW, regarding email, use Gmail for a month, and you'll never go back - I didn't, and I really *hate* the idea of Google having all my mail. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages, though, and search is instant and effortless.)
I use my gmail account online rather infrequent. Gmail search is far better than Eudora, but it seems important to have some folder hierarchy available for "browsing". That is also my sense about desktop search. True, you have to build and load the hierarchy, but consider the library analogy. One wants to be able to search for specific items and browse categories. A good desktop search should overcome problems with large miscellaneous folders and mis-filed items.
Copernic just updataded:
Version 3.2 Build 44 - April 22, 2009
Changes & Improvements
Added result drag & drop support for all file types
Fixes
Fixed an issue where registry keys were not erased after a
complete uninstall
Fixed some issues with Outlook:
Thank you! I will update the information shortly.
After using Copernic for a long time and finding it spotty with some indexing, I tried Exalead Free.
It eats up RAM, but doesn't affect performance as much as Copernic did. The results are simply fantastic. I'm still finding new features from the results. I strongly recommend trying it out.
Troy via n-t.com
Windows Desktop Search is actually far superior to Google Desktop Search, *IF* you install all the third party "IFilters" for it that enable recognizing and indexing the contents of other file types not natively supported by WDS. After I did so, having installed both WDS and GDS, I found that WDS indexed THREE TIMES more files than GDS. Isn't that the point of this, after all: finding and indexing text in as many files as possible?
For once Microsoft did a useful thing here, it's FREE, and you're doing a disservice by not even considering it. (Note: should also find and list the sources for all those IFilters, since they are key to the success; Citeknet created a lot of them, there was a PDF one from Adobe, a StarOffice one, another for RTF, ones for e-mail, etc.)
Super Finder XT:
http://www.freewarefiles.com/Super-Finder-XT_program_48080.html
Hi
I have a job where I need to find complex technical info in two (preferrably one) seconds. The WEB is too slow an too full of crap to do it in two secods.
I found that whenever I obtain a bit of info, I copy it into a .rtf file which I name in an "intelligent" way (example creating mirror disksuite.rtf) store in a special directory (example c:\notes\Unix).
Then I parameter copernic to look ONLY in a limited amount of such directories, NOT the whole disk, NOT emails, NOT the WEB. It's SUPER FAST.
BUT
(1) Recently copernic lost type as you search and got bloated, so I have
to use an old version
(2) As info is cululated it appers that indexing contents is not a good
idea because you get too many hits
(3) If you change PC, you have to reconfigure copernic from scratch is
seems -very annoying
Hey. What about DK Finder?
http://www.dkellner.hu/freeware/finder/
Richard wrote:
"I use two of them, one is Everything and the other is the payware program File Locator Pro. The main reason I bought File Locator Pro is that it does not create a large database or index to clutter up the drive. Most of the time though all I need to find is the file name so I probably use Everything about 90% of the time."
DesElms's response:
Bingo! What he said! Everything and File Locator Pro (or even -- and for purposes of this web site, more appropriately -- its free little brother, Agent Ransack).
That, in the end, is the killer combination, everyone. Look no further. (Plus, with regard to File Locator Pro and/or Agent Ransack, old-timers will instantly recognize the classic Windows-style search interface... which, unlike Vista's, actually makes sense.)
If the above two won't do it, then jump straight to Locate32, however inelegant. Do not pass "Go." Do not collect $200. Granted it ain't pretty, but it works. The three of them, thought of as something of a suite, will ensure that there will be no such thing as files that can't be found (and typically darned quickly); or corrupted this, or corrupted that; or systems bogged-down by background searching; or searching that just up and stops working for no apparent reason... etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.!
By comparison, Windows built-in search sucks (er... well... okay, granted, except maybe -- and the operative word, here, is "maybe" -- for new version 4); Copernic sucks; and Google's search sucks (bearing in mind that I otherwise love Google stuff). Sorry... but in my opinion, everything else written here about other products is pretty much just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
kendall wrote (regarding Everything):
"...does not search file contents, only file and folder names."
DesElms's response:
Yeah... but whenever that happens to be all one needs at that particular moment... oh, lawdy, lawdy, lawdy!!!!
As Michael Jordan remains, to this day, the only pro basketball player to ever make me stand up out of my chair and yell at the TV, EVERYTHING is the only piece of search software to ever make me lean forward and kiss my computer screen... square on the mouth! (If the ability to search contents is ever added, without slowing it down, I'm afraid to think of exactly what I might then try to do to that poor screen!)
Holy. Crap. It's. Fast.
Anonymous wrote:
"The developer of 'Everything' told me that file content searching is under heavy development. He also said that content searching for email clients will be supported via plug-ins."
DesElms's response:
Ohgod. Where did I put heart medication!
Yet another Anonymous wrote:
"'Everything' seems to have the potential to be the holy grail application in this category."
DesElms's response:
Holy grail? Heck... I'm thinkin' about askin' it to marry me!
Amir K. wrote:
"I'm checking three tools that surfaced in 2008 ... [a]ll are very fast. The jury is still out which one is better."
DesElms's response:
See! Right there! There's the problem! Everyone seems to be on some kind of silly searches for single applications that will do everything. It's ridiculous! They just don't exist. Never have. Never will. In my 32 years in the IT business, I've learned that it just doesn't work that way. And the sooner everyone grasps that, the happier in life they'll be. Just as I prescribed a combination of three products which, combined, provide a well-rounded (even if not-integrated) suite over in the registry editor category, witness my combined-product prescription above. In reality, that's how things have always been... and how they'll always be... and wishing won't change that!
Anyone who's been at this for many years, as I have, will, if s/he's truly honest with himself/herself, have to admit to noticing a pattern which recurs with such predictability that it approaches the certainty of an immutable law of nature...
...and that's that complex stuff running in the background will eventually let you down. Fail you. Every. Single. Time. Count on it! Like hard drive failure, it's not a question of "if" but, rather, "when."
Without first having read anyone else's articles of opinion about it, I instinctively knew, from the instant that I got my first copy of Vista and understood how its built-in search worked, to turn the darned thing off. Same with restore points. Things like proper search indexing, and proper periodic backup, must be acts of will and intention in order to be successful over time. It's about discipline and best practices. Computer users unwilling to accept those realities are living in a dream world (either that, or they're Mac users... which one could argue is sort of the same thing), and get what they deserve.
[Whew! I think I need a nap now.]
This is alternative platform for your thoughts and exchanges:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum
DesElms wrote:
"Sorry... but in my opinion, everything else written here about other products is pretty much just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."
and
"Yeah... but whenever that happens to be all one needs at that particular moment... oh, lawdy, lawdy, lawdy!!!! "
Please see my post earlier in this discussion:
"At this point, the main reason that I did not rate Everything higher is the fact that it does not search within files; like the "big-boys". If and when it adds that feature, it will be a very strong contender to take my top pick. The programs that I rated all have the ability to search within files. If you do not need that feature or aren't concerned about searching within files, then I'd definitely recommend Everything."
I agree that Everything is a great product. However, when I reviewed these products, one of my main contentions was that people often want to search within files; not just file names. Plus, people want to be able to search emails. I rated these products with these caveats in mind. Everything, again, is a great product. But, it didn't (and still doesn't) meet the above-mentioned needs. If you don't have those needs, then by all means, use Everything.
I'm using copernic 3.0.0 build 81, and it no longer supports network shares.
One program which is incredibly fast is the built-in search of the XYPlorerFree file manager.
Downsides:
1. Restricted to files (no email etc)
2. Seems to have problems with unicode filenames
3. The first search of a session is relatively slow. That makes it most attractive if you plan on doing several searches per session.
Features: boolean operators or regular expressions for filenames; search by size, date, contained text; possibility to exclude folders etc
I use XYPlorerFree as a file manager, and have almost never been tempted to use any other search program. (If you want to try it out, it's a standalone program, no installation required.)
"The XYplorer Freeware Edition (aka XYplorerFree) has been discontinued and is no longer available for download. Why? XYplorerFree was virtually identical to XYplorer 5.50.0001, released 17-Dec-2006, a great file manager in its days. However, time is going on, and it's simply not responsible to offer a lifeless piece of software without any development, without bug fixes, without adjustments to new operating systems, etc."
http://www.xyplorer.com/free.php
I love indexyourfiles.com, but DYF cannot search any file in unicode folder.
Finnaly, I chose Locate32.
I ended up trying to install X1 as while not free it is not expensive at $50. It will index Thunderbird email client etc. It will show the actual contents of pdf and other files without loading the app itself [so show Outlook messages as-is even if Outlook not loaded]. But there is something dead simple about Copernic that I like. The X1 interface is "complicated". Unless you do a custom install it forces a search box in your program tray and other "features". It forces itself to load on boot even if you tell it not too at time of install it starts a process. Pretty aggressive little program. So I see X1 is better. But I like Copernic and it works.
"...there is something dead simple about Copernic that I like..."
Agreed! You type anything in the blank, and it searches everywhere. No need to construct lists of instructions where to search and what to exclude. If you have a lot of data and get a lot of results, you can still find the proverbial needle in a haystack by sorting (maybe pushing the file you want to the top or bottom). It also helps to cross two strategic search terms. The complex search constraints should be on a background page for use as a second resort. Saving those constructed searches is a plus, but Copernic is now stripping out such features for the pay version.
Following up on my earlier request for a replacement for Copernic, has anyone tried Exalead or Yahoo's desktop search, or Ask.com's? What are your experiences with them, and do they work with WordPerfect? (again, Google Desktop does not.) I just installed Index Your Files, but it doesn't seem to find search strings -- two- word phrases -- that I know are present in the document. I need to be able to do that. I tried the phrase in quotation marks and without - no luck. It was also annoying to have to specify the type of file to find, and the GUI doesn't let me easily see the information I want to know about the file.
I want something as fast and functional as Copernic, but which won't crash. (I'm wondering if uninstalling Copernic and starting over with it would work, though that means days of indexing from last experience.) -- Lost Worlds
I haven't tried Exalead since probably May 2008. Here's a post that was on this page that I've since moved to our forums:
Post by monkeywithit--
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks as though the free version of Exalead has become a "free download" -- you have to pay for a license after 30 days. This is from the license agreement:
1. During 30 (thirty) days from the installation of the Software, you are granted a free, personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive license that allow you to use one copy of the Software for evaluation purposes only, on a single personal computer and to use the Documentation under the terms stated in this License (the "Evaluation Period").
2. After the Evaluation Period, you will not be authorized to use the Software any longer unless you activate the Software (the "Activation"). The Activation requires the purchase of a license online in order to obtain an activation key. The price of the activation key is mentioned on Exalead's website. When you acquire an activation key from Exalead, you are granted a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive license to use one copy of the Software on a single personal computer and to use the Documentation under the terms stated in this License. The Activation does not include a right to get updates of the Software. Title and ownership of the Software and Documentation remain to Exalead.
So, I'm not sure if they've changed their license or not. You're welcome to give it a try and report back if it is still "trialware" or actually "freeware".
http://www.exalead.com/software/products/desktop-search/#section-4
This would be the free desktop version.
I'll toss out Super Finder. Pretty standard and simple interface, can search by date, wildcard, file attributes, as well as text, Unicode, and Hexadecimal. Pretty nice.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/Super-Finder.shtml
My other choice would probably be Index Your Files.
"Everything" is ok but its search options are limited compared to the above two, so I see no advantage in using it.
I tried Windows Search 4.0 after reading good things about it. It says everything is fully indexed, but it's missing some of my files that should be right there. Some might say I'm using it wrong, but if somehow I am, then that reflects on the program also since I can get all these other ones working fine.
"...can search by date, wildcard, file attributes, as well as text..."
Let's clarify search options: Some programs accept a word or fraction of a word and then allow you to sort results by date, filetype, or other attributes. They assume inputs are word fractions (appending "*" by their behaviour). You can use "multi-word phrases" and several keywords (defaulting to "OR" behaviour). So, the funtionality rests in thinking of a keyword(s)that will find your desired file(s). The keywords are searched in filenames and text without constraining to one category. You can probably find something much faster by picking good keywords than by defining constraints in a complex search interface. This seems to be the point of fast/instant search. If your results are too numerous, combine another keyword or replace a keyword.
I think it should default to "AND", or at least sort the "AND" results to the top. Copernic works great sometimes and returns false results other times. Also, the Copernic index becomes corrupted over time, and finally fails to work for anything (have to start re-index over). It was good conceptually, but it needs replaced with something better.
I'd been very happy with the free version of Copernic until it crashed - finds nothing. Their tech support said to install the 3.1.0, which doesn't work at all either. So I'm looking for a new desktop search. I need one that works with WordPerfect and Eudora, and will search for a word within files, both long and short. I have many of both. I don't need it to search the web. I'm running Windows XP. Thanks. -- Lost Worlds
I use Copernic to search files (names and within the files) and Eudora. Eventual crashing and finding nothing is a continuing problem for me too. Regular, excessive use of resources doesn't maintain the index sufficiently to prevent the eventual crash. Then, you have to re-build the index from scratch. It is consistently crashing on ~ a 3-month interval for me. The simple interface and said functionality still make it a desireable program. I just wish they would fix these fundamental problems and stop the progressive slowing of new versions before they remove key features to charge for them. Echo, the lack of effective tech support. Here's hoping for a Copernic replacement.
Both Google Desktop and Locate32 will/can search within files. Everything currently cannot. I suggest you try either GD or Locate32.
This won't work for me because Google Desktop doesn't index WordPerfect. Does Locate 32?-- Lost Worlds