Someone help me fix my Windows Explorer Search Please!

Yes !!! I would most certainly do this - Thank you for your time - this
thing is driving me crazy !!!

2 ideas that might be causing glitches -

1) I am searching on network drives (network not really properly designed
but it does work - I can open files so shouldn't be security issue)

2) I am using Vista to search old (in this case excel) files - do I need to
do something to the filetype to make it properly search older (.xls)
files???????? (stranger things have happened

"Dave Wood [MS]" wrote:

> Windows Search does search the contents of excel and other files. If
> possible, can you send me one of the Excel or other files you are having
> trouble with {and the terms you are searching for and not finding and I will
> take a look}? Send to "davewood at microsoft dot com" and I will see if I
> can track anything down ...
>
> Dave
>
> "Teri" <> wrote in message
> news:2D70E0A1-52A0-4E75-9716-...
> >I am having same issue, as are many others - so we are not alone
> >
> > However, I have checked the box to run search on both indexed and
> > non-indexed files - it does NOT NOT NOT find all the files that contain
> > certain words - bottom line Vista has trouble with context searches for
> > some
> > reason - either that or we are all missing some trick to it.
> >
> > "IllNeverHaveYouAgain" wrote:
> >
> >> Thanks but I was just wondering whether you've ever heard of this before
> >> or
> >> could hazard a guess to why it's doing this. Any ideas?
> >> Thanks for the tutorial but I hope you understand I want to leave turning
> >> off the index until all other options are exhausted. It takes way too
> >> long
> >> without the index to find files on my pc. There's like 300GB of stuff on
> >> it.
> >>
> >> "brink" wrote:
> >>
> >> >
> >> > IllNeverHaveYouAgain;497827 Wrote:
> >> > > I made a post on the MSDN forums but I received no help. If you read
> >> > > it
> >> > > though it will detail the steps I've already taken to correct the
> >> > > problem,
> >> > > none of which worked. It'll help when you make suggestions that I
> >> > > might
> >> > > already have tried.
> >> > >
> >> > > 'Please help! Desktop search is completely broken - MSDN Forums'
> >> > > (http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/Sho...09384&siteid=1)
> >> > >
> >> > > Anyway. A brief synopsis of my problem:
> >> > >
> >> > > Using either the Windows Explorer Search box at the top right hand
> >> > > corner of
> >> > > a Windows Explorer Folder or the Search box in the Start Menu I am
> >> > > unable to
> >> > > find certain files. They are usually *.exe's or *.rar's or *.zip's
> >> > > which I
> >> > > have downloaded. I can find some but not others.
> >> > >
> >> > > Rebuilding the Index or restoring the defaults, in Control Panel =>
> >> > > Indexing
> >> > > Options => Advanced, does nothing to help. My setting for *.zip's,
> >> > > *.exe's
> >> > > and *.rar's are "Index Properties Only" and yet it doesn't help. I
> >> > > can
> >> > > find
> >> > > SOME *.exe's but not others. The same goes for the rest of the files.
> >> > >
> >> > > I can't tell why it can find some and not others when it has all of
> >> > > them
> >> > > indexed. It doesn't seem to matter what directory it's in but the
> >> > > majority of
> >> > > the time I notice this problem in "C:\Users\[me]\Downloads".
> >> > >
> >> > > Please will someone help! I don't want to have to pay Microsoft 70
> >> > > euros for
> >> > > customer support because of their defective product!
> >> >
> >> > Hi,
> >> >
> >> > I would just disable the Search Index and let Vista default to using
> >> > the non-indexed search. It is accurate. Method One in this tutorial
> >> > will show you how.
> >> >
> >> > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/69...e-disable.html
> >> >
> >> > Shawn
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > brink
> >> >
> >> > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
> >> > OM\")
> >> > *Please post feedback to help others.*
> >> >
>
>

<from an email thread Teri and I had>

Teri

I tried searching for a term in the Excel file you sent me on various of my
Vista boxes and I could find the file. I think the problem you are hitting
is that by default we only search the contents of files in indexed
locations. But on network shares etc. we only search file names, to make
searches faster and reduce load on servers etc.

However, there should be a really easy way to make the search for file
contents happen in any location. If you search on a network location and don’t
find the results you want, you should see a little button in the search
results window that says “Search File Contents�. If you click this we will
redo the search across the full contents.

You can also change the defaults and make it so that searches ALWAYS search
file contents. If you go to Folder Options -> Search, there’s an option
“Always search filenames and contents {might be slow}�. If you select this
then all searches over any location will search file contents.

Let me know if this gets your searches working again,

Dave


"Teri" <> wrote in message
news:475A40DD-9D22-4A0D-93C3-...
> Yes !!! I would most certainly do this - Thank you for your time - this
> thing is driving me crazy !!!
>
> 2 ideas that might be causing glitches -
>
> 1) I am searching on network drives (network not really properly designed
> but it does work - I can open files so shouldn't be security issue)
>
> 2) I am using Vista to search old (in this case excel) files - do I need
> to
> do something to the filetype to make it properly search older (.xls)
> files???????? (stranger things have happened
>
> "Dave Wood [MS]" wrote:
>
>> Windows Search does search the contents of excel and other files. If
>> possible, can you send me one of the Excel or other files you are having
>> trouble with {and the terms you are searching for and not finding and I
>> will
>> take a look}? Send to "davewood at microsoft dot com" and I will see if I
>> can track anything down ...
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> "Teri" <> wrote in message
>> news:2D70E0A1-52A0-4E75-9716-...
>> >I am having same issue, as are many others - so we are not alone
>> >
>> > However, I have checked the box to run search on both indexed and
>> > non-indexed files - it does NOT NOT NOT find all the files that
>> > contain
>> > certain words - bottom line Vista has trouble with context searches for
>> > some
>> > reason - either that or we are all missing some trick to it.
>> >
>> > "IllNeverHaveYouAgain" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Thanks but I was just wondering whether you've ever heard of this
>> >> before
>> >> or
>> >> could hazard a guess to why it's doing this. Any ideas?
>> >> Thanks for the tutorial but I hope you understand I want to leave
>> >> turning
>> >> off the index until all other options are exhausted. It takes way too
>> >> long
>> >> without the index to find files on my pc. There's like 300GB of stuff
>> >> on
>> >> it.
>> >>
>> >> "brink" wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > IllNeverHaveYouAgain;497827 Wrote:
>> >> > > I made a post on the MSDN forums but I received no help. If you
>> >> > > read
>> >> > > it
>> >> > > though it will detail the steps I've already taken to correct the
>> >> > > problem,
>> >> > > none of which worked. It'll help when you make suggestions that I
>> >> > > might
>> >> > > already have tried.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > 'Please help! Desktop search is completely broken - MSDN Forums'
>> >> > > (http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/Sho...09384&siteid=1)
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Anyway. A brief synopsis of my problem:
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Using either the Windows Explorer Search box at the top right hand
>> >> > > corner of
>> >> > > a Windows Explorer Folder or the Search box in the Start Menu I am
>> >> > > unable to
>> >> > > find certain files. They are usually *.exe's or *.rar's or *.zip's
>> >> > > which I
>> >> > > have downloaded. I can find some but not others.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Rebuilding the Index or restoring the defaults, in Control Panel
>> >> > > =>
>> >> > > Indexing
>> >> > > Options => Advanced, does nothing to help. My setting for *.zip's,
>> >> > > *.exe's
>> >> > > and *.rar's are "Index Properties Only" and yet it doesn't help. I
>> >> > > can
>> >> > > find
>> >> > > SOME *.exe's but not others. The same goes for the rest of the
>> >> > > files.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > I can't tell why it can find some and not others when it has all
>> >> > > of
>> >> > > them
>> >> > > indexed. It doesn't seem to matter what directory it's in but the
>> >> > > majority of
>> >> > > the time I notice this problem in "C:\Users\[me]\Downloads".
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Please will someone help! I don't want to have to pay Microsoft 70
>> >> > > euros for
>> >> > > customer support because of their defective product!
>> >> >
>> >> > Hi,
>> >> >
>> >> > I would just disable the Search Index and let Vista default to using
>> >> > the non-indexed search. It is accurate. Method One in this
>> >> > tutorial
>> >> > will show you how.
>> >> >
>> >> > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/69...e-disable.html
>> >> >
>> >> > Shawn
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > brink
>> >> >
>> >> > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
>> >> > OM\")
>> >> > *Please post feedback to help others.*
>> >> >
>>
>>

Dave

Thanks a bunch for posting this information. I wish that everyone who takes
an incident to email would this.

Regards,

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Dave Wood [MS]" <> wrote in message
news:OwL$...
> <from an email thread Teri and I had>
>
> Teri
>
> I tried searching for a term in the Excel file you sent me on various of
> my Vista boxes and I could find the file. I think the problem you are
> hitting is that by default we only search the contents of files in indexed
> locations. But on network shares etc. we only search file names, to make
> searches faster and reduce load on servers etc.
>
> However, there should be a really easy way to make the search for file
> contents happen in any location. If you search on a network location and
> don’t find the results you want, you should see a little button in the
> search results window that says “Search File Contents�. If you click this
> we will redo the search across the full contents.
>
> You can also change the defaults and make it so that searches ALWAYS
> search file contents. If you go to Folder Options -> Search, there’s an
> option “Always search filenames and contents {might be slow}�. If you
> select this then all searches over any location will search file contents.
>
> Let me know if this gets your searches working again,
>
> Dave
>
>
> "Teri" <> wrote in message
> news:475A40DD-9D22-4A0D-93C3-...
>> Yes !!! I would most certainly do this - Thank you for your time - this
>> thing is driving me crazy !!!
>>
>> 2 ideas that might be causing glitches -
>>
>> 1) I am searching on network drives (network not really properly
>> designed
>> but it does work - I can open files so shouldn't be security issue)
>>
>> 2) I am using Vista to search old (in this case excel) files - do I need
>> to
>> do something to the filetype to make it properly search older (.xls)
>> files???????? (stranger things have happened
>>
>> "Dave Wood [MS]" wrote:
>>
>>> Windows Search does search the contents of excel and other files. If
>>> possible, can you send me one of the Excel or other files you are having
>>> trouble with {and the terms you are searching for and not finding and I
>>> will
>>> take a look}? Send to "davewood at microsoft dot com" and I will see if
>>> I
>>> can track anything down ...
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>> "Teri" <> wrote in message
>>> news:2D70E0A1-52A0-4E75-9716-...
>>> >I am having same issue, as are many others - so we are not alone
>>> >
>>> > However, I have checked the box to run search on both indexed and
>>> > non-indexed files - it does NOT NOT NOT find all the files that
>>> > contain
>>> > certain words - bottom line Vista has trouble with context searches
>>> > for
>>> > some
>>> > reason - either that or we are all missing some trick to it.
>>> >
>>> > "IllNeverHaveYouAgain" wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Thanks but I was just wondering whether you've ever heard of this
>>> >> before
>>> >> or
>>> >> could hazard a guess to why it's doing this. Any ideas?
>>> >> Thanks for the tutorial but I hope you understand I want to leave
>>> >> turning
>>> >> off the index until all other options are exhausted. It takes way too
>>> >> long
>>> >> without the index to find files on my pc. There's like 300GB of stuff
>>> >> on
>>> >> it.
>>> >>
>>> >> "brink" wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> >
>>> >> > IllNeverHaveYouAgain;497827 Wrote:
>>> >> > > I made a post on the MSDN forums but I received no help. If you
>>> >> > > read
>>> >> > > it
>>> >> > > though it will detail the steps I've already taken to correct the
>>> >> > > problem,
>>> >> > > none of which worked. It'll help when you make suggestions that I
>>> >> > > might
>>> >> > > already have tried.
>>> >> > >
>>> >> > > 'Please help! Desktop search is completely broken - MSDN Forums'
>>> >> > > (http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/Sho...09384&siteid=1)
>>> >> > >
>>> >> > > Anyway. A brief synopsis of my problem:
>>> >> > >
>>> >> > > Using either the Windows Explorer Search box at the top right
>>> >> > > hand
>>> >> > > corner of
>>> >> > > a Windows Explorer Folder or the Search box in the Start Menu I
>>> >> > > am
>>> >> > > unable to
>>> >> > > find certain files. They are usually *.exe's or *.rar's or
>>> >> > > *.zip's
>>> >> > > which I
>>> >> > > have downloaded. I can find some but not others.
>>> >> > >
>>> >> > > Rebuilding the Index or restoring the defaults, in Control Panel
>>> >> > > =>
>>> >> > > Indexing
>>> >> > > Options => Advanced, does nothing to help. My setting for
>>> >> > > *.zip's,
>>> >> > > *.exe's
>>> >> > > and *.rar's are "Index Properties Only" and yet it doesn't help.
>>> >> > > I
>>> >> > > can
>>> >> > > find
>>> >> > > SOME *.exe's but not others. The same goes for the rest of the
>>> >> > > files.
>>> >> > >
>>> >> > > I can't tell why it can find some and not others when it has all
>>> >> > > of
>>> >> > > them
>>> >> > > indexed. It doesn't seem to matter what directory it's in but the
>>> >> > > majority of
>>> >> > > the time I notice this problem in "C:\Users\[me]\Downloads".
>>> >> > >
>>> >> > > Please will someone help! I don't want to have to pay Microsoft
>>> >> > > 70
>>> >> > > euros for
>>> >> > > customer support because of their defective product!
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Hi,
>>> >> >
>>> >> > I would just disable the Search Index and let Vista default to
>>> >> > using
>>> >> > the non-indexed search. It is accurate. Method One in this
>>> >> > tutorial
>>> >> > will show you how.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/69...e-disable.html
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Shawn
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > --
>>> >> > brink
>>> >> >
>>> >> > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
>>> >> > them.*
>>> >> > OM\")
>>> >> > *Please post feedback to help others.*
>>> >> >
>>>
>>>
>

I found out the solution to my problem. I'm not sure about the problem you
guys are having with finding a file through words in it's contents.

Anyway to solve the one I explained you have to go into the properties of
the files you can't find and in General > Advanced > File Attributes you must
check the box "Index this file for faster searching". It seems to be off by
default for almost all my*.rar's and *.zip's and most of my *.exe's in
"C:\Users\[me]\Downloads". Checking the box in the Folder's General >
Advanced > File Attributes section won't work. It seems to only work if you
individually set it for the files.

But what I just do is for the folder you're having trouble with just
highlight all it's contents and check the box in the General > Advanced >
File Attributes for the whole group of Files. Make sure it's checked with a
tick not a Blue Square. A Blue Square just means only SOME of them are
selected for Faster Searching (Search using the index). I hope this helped.



"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> Dave
>
> Thanks a bunch for posting this information. I wish that everyone who takes
> an incident to email would this.
>
> Regards,
>
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Dave Wood [MS]" <> wrote in message
> news:OwL$...
> > <from an email thread Teri and I had>
> >
> > Teri
> >
> > I tried searching for a term in the Excel file you sent me on various of
> > my Vista boxes and I could find the file. I think the problem you are
> > hitting is that by default we only search the contents of files in indexed
> > locations. But on network shares etc. we only search file names, to make
> > searches faster and reduce load on servers etc.
> >
> > However, there should be a really easy way to make the search for file
> > contents happen in any location. If you search on a network location and
> > don’t find the results you want, you should see a little button in the
> > search results window that says “Search File Contents�. If you click this
> > we will redo the search across the full contents.
> >
> > You can also change the defaults and make it so that searches ALWAYS
> > search file contents. If you go to Folder Options -> Search, there’s an
> > option “Always search filenames and contents {might be slow}�. If you
> > select this then all searches over any location will search file contents.
> >
> > Let me know if this gets your searches working again,
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
> > "Teri" <> wrote in message
> > news:475A40DD-9D22-4A0D-93C3-...
> >> Yes !!! I would most certainly do this - Thank you for your time - this
> >> thing is driving me crazy !!!
> >>
> >> 2 ideas that might be causing glitches -
> >>
> >> 1) I am searching on network drives (network not really properly
> >> designed
> >> but it does work - I can open files so shouldn't be security issue)
> >>
> >> 2) I am using Vista to search old (in this case excel) files - do I need
> >> to
> >> do something to the filetype to make it properly search older (.xls)
> >> files???????? (stranger things have happened
> >>
> >> "Dave Wood [MS]" wrote:
> >>
> >>> Windows Search does search the contents of excel and other files. If
> >>> possible, can you send me one of the Excel or other files you are having
> >>> trouble with {and the terms you are searching for and not finding and I
> >>> will
> >>> take a look}? Send to "davewood at microsoft dot com" and I will see if
> >>> I
> >>> can track anything down ...
> >>>
> >>> Dave
> >>>
> >>> "Teri" <> wrote in message
> >>> news:2D70E0A1-52A0-4E75-9716-...
> >>> >I am having same issue, as are many others - so we are not alone
> >>> >
> >>> > However, I have checked the box to run search on both indexed and
> >>> > non-indexed files - it does NOT NOT NOT find all the files that
> >>> > contain
> >>> > certain words - bottom line Vista has trouble with context searches
> >>> > for
> >>> > some
> >>> > reason - either that or we are all missing some trick to it.
> >>> >
> >>> > "IllNeverHaveYouAgain" wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> >> Thanks but I was just wondering whether you've ever heard of this
> >>> >> before
> >>> >> or
> >>> >> could hazard a guess to why it's doing this. Any ideas?
> >>> >> Thanks for the tutorial but I hope you understand I want to leave
> >>> >> turning
> >>> >> off the index until all other options are exhausted. It takes way too
> >>> >> long
> >>> >> without the index to find files on my pc. There's like 300GB of stuff
> >>> >> on
> >>> >> it.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> "brink" wrote:
> >>> >>
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > IllNeverHaveYouAgain;497827 Wrote:
> >>> >> > > I made a post on the MSDN forums but I received no help. If you
> >>> >> > > read
> >>> >> > > it
> >>> >> > > though it will detail the steps I've already taken to correct the
> >>> >> > > problem,
> >>> >> > > none of which worked. It'll help when you make suggestions that I
> >>> >> > > might
> >>> >> > > already have tried.
> >>> >> > >
> >>> >> > > 'Please help! Desktop search is completely broken - MSDN Forums'
> >>> >> > > (http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/Sho...09384&siteid=1)
> >>> >> > >
> >>> >> > > Anyway. A brief synopsis of my problem:
> >>> >> > >
> >>> >> > > Using either the Windows Explorer Search box at the top right
> >>> >> > > hand
> >>> >> > > corner of
> >>> >> > > a Windows Explorer Folder or the Search box in the Start Menu I
> >>> >> > > am
> >>> >> > > unable to
> >>> >> > > find certain files. They are usually *.exe's or *.rar's or
> >>> >> > > *.zip's
> >>> >> > > which I
> >>> >> > > have downloaded. I can find some but not others.
> >>> >> > >
> >>> >> > > Rebuilding the Index or restoring the defaults, in Control Panel
> >>> >> > > =>
> >>> >> > > Indexing
> >>> >> > > Options => Advanced, does nothing to help. My setting for
> >>> >> > > *.zip's,
> >>> >> > > *.exe's
> >>> >> > > and *.rar's are "Index Properties Only" and yet it doesn't help.
> >>> >> > > I
> >>> >> > > can
> >>> >> > > find
> >>> >> > > SOME *.exe's but not others. The same goes for the rest of the
> >>> >> > > files.
> >>> >> > >
> >>> >> > > I can't tell why it can find some and not others when it has all
> >>> >> > > of
> >>> >> > > them
> >>> >> > > indexed. It doesn't seem to matter what directory it's in but the
> >>> >> > > majority of
> >>> >> > > the time I notice this problem in "C:\Users\[me]\Downloads".
> >>> >> > >
> >>> >> > > Please will someone help! I don't want to have to pay Microsoft
> >>> >> > > 70
> >>> >> > > euros for
> >>> >> > > customer support because of their defective product!
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > Hi,
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > I would just disable the Search Index and let Vista default to
> >>> >> > using
> >>> >> > the non-indexed search. It is accurate. Method One in this
> >>> >> > tutorial
> >>> >> > will show you how.
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/69...e-disable.html
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > Shawn
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > --
> >>> >> > brink
> >>> >> >
> >>> >> > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
> >>> >> > them.*
> >>> >> > OM\")
> >>> >> > *Please post feedback to help others.*
> >>> >> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >
>

From your post I can't tell if you're trying to search for a filename, or the
textual content of a file. Vista defaults to searching for files' content
and not their names or extensions. Try searching for ext:.rar or
filename:NAME and you may have better luck. Check
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/addresources/advanced.mspx>
for the full syntax.

I hope this helps. My search hasn't worked at all for a few days, and
nothing seems to fix, trying to avoid a reinstall & saw your Q.

Good luck.

"IllNeverHaveYouAgain" wrote:

> I found out the solution to my problem. I'm not sure about the problem you
> guys are having with finding a file through words in it's contents.
>