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
    2012-11-19T12:36:13+00:00

    Again, my computer does not find plenty of files, and especially the entry "calculate_turn" in a Windows 2000 .doc file (actually, it is the title of the document) named "Turnwise Formulas.doc". Strange enough, the file is found attached to two sent e-mails. Also its filename is not found, neither the string "Turnwise" (the latter shows up in 130 other files). Fortunately, I have the files mirrored with Dropbox to a Linux Server, and there "recoll" works perfectly.

    I opened the .doc in Word 2003 and saved it again with one blank more, and now the file is found. Simply changing the filename or saving the file without change brought apparently now improvement, but it may be that indexing after the filename change just took too long, since now another file Turnwise_Formulas_rev2.doc, for which I changed the filename, shows up also.

    An unreliable Search is really a showstopper. I have 43,808 files collected over 20 years of work as a scientist, and since I relied on full text search, the order is unfortunately far from perfect. I have to find some (scanned and OCRed) order from a company or a keyword in some archived pdf quickly. Rebuilding the index takes some 4x24 hours.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-11-19T13:23:30+00:00

    Just give up on the shitty windows search, and don't spent any more time on it.

    It is all worthless!

    I'm in the same situation. Workaround is:

    Succes

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-11-19T19:51:40+00:00

    It has been mentioned a number of times in this thread that a third party (free or paid versions) of Agent Ransack / File Locator Lite will solve your problems. The software even has inbuilt OCR so that you can search for words in scanned image documents.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-11-23T20:08:23+00:00

    I believe without proof that the products you propose are much more better than any other, including Windows Search. However, if you advertize them here, this is spam; if I want an alternative product, I would find it without your help, be sure. And yes, there has been such spam a number of times in this thread. Go away.

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