Why does the search feature on Windows 7 suck so badly?

[Binky]

There is a very abnormal number of single post commenters in this thread. I haven't counted them, but they seem to be mostly in support of voidtools...very odd.

Voidtools seems like a decent search program, but I still prefer agent ransack. The interface on voidtools is very simple so that may be a plus for some users. I like the configurability of agent ransack. As far as I can tell, neither of them integrates with the win7 start menu.

Somebody needs to find a way to replace the default searcher in the win7 start menu. I don't want to put an asterisk in front of everything. That should be on by default for the damned start menu search!

 

[MplsBob]

I have extremely low regard for the search feature in Win 7.

As others have pointed out, a search engine that takes a long time is a vast improvement over a search engine that is almost totally useless.

To put it more emphatically, this program was designed by an idiot!


(My apologies to any idiots who may have been deeply offended by my comparing them with any Microsoft programmer(s). )

 

[lee_terry_jr]

Typing in "search" within the control panel box thats labelled "search control panel" will bring up the "indexing options" applet, where you can add the "program files" directory to the search locations.

But hey, why bother looking for the solution when you can whine about it on a forum?

Thats not the point here windows 7 is supposed to be better then older versions. Also I disable the indexing because it uses a ton of resources and in win xp this was not really a problem. It did make searches take longer but they still found all the folders/files on my hdd. In windows 7 I search for a file and it finds nothing but I know this is wrong because I have a file with that name in a folder on the desktop (its the original install file). I should not have to download another program to do something windows should be able to do already. Windows 7 is supposed to be easier to use but this is much more complicated then doing a search in windows xp is.

Anyway I have found a program called FileSearchEX that seems to be perfect. Its interface looks like the windows xp search interface only without the stupid dog. It seems to find files great so far and it has a shortcut that makes it so all you have to do is right click on any folder to open the search. Sadly no win+f keyboard shortcut but you can always pin a shortcut to the start menu so that it is more like the windows search if you prefer. I made sure to disable windows search function after installing it. To do this go here
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features
Next click on Turn Windows features on or off
Then scroll down the list to look for Windows Search and Indexing Service
After you have found them remove the marks from the boxes directly to the left to them (if there is any).
Now restart your computer so it can apply the changes.
If done correctly you will no longer see the search function in the start menu.

 

[Cerb]

Thats not the point here windows 7 is supposed to be better then older versions. Also I disable the indexing because it uses a ton of resources and in win xp this was not really a problem. It did make searches take longer but they still found all the folders/files on my hdd. In windows 7 I search for a file and it finds nothing but I know this is wrong because I have a file with that name in a folder on the desktop (its the original install file). I should not have to download another program to do something windows should be able to do already. Windows 7 is supposed to be easier to use but this is much more complicated then doing a search in windows xp is.

Explorer->File->Folder Options->Search tab:
What to search:

[*] Always search file names and contents

How to search:
[X] Include subfolders in search results when searching in file folders

When searching non-indexed locations:
[X] Include system directories

With the above set, you will get the same results as in a default everything-indexed setup (the two middle options in "How to search" are optional either way, along with searching in archives).

It won't fix the lack of thought put into the search in general, but there is only one non-default option needed to fix the problem of not getting results without indexing.

 

[Auric]

I've "always" used third-party file managers (particularly PowerDesk) so search has never been an issue. Even given adequate search, it would be annoying to then have difficulty managing the found files.

For 64-bit context menus, Directory Opus is probably a better commercial choice but I'm too cheap/relucant to change so continue using PD circa 2005 (it works fine otherwise). Freebee choices include Q-Dir but it lacks the additional capabilities including search.

So, for other systems at least, voidtool's Everything is great at basic search however Agent Ransack / FileLocator Lite looks more capable and comparable to PD's search. So, thanks for that... and you may now return to shaking tiny fists at poorly implemented OS features.

 

[blackangst1]

There is a very abnormal number of single post commenters in this thread. I haven't counted them, but they seem to be mostly in support of voidtools...very odd.

Voidtools seems like a decent search program, but I still prefer agent ransack. The interface on voidtools is very simple so that may be a plus for some users. I like the configurability of agent ransack. As far as I can tell, neither of them integrates with the win7 start menu.

Somebody needs to find a way to replace the default searcher in the win7 start menu. I don't want to put an asterisk in front of everything. That should be on by default for the damned start menu search!

I dont think Ive seen so many first posts in one thread ever lol

 

[georgec84]

XP search - almost perfect
W7 search - awful, slow, worthless

 

[colonelciller]

works fine for me

from explorer i click on the drive or folder i want to search and then i type in my search string. i have several terabytes of data on multiple drives so i don't expect instant gratification... i just check back after a few minutes and there it is.

often when not finding something it turns out to be my fault for forgetting the file name.. can't blame windows for that though

 

[HeXen]

Compare W7 search to an app called "everything"...big night and day difference, everything indexes super fast and literally finds every file, W7 omits some files

 

[Nothinman]

Compare W7 search to an app called "everything"...big night and day difference, everything indexes super fast and literally finds every file, W7 omits some files

That's because it uses NTFS-specific APIs to read the filesystem directly instead of walking the filesystem tree with the standard APIs and doesn't include file contents. The two aren't really comparable.

 

[kmmatney]

Single Poster chiming in... I also prefer to use Everything versus trying to make the windows search engine work. Most of the time I need to just find a damn file, not some string inside of it. Doing this should be fast and easy, and not require Indexing of the drive (which isn;'t good for SSDs, from what I know). Microsoft really surprises me sometimes with how lame that can make some of their most important features, like search. It took them years to make a useful search engine for Outlook (and they had to buy Lookout to get it).