Actually, they're both pretty capable and I find the Vista search feature amazingly fast. BUT, if you have them BOTH running, there can be conflicts. Use one or the other, but not both. As well, have you by chance turned indexing off or tweaked it in some way so that it's not indexing the relevant files?
I also notice this in Vista, I keep having to use advanced search and tick "include non-indexed, hidden, and system files (might be slow)" to find almost anything.
Stupid, just find it, if it exists on My hard drive(s)
"First Vista can't copy large numbers of files"
Are you talking about across a network? I have not seen this problem when it is from drive to drive on the same PC.
Which sowsoft utility are you speaking of? Effective File Search or Instant Document Search
I just finished looking at some web sites and think I have discovered the problem. I was using the normal wildcards the way I always have.
1. Google states on their web sites that wildcards do not work with partial words. For example, neither "*pst" nor "*.pst" finds all ending with ".pst".
2. There are lots of complaints that Vista search has completely broken the wildcard function. The example above finds nothing, even with "everything" and searching hidden, system, etc. files turned on. If you try "*pst" without the dot, garbage is returned, many filenames with no "pst" in sight.
I just found (how quick is that?!) a free utility from SowSoft that handles wildcards the standard and expected way and returns search results super fast putting both MS and Google to shame.
It appears that MS went out ocf their way to make the Search fancy but eliminated most of the crucial functionality. I don't know. First Vista can't copy large numbers of files and now the search is hosed. Small problems but who knows what other nasties, perhaps major, are waiting to bite me!
I have to say that I agree with Rebel9 here the Vista search engine is very capable and fast. I was just trying what your examples are saying and I didn't have an issue with the searches
*.exe brings back the results of any files that have XXXX
.exe in them this also includes XXXX
.exe.mui and XXXXX
.exe.config files also, but they are *.exe files.
However if you tweak the search options a little to get rid of these irregular hits. I turned off
" Find partial matches " then Restarted the search window and all of those erronious hits were no longer there.
It always found whatever file I was looking for when it was actually present. I will give you that it is different, but you must learn to use the new tools and you will see they are MUCH IMPROVED over WIndows XP, 98, 95 ....
Wildcard characters do in fact work in Vista search, at least they do for me.
The inability to copy large numbers of files is detailed in another thread here. Basically, even with 2 Gig of memory and nothing else running, I get an "out of memory" box after a few hundred files. XP never had this problem and copied files faster as well. Nothing has fixed this, I am forced to copy files little by little manually.
What worries me is the inconsistency showing up in Vista. Many people are having trouble with things that work fine for me. Some of you find that search works well while it's miserable for me and others. Scary.
I have tried Linux (Ubuntu 7.x and the latest Mandrake) as well as MacOS but neither does what I need the system to do. I am starting to seriously consider going back to XP like so many others in spite of so many things that are good about Vista. I need a computer that works consistently!
Message Edited by mwfanelli2 on 07-14-2007 03:07 AM
i could have read this wrong, but it looks like you are seaching for .pst files. They are ususally hidden files. Make sure you are searching for hidden files, or you have your settings set up to show all files.
Yep, I have all the options turned on including the little check box that looks at system, hidden, etc. files. Takes forever and never finds anythin, even files I am looking at! Last night, it couldn't find a single email message in Outlook. Outlook (Office 2003) itself searches fine.
I have been using that free search from SowSoft and have been extremely happy with it for files. I may consider buying the advanced version from SowSoft to replace the brain-dead Microsoft version.
Rebel9
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July 14th, 2007 00:00
mombodog
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July 14th, 2007 01:00
Which sowsoft utility are you speaking of? Effective File Search or Instant Document Search
Thanks for the Tip.
Message Edited by mombodog on 07-13-2007 09:54 PM
mwfanelli2
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July 14th, 2007 01:00
1. Google states on their web sites that wildcards do not work with partial words. For example, neither "*pst" nor "*.pst" finds all ending with ".pst".
2. There are lots of complaints that Vista search has completely broken the wildcard function. The example above finds nothing, even with "everything" and searching hidden, system, etc. files turned on. If you try "*pst" without the dot, garbage is returned, many filenames with no "pst" in sight.
I just found (how quick is that?!) a free utility from SowSoft that handles wildcards the standard and expected way and returns search results super fast putting both MS and Google to shame.
It appears that MS went out ocf their way to make the Search fancy but eliminated most of the crucial functionality. I don't know. First Vista can't copy large numbers of files and now the search is hosed. Small problems but who knows what other nasties, perhaps major, are waiting to bite me!
pcgeek11
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July 14th, 2007 05:00
Message Edited by pcgeek11 on 07-14-2007 01:09 AM
mwfanelli2
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July 14th, 2007 07:00
The inability to copy large numbers of files is detailed in another thread here. Basically, even with 2 Gig of memory and nothing else running, I get an "out of memory" box after a few hundred files. XP never had this problem and copied files faster as well. Nothing has fixed this, I am forced to copy files little by little manually.
What worries me is the inconsistency showing up in Vista. Many people are having trouble with things that work fine for me. Some of you find that search works well while it's miserable for me and others. Scary.
I have tried Linux (Ubuntu 7.x and the latest Mandrake) as well as MacOS but neither does what I need the system to do. I am starting to seriously consider going back to XP like so many others in spite of so many things that are good about Vista. I need a computer that works consistently!
Message Edited by mwfanelli2 on 07-14-2007 03:07 AM
d-fish
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July 16th, 2007 02:00
mwfanelli2
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July 16th, 2007 15:00
I have been using that free search from SowSoft and have been extremely happy with it for files. I may consider buying the advanced version from SowSoft to replace the brain-dead Microsoft version.
mombodog
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July 16th, 2007 15:00
mwfanelli2
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July 19th, 2007 18:00
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/File_Search_Utilities/Instant_File_Name_Search.html
THe pay-for version, $30, is a full-featured system.
mombodog
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July 19th, 2007 19:00