I know to some of you this might sound like something that is basic but I assure you there some things you may not be aware of and some new tricks in this lesson.
As time marches on, hard drives are getting cheaper and their capacities keep expanding into mind boggling sizes. When Windows 3.1 was a fledging OS, a gigabyte of storage was considered astronomical! Expanded hard drive capacities means more file storage space. When your file collection grows--mp3s, images, movies, documents etc.--it becomes harder to quickly isolate a specific file from the crowd.
Windows alleviates this problem by allowing its users to create meaningful folder and file names, giving each folder and file identities of their own. But sometimes this isn't enough. With myriad files scattered all haphazardly across your massive hard drive, hunting down a specific file that you created several months ago seems like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Windows XP provides a simple and easy-to-use solution for this common problem: Windows Search.
Windows Search allows you to search your file system for a specific file or a cluster of files based on common criteria. You can commend Windows Search to hunt down all files that contain a certain phrase or word in their filenames, locate all multimedia content and images, or isolate all your documents. You can customize your search query to be very general, to return as many results as possible, or narrow your query down to specifics. Let's get acquainted with XP's search application.
Search Results: Locate my lost File!
To launch XP or Vista's search application, open up an instance of Windows Explorer; you can do this by opening up "My Computer" or using the shortcut key combo: "Windows Key+E". Once you have Windows Explorer opened, right tap on the hard drive you want to search. If you like to keep your PC simple, you may only have one hard drive, and it should be labeled the "C" drive. Right tap on your "C" drive and select "Search".
When you first load Windows Search, you'll be greeted with several text boxes and one of XP's cute little mascot helpers. My Windows Search is accompanied by the "XP dog". The first search text box asks you to type in a file name. If you know the exact file name of the file you are searching for, type that in and let XP locate it for you.
You don't need to know the exact name for a successful search. As long as you know some word or phrase located inside the file's name, XP will usually find it for you. To only search for files that contain a word of phrase, type in your search query into the "A word or phrase in the file" text box. A good tip to observe when creating file names is to be as descriptive as possible, as you may need to perform a Search on said file sometime in the future, and a descriptive file name definitely helps with the search process.
The "Look in" list box allows you to specify what hard drive you want XP to search. The default is usually your "C" drive.
If you just want to search for files that fall into a specific category--such as music, videos, images, spreadsheets and suchlike--XP allows you to select a special option for such purposes. On the main search menu, hit the "Back" button and XP will ask you "What do you want to search for?" Windows Search records several categories and will only search for files that fall into your selected category. This search feature is an easy way file all of your mp3 or image files in one fell swoop.
The Mystery of Hidden Files
Windows XP employs various methods to save you from shooting yourself in the foot. The deletion of a vital system file could destroy the stability of XP. XP sometimes writes out essential files with a special "hidden" attribute. This "hidden" attribute actually hides the file from view when using Windows Explorer. When you can't see certain files, there's less of a chance of your accidentally deleting or overwriting it.
You can actually attribute the "hidden" setting to any file on your file system. You may want to do this for privacy reasons. To do this, right tap on a file and check the "Hidden" attribute on the bottom of the file's property dialog box. Your file will now be hidden from view. XP also contains an option that will allow you to "see" hidden files.
Turning this option on will display all files with the "Hide" attribute semi-transparently; turning this option off will again hide all files with the attribute set. You can set this option by going into "Tools" and "Folder Options" in Windows Explorer; from here, go to the "View" tab and select "Do not show hidden files and folders".
Google Desktop Search
Google, the company that brought you the amazingly fast search engine, also makes excellent desktop software. Since Google specializes in the searching field, it was only proper for them to create an application that searches your PC's hard drive. Google Desktop has more options than the standard Windows Search, and it's extremely easy to use.
The cool thing about Google Desktop is that your search results are presented to you in the exact same way you receive search results from an online search from Google. If you're searching for image files, Google Desktop will display each search result in a browser window with an appropriate thumbnail image right next to it.
It should be noted that Google Desktop needs to index your computer's hard drive when you first run the application. This indexation process is the key to very quick search results. Google Desktop will go through the index process when your PC is idle.
Google Desktop comes with a whole slew of useful settings and features. It's a lot of fun to play around with, and is a lot more powerful than the built-in search facilities XP makes available. Give Google Desktop a try today! You can find it here: http://desktop.google.com/
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