Windows 7: Search does not find files that it should, directory is indexed, and *.php included on the extension list

Anonymous
2009-11-27T05:51:54+00:00

Windows 7: Search does not find files that it should. I have the directory indexed, and *.php included on the extension list but search does not find files for searches for words that that I know there are files with those words in them.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2009-11-27T14:10:58+00:00

If you're frustrated with Search (a.k.a. Desktop Search), you are not alone. Click the Start button and type in Search and click on the command "Change how Windows searches". Now click on the Advanced button and select File types tab. Scroll down and locate your file type (in your case **.php)**and make sure that the radio button "Index Properties and File Contents" is selected for the file type.

Come out of the form by clicking the OK button but do not yet close the form where you clicked the Advanced button.

Next, you may need to modify the indexing locations. If the folder wherein your files are located is not known to the search indexing, then search doesn't even bother to look there (a source of frustration for many users). Perhaps your files are on a different disk or partition unbeknown to the indexing engine. Using the expand icon and select/deselect options, make sure that at least the folders of interest are included to the Indexed Locations. Hope this helps.

samc1

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-05-19T15:38:20+00:00

    I appreciate your answer, but apparently you haven't read the entire thread.

    If you look again, you'll see that there was no thread to read when samc1 wrote his reply three and a half years ago - his was the first response to the question.

    Since I started this thread ...

    You must be confusing this thread with another. This one was started on 27 November 2009 by Time Bandit (unless that's also you, of course).

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-05-19T13:24:10+00:00

    I appreciate your answer, but apparently you haven't read the entire thread.  You're suggesting the simple, "party line" answer that works in some cases, doesn't work in others.  Like many people, by the time I resort to asking Microsoft or starting a thread I will have already tried the well documented, simple solutions.

    Since I started this thread I've learned a lot more about how the new search utility works, so I'm able to get what I need out of it a lot of the time.  But there are still situations when it simple doesn't behave as it should, doesn't find what it should, or it is impossible to make it do what I want.  With this (and many other) problem(s), Microsoft needs to:

    1.  Pay closer attention to what users are saying (i.e. read the whole thread),

    2.  Accept the possibility that sometimes it is NOT the user's fault,

    3.  Be willing to admit when something just doesn't do what the users want,

    4.  Give the users what they want.  Really fix real problems.

    -ETC

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-05-12T16:06:52+00:00

    Finally…   If you have Acrobat 10, you can use the Full Text Index with Catalog function to index fully all the PDFs within specified folders.  Searching the PDFs with Advanced Search is then very fast and flexible, and the entire PDF is searched, not just the first 6 -7 MB as Windows Search does.

      JMW

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-05-04T07:55:42+00:00

    Just to round off this discussion, I have found a phenomenal search engine called Copernic, which seems to be capable of scanning inside any file containing text, including PDFs and .php files, and finding results much faster than Windows Search, without apparently needing IFilters.  The basic tool is free, and can be found at:

    http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/home/index.html

    It takes a while to do the initial indexing, like Search, but has an option to give the indexing maximum resources, so depending on your data, an overnight run does most of it.  After that you can change the option so that indexing takes place only when the machine is idle.

    Copernic seems to index entire files; it passed the tests I mentioned above of finding "Stepanov" and "RandomAccessIterator" deep inside a PDF.  Not only did it find the relevant PDF very quickly, it also displayed the text, with the words highlighted, in the preview pane.  Words inside .php files were also located rapidly. The search syntax seems pretty intuitive - I haven't finished experimenting with it yet.

    This could be the answer to most of the problems above; I would highly recommend trying it out.

     JMW

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