XP search - Does anyone agree it is very very bad?-Solutions??

[lkstafford]

I have two systems with adequate juice - athlon 1300 - 512 memory
Searches in XP search function produce the following {yes I have turned indexing off on all drives}

1 - if I go back to redo or alter a search it frequently reports that it ran into problems and I have to shut search down and start over
2- If i get results of lets say 50 or more - if I delete one it sits there while it "finds" it again in the Recycle bin - {as if I care}
3- If I try to delete 4 or 5 files - it sits and sits and maybe will delete one - or two - but it takes forever
4- if search results in 100 or so files and I want to scroll the page it hangs and takes forever

In short I hate XP search -

Does anyone agree?
Does anyone knwo how to disable it entirely?? {not just indexing}
Would someone recommend a good replacement?

Thanks

 

[Haden]

I hope you aren't using search with that funny dog?
If so - disable it with Powertoys.
Personally I use Far manager becouse I'm sure there is bug with searching files contents in XP explorer, FAR is better than explorer anyways.

 

[lkstafford]

I am bumping this because my thread title may have appeared merely a complaint - in essence I am asking for fixes or alternative programs that people know to work well. I will turn off the "dog" but I doubt that is causing the hangs and total slowness of XP search.

Thanks

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: lkstafford
I am bumping this because my thread title may have appeared merely a complaint - in essence I am asking for fixes or alternative programs that people know to work well. I will turn off the "dog" but I doubt that is causing the hangs and total slowness of XP search.

Thanks

powretoys is the way to go... use win2k style search.

 

[lkstafford]

Thanks for the powertoys suggestion - however it still hangs - if I "find" say 100 mp3s - and delete 5 at once it hangs for at least 20 seconds - and then when I try and scroll down the page it gives me the hourglass and hangs ofr antoher 20 secs or more - when I do get to the end it again proudly displays that it "found" my deleted mp3's in the recycle bin

I am convinced tha the "hang" is caused by the continuous seach it seems to insist on even after the seach is complete - indexing is turned off on all drives - BTW - did turn off the cartoon in XP style search also - that did not help -

is there anyway to turn off the "continuous file scan" that XP and now the 2000 style apparently insist upon?

XP and 2000 are fine to actually seach for and find a file - but to use it to manipulate or delete files it is beyond worthless

Thanks again for the suggestions

 

[CTho9305]

hmm, i see what you mean. no idea how to fix it

 

[johnlog]

I have XP Pro and the dog is doing its thing in the Search window. No slow downs at all and it does a very fast search. Even if you were to remove the dog how would that affect your searches in any way to begin with. Makes no sense.

 

[lkstafford]

johnlog -

the dog thing is just sort of a joke - it takes little resources but every little but helps - so I turned off the dog - but I agree XP searches fine - but if you "find" 100 or more files try deleting 4 or 5 at a time and watch it hang - or delete and then try to scroll down the page - watch it hang - but the dog - ok, he's cute and maybe he's worth keeping

 

[jer22]

i JUST UPGRADED TO XP. AND WAS LOVIN IT , UNTIL I ACCIDENTLY DELETED 2 PICS OF MY WIFE!THAT DAMN DOG!(NOT MY WIFE)AND WHILE I'M HERE, MY OLD 400 P11 SEEMED TO RUN FASTER? NOW I'M RUNNING A 1.2 DURON, 256MG DDR, IT'S PROBABLY JUST ME. JER

 

[johnlog]

Iks-*,

>but I agree XP searches fine - but if you "find" 100 or more files try deleting 4 or 5 at a time and watch it hang - or delete and then try to scroll down the page - watch it hang - but the dog - ok, he's cute and maybe he's worth keeping <

What you should do when deleting files or an entire folder is to do it in Explorer. Hold down the shift or Control key. Select the files you wish to delete and they all are deleted in one click.

You can also delete entire folders and all files within that folder and sub folders and even hidden or read only files with a single click. The power is there all you have to do is use it.

 

[c0rv1d43]

Well, the Windows XP search function is configurable so that it's quite tolerable. If you want to be able to delete files without having it find them again the the Recycle bin you can always just hold the <Shift> key down while performing the deletion. That way the files don't get sent to the Recycle bin. Frankly I don't see why it's so slow on your system, though. I just tried a regular delete from a Search window and it went pretty fast. This system is a 500 MHz PIII, and a notebook with a miserable slow 20 gig hard drive, too!

If you're looking for an alternative to Windows search you might want to give Agent Ransack a shot. It's unbelievably fast. And it's freeware for personal use.

- Collin

Edit: Hmmm. That link I gave for Agent Ransack isn't working. Don't know if it's permanent or not. You can also find it here.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: jer22
i JUST UPGRADED TO XP. AND WAS LOVIN IT , UNTIL I ACCIDENTLY DELETED 2 PICS OF MY WIFE!THAT DAMN DOG!(NOT MY WIFE)AND WHILE I'M HERE, MY OLD 400 P11 SEEMED TO RUN FASTER? NOW I'M RUNNING A 1.2 DURON, 256MG DDR, IT'S PROBABLY JUST ME. JER

Not sure about that one ^ .. LOL... but take off the caps!