T 'n' T: Search Party Make the Most of Windows' File Finder Gregg Keizer
Mon 6/24/02 -- Half the time I'm creating stuff on my PC. The other half of the time I'm trying to find the stuff I made.
That's the problem with 40GB hard drives -- they're so big you have no incentive to ditch digital debris, so you keep everything, just in case. But finding it again ... well, there's the rub.
My five tips this week all play to this problem, specifically to Windows' built-in solution or search tool. Four are for the offline times when you're rummaging through that hard disk, while the fifth should save you a ton of time when you're searching the Web.
Can I help you find something?
Search key combo. Bring up Windows' search fast by pressing the Windows key and F (for Find, or perhaps the animated search mascot Fido). This works in all editions, even Windows XP.
Shortcut to searching. Rooting through the same folders, again and again, looking for specific files? Here's a shortcut -- literally -- that will help: Create a shortcut for the folder(s) you frequently search, then place it on the desktop. (If you haven't done this before, right-click the folder in Windows Explorer and choose Create Shortcut, then drag and drop the resulting shortcut to the desktop.)
To search this folder only, right-click the shortcut on the desktop and pick Find (Windows 95/98/Me) or Search (Windows XP). The folder will be listed in the "Look in:" field. Enter all or part of the filename (wildcards accepted), word, or phrase you're looking for and click the Find Now or Search button.
Save your searches. Another option if you find yourself performing the same search over and over is to save yourself the trouble by saving the search. In Windows XP, select Search from the Start menu (in Windows 95/98/Me, it's called Find), create the search, and run it. When it's done, choose File/Save Search. I like to send it to the desktop (and rename the search, since the default is a complex mouthful). When you want to reuse the search, just launch this shortcut.
Stop someone searching. One way to keep snoops from sniffing through a shared computer is to disable Windows' search tool. In Windows 95, 98, and Me, select Run from the Start menu, type regedit.exe, and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor. Locate the key:
Right-click this key and select New/DWORD Value. Name this as NoFind and double-click it. Give it the value of 1. Click OK, close the Editor, and reboot your PC. The Find command disappears from the Start menu, the Windows-F key combination does nothing, and the F3 key (which normally brings up the Find dialog) is disabled within Explorer.
In Windows 2000 or XP, use this same procedure, but implement it only when you (the administrator) are logged into the pertinent user accounts. For instance, if your daughter Kristen plays games and checks e-mail on your PC, but you don't want her peeking into its corners, log on as her, then use the above process to disable search for her only. You'll still see Search in the Start menu when you log on as yourself.
Thanks, Dave. I'm a big fan of Google, the Net's best search engine. That's why I've added Dave's Quick Search Deskbar to my Windows taskbar. This tiny (just 178K) freeware utility places a puny search field in the taskbar; type a search word or phrase and your browser opens (even if it wasn't already running) and shows you Google's results.
Dave's Deskbar has tons of options and tricks, but my favorite is drag and drop: When I'm working in Word, I just select some text, then drag it to the Dave's window and drop it there. A browser window opens with the Google hits on that phrase or word as the search term. I find that very cool.
