T 'n' T: It's My Search Party, and I'll Cry If I Want To Make Windows XP Find Things Your Way Gregg Keizer
Mon 3/11/02 -- Windows has always had some sort of file finder, but Windows XP -- the operating system with the flashiest interface since Microsoft Bob bit the dust -- sports a revamped, redesigned Search tool that frankly takes a little getting used to. In this week's quintet of tips 'n' tricks, I'll show you how to neuter the annoying animated search dog, ditch MSN.com as the default Internet search engine, and where to look for details about the files you've found, and more.
Say no to intrusive indexing. Win XP's Indexing Service is supposed to speed up searches by examining and indexing text, HTML, Microsoft Office, and other documents. Theoretically, an indexed drive returns results pronto. But once enabled, XP's Indexing Service continually works in the background (much like its cousin, Office's Fast Find) -- it's supposed to kick in only when your computer's idle, but I've seen performance drop even while I'm working. To judge for yourself, select Search from the Start menu, click "Change preferences," then click "With Indexing Service." Check the "Yes, enable Indexing Service" button, then click OK. If it slows down the system, just turn it off.
Put that puppy to sleep. The hand-holding Search Companion may be fine for beginners and kids, but veterans will pine for the old days, when Windows' search engine was straightforward and sturdy. You can't quite bring back the searches of yesteryear, but you can come close.
First, open the Search window by selecting Search from the Start menu. Click "Change preferences," then click "Without an animated screen character" to get rid of the search dog. To use old-fashioned search parameters, click "Change preferences" again, followed by "Change files and folders search behavior." Check Advanced and click OK. Now you can access the date-modified, file-size, and other advanced search options.
Show me the details. Windows XP's Search takes a step backward in eliminating the Windows Me and 2000 feature that displayed some fast info about located files in a view pane at the left left. (This information included the file's size, the date it was last modified, a link to the folder containing it, and other useful stuff.)
The new OS will still offer up this info, but you have to ask for it. To view details of a file in the results list, select the file, then press F3 or Ctrl-E, click the close box in the upper right corner of the Search Companion pane, or click the Search icon on the toolbar. (For my money, F3 is the simplest and easiest to remember.)
To open the folder where the file resides, select the file, then click the "Open the folder that contains this item" link at the top, right under Results Task. Alternately, you can right-click any file in the list and choose Open Containing Folder.
Look in the right place. Windows XP -- just like older versions of the operating system -- doesn't let you set the default location for searches launched from the Start menu's Search (or Find) command. But with a bit of effort, you can sidestep this limitation.
The slickest way to search within a defined folder (and all its subfolders) without the hassle of selecting it manually in the "Look in:" field is from within Windows Explorer. Pick the folder you want to search, then right-click its icon and choose Search from the pop-up menu. Another way is to open the folder (via either My Computer or Windows Explorer), then press F3 or Ctrl-E. In all cases, the pertinent folder automatically appears in the "Look in:" field.
Goodbye MSN, hello Google. Win XP's Search digs through the Web as well as your C:\ drive. Here, too, you can tweak Windows to do you right. By default, XP takes your query and runs it through the MSN.com search engine (you were expecting maybe AOL?). MSN.com's not bad, but it's not my favorite; Google is. So I've configured Windows to whack Google whenever I pick Search/On the Internet from the Start menu.
Select Search/On the Internet from Start, then click "Change preferences." Click "Change Internet search behavior," choose your preferred engine from the list, and click OK. (I leave "With Search Companion..." checked, because here I fancy the Companion; if you want the older, pre-IE 6 search look, check "With Classic Internet search" instead.)
