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Recommendations for Search apps?


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Posted

Okay, also fucking fed up with Microsoft's idiotic Search thing in XP. It goes about on its merry way, then, randomly, encounters something it doesn't like, says to itself, "I don't like this, so, I'm just going to sit here and do nothing. But, I won't tell the user I've stopped so it appears I'm still going." In essence, the search stops randomly but keeps on going, so, it never finishes.

 

 

So, I thought I'd ask for any recommendations for external installable applications that can do the same thing as Windows Search in the Start Menu does. Something FREE; I've ALREADY paid for XP. Basically, I just need something that can find files by a given name/extension, allows wildcards, will search within files for text, search sub-folders, and search hidden/system files. Yes, I DO have to list all these things because there will always be some app that idiotically does ALMOST all of these, yet, leaves out a key idiocy, like searching for system/hidden files.

 

 

Thanks!

  • 2 months later...
Posted
I've never found a decent one either but your question got me looking around the net a bit and I found a great tool by the name of "Quintura". It shouldn't be hard to find.

 

 

Finally got around to this. :lol:

 

 

No, Quintura was, well, useless. :) The page was just a query the web type of search thing. I need one that can search files on the HD and partitions. Discovered another fucker error where I hope a different searcher might help. One that won't attempt to search archives, if XP's does. There's a Windows plug in/service thing that TI 10 has that mounts archives like virtual drives. Unfortunately, my experience has been that when Windows Explorer is done with the virtual drive of the image, it crashes! :angry: SO, Search tries to search the archives and will crash Explorer when the Search window is closed. WORSE, if the TI archives are password protected AND split into parts, EACH DAMN PART WILL ask for the WHOLE archive's password! :rolleyes: Fuckers!

Posted
Try this one, DB. There's a few things that bug me about it but it's free.

 

 

http://www.x1.com/

 

 

Lots of things about this bug me, I think. :)

 

 

Primarily, I just need it for Files searching, but, off the bat, I see something wrong. There's no way to search all drives at once, it seems. Just provides a Path field that must be entered in each time. No way to select a singular drive except by typing in its root.

 

 

Plus, the apparent ad for a dating service that popped up in the right side. No thanks.

Posted
Don't forget Google Desktop, it's also free :w00t: .

 

http://desktop.google.com/

 

 

Tried to install it, said it was already installed, but isn't. Nothing on the Desktop was added, nothing to Start Menu. Nothing to Firefox, apparently, even though it said it needed it to be closed. I also did not like the rather ominous idea that it needed to install a library that runs each time an application is opened? No thanks. I just need a fucking stupid simple searcher. :)

Posted

Uninstall it from the Control Panel and try again - it is pretty comprehensive, but I actually find I don't need.

 

Regards

Posted

Don't forget Google Desktop, it's also free :w00t: .

 

http://desktop.google.com/

 

 

Tried to install it, said it was already installed, but isn't. Nothing on the Desktop was added, nothing to Start Menu. Nothing to Firefox, apparently, even though it said it needed it to be closed. I also did not like the rather ominous idea that it needed to install a library that runs each time an application is opened? No thanks. I just need a fucking stupid simple searcher. :)

You know what I'd like instead of the eye candy and email searching? A simple, text-based engine that can scan multiple drives for just filenames and save the result as a searchable database (complete with full pathnames). You could have the thing scan and update itself every 24 hours via a cron or whatever. It'd be fast too. A 3GHz machine would make mincemeat of a 20meg text file.

Posted

The only other thing I'd add is the ability to search within text files. XP's current search is relatively fine. My only beef with it is how it's implemented. Too tied into Explorer, etc. so it gets in too deep into areas where it doesn't belong.

Posted
Uninstall it from the Control Panel and try again - it is pretty comprehensive, but I actually find I don't need.

 

Regards

 

 

Oh, of COURSE! Control Panel! Makes perfect sense! :rolleyes:

 

 

:)

 

 

Hmmmm, nothing there, either. :unsure:

  • 2 months later...
Posted

Tried PowerGREP, but, it seems, well, too complicated for its own good. I tried a simple find file search. Using part of the file name in the root directory of a small drive. Never found the file, so, there must be some fucker settings, etc. that need to be enabled in order to find it. Nope. There's no need to be THAT unnecessarily complicated.

Posted

 

Hmm.... Looks pretty much like the rest IMO. Probably a great tool for a single PC but looks a bit dodgy for scanning multiple drives on a network. It also seems to index the text inside files like emails or whatever. I just want a crappy tool that lists every file with the full path on every drive into a searchable text file. Something that can be run every 24 hours from a scheduler or cron would be nice.

Posted

Yeah, I'm just looking for something that does the same thing as Window's search does but is not plugged into the OS due to a fucker error in Acronis True Image 10. I don't need the ability to binary search bit by bit! :lol:

Posted
Sorry Shamus I feel like I've let you down and can not live with the shame. I must commit sepuku at once. Goodbye cruel world... :bye2:

 

erm before you go you wouldn't happen to have the phone # of those 2 ladies in your avatar :whistling:

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