Can you recommend a good text search utility? (for WindowsXP, esp forOffice2003)

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S

ship

WindowsXP Pro
msOffice 2003
Xara Xtreme Pro
MindManager
FreeMind
....} all latest versions


Hi

Can anyone recommend a utility for searching my local WindowsXP PC?

I need to do text searching across msOffice2003 files (e.g. Outlook,
Excel, Word).

(Optionally, I would IDEALLY also like to be able to search files
from: Xara Xtreme Pro, Mindjet's MindManager, FreeMind, plus HTML, PDF
files... but this is not a deal breaker.)

I have tried
- WindowXP's search
==> horrible. I have uninstalled it and use the previous version -
which is very slow but more accurate.
Fails to do outlook files.

- GoogleDesktop
==> Initially I was impressed, but now keeps failing to spider things.
Terrible at handling archivals of emails.

- Copernic Desktop (v3.2.1)
==> Takes literally *days* to spider/re-spider. Clunky & processor
hungry.
Not good at handling archivals of emails.

All I need something as powerful as Google websearch, but that runs
across my own PC !

For example exact phrase matching (e.g. by using double quotes around
a phrase)
For example negative matching - i.e. excluding certain phrases

I am becoming increasingly desperate!!

- Any thoughts?


Ship
Shiperton Henethe
 
ship said:
WindowsXP Pro
msOffice 2003
Xara Xtreme Pro
MindManager
FreeMind
...} all latest versions


Hi

Can anyone recommend a utility for searching my local WindowsXP PC?

I need to do text searching across msOffice2003 files (e.g. Outlook,
Excel, Word).

(Optionally, I would IDEALLY also like to be able to search files
from: Xara Xtreme Pro, Mindjet's MindManager, FreeMind, plus HTML, PDF
files... but this is not a deal breaker.)

I have tried
- WindowXP's search
==> horrible. I have uninstalled it and use the previous version -
which is very slow but more accurate.
Fails to do outlook files.

- GoogleDesktop
==> Initially I was impressed, but now keeps failing to spider things.
Terrible at handling archivals of emails.

- Copernic Desktop (v3.2.1)
==> Takes literally *days* to spider/re-spider. Clunky & processor
hungry.
Not good at handling archivals of emails.

All I need something as powerful as Google websearch, but that runs
across my own PC !

For example exact phrase matching (e.g. by using double quotes around
a phrase)
For example negative matching - i.e. excluding certain phrases

I am becoming increasingly desperate!!

- Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/
 
In
ship said:
WindowsXP Pro
msOffice 2003
Xara Xtreme Pro
MindManager
FreeMind
...} all latest versions


Hi

Can anyone recommend a utility for searching my local WindowsXP PC?

I need to do text searching across msOffice2003 files (e.g. Outlook,
Excel, Word).

(Optionally, I would IDEALLY also like to be able to search files
from: Xara Xtreme Pro, Mindjet's MindManager, FreeMind, plus HTML, PDF
files... but this is not a deal breaker.)

I have tried
- WindowXP's search
==> horrible. I have uninstalled it and use the previous version -
which is very slow but more accurate.
Fails to do outlook files.

- GoogleDesktop
==> Initially I was impressed, but now keeps failing to spider things.
Terrible at handling archivals of emails.

- Copernic Desktop (v3.2.1)
==> Takes literally *days* to spider/re-spider. Clunky & processor
hungry.
Not good at handling archivals of emails.

All I need something as powerful as Google websearch, but that runs
across my own PC !

For example exact phrase matching (e.g. by using double quotes around
a phrase)
For example negative matching - i.e. excluding certain phrases

I am becoming increasingly desperate!!

- Any thoughts?


Ship
Shiperton Henethe
Click to expand...

Try PowerDesk at http://eau.v-com.com/product/PowerDesk_Pro_Home.html . If
you wish it'll even replace windows Explorer for you whenever something
calls for it. It's accurate, stable at rev7 and my only explorer-like
program anymore.
I don't know if there still is; there used to be a fully functilnal
freebie version avaiable but I don't see it offhand just now. IMO its best
use is in being able to put two folders up side by side for viewing and drag
n drop but the Find features are excellent.

HTH,

Twayne`
 
Er do you mean Google Desktop?
If so the answer is yes (see original post)
It is bl**dy terrible. Certain emails in outlook it repeatedly fails
to spider (despite being completely un-installed and re-installed).
And yes I even ran scanpst.exe across the PST files in question. But
still no good...
Also if I archive from one PST file to another, it utterly fails to
notice. Not impressed. :^(


Ship
 
Inship <[email protected]> typed:
















Try PowerDesk at  http://eau.v-com.com/product/PowerDesk_Pro_Home.html. If
you wish it'll even replace windows Explorer for you whenever something
calls for it. It's accurate, stable at rev7 and my only explorer-like
program anymore.
   I don't know if there still is; there used to be a fully functilnal
freebie version avaiable but I don't see it offhand just now.  IMO its best
use is in being able to put two folders up side by side for viewing and drag
n drop but the Find features are excellent.

HTH,

Twayne`- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

I have just installed Desktop 7. Although I agree that it looks quite
interesting/powerful, it's search is not. I need something FAST i.e.
that does actually spider my documents.

Ship
 
In
ship said:
I have just installed Desktop 7. Although I agree that it looks quite
interesting/powerful, it's search is not. I need something FAST i.e.
that does actually spider my documents.

Ship
Click to expand...

Hmm, it should be fast. Are you using the FileFind feature? All of the
contexts work too, such as text within the document, date ranges, only
certain types of files, etc. etc..
FileFind, BTW is a standalone: You don't have to run PD to use it; just
make a shortcut to the executable in the PD folder in program files.

The only way I've found to get faster is to drop into the command prompt and
use DIR and /s etc. to search.

Sorry it's not working out for you; I tried<g>.

HTH,

Twayne`
 
In
ship said:
I have just installed Desktop 7. Although I agree that it looks quite
interesting/powerful, it's search is not. I need something FAST i.e.
that does actually spider my documents.

Ship
Click to expand...

PS - sounds like it's time for batch files with replaceable parameters?
Just a thought.

HTH,

Twayne`
 
Seconded. Always one of the first things I put on a new XP setup.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

Yes I have just installed Agent Ransack. I agree it's quite impressive
at what it does.
BUT
a) It doesn't seem to do emails (i.e. Outlook2003 .PST files)
b) It doesn't seem to pre-index things first and is that relatively
slow.

A good thought and useful if the likes of Google desktop are failing
me...
....but not ideal.

Ship
 
Inship <[email protected]> typed:








Hmm, it should be fast. Are you using the FileFind feature?  All of the
contexts work too, such as text within the document, date ranges, only
certain types of files, etc. etc..
   FileFind, BTW is a standalone: You don't have to run PD to use it;just
make a shortcut to the executable in the PD folder in program files.

The only way I've found to get faster is to drop into the command prompt and
use DIR and /s etc. to search.

Sorry it's not working out for you; I tried<g>.

HTH,

Twayne`- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

OK... so where do you find FileFind?
Doesnt seem tob elisted as a separate product on their site:
http://eau.v-com.com/product/index.html


Ship
 
WindowsXP Pro
msOffice 2003
Xara Xtreme Pro
MindManager
FreeMind
....} all latest versions


Hi

Can anyone recommend a utility for searching my local WindowsXP PC?

I need to do text searching across msOffice2003 files (e.g. Outlook,
Excel, Word).

(Optionally, I would IDEALLY also like to be able to search files
from: Xara Xtreme Pro, Mindjet's MindManager, FreeMind, plus HTML, PDF
files... but this is not a deal breaker.)

I have tried
- WindowXP's search
==> horrible. I have uninstalled it and use the previous version -
which is very slow but more accurate.
Fails to do outlook files.

- GoogleDesktop
==> Initially I was impressed, but now keeps failing to spider things.
Terrible at handling archivals of emails.

- Copernic Desktop (v3.2.1)
==> Takes literally *days* to spider/re-spider. Clunky & processor
hungry.
Not good at handling archivals of emails.

All I need something as powerful as Google websearch, but that runs
across my own PC !

For example exact phrase matching (e.g. by using double quotes around
a phrase)
For example negative matching - i.e. excluding certain phrases

I am becoming increasingly desperate!!

- Any thoughts?


Ship
Shiperton Henethe

------------------------------------------------------

Maybe this utility?

Locate32 is software which can be used to find files from your harddrives
and other locations. It works like updatedb and locate commands in Unix
based systems. In other words, it uses databases to store information about
directory structures and uses these databases in searches. The use of these
databases provides very fast searching speed. The software includes a dialog
based application as well as console programs which can be used to both
update and access databases. Supported operation systems are Windows
98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/Vista

http://locate32.net/
 
In
ship said:
OK... so where do you find FileFind?
Doesnt seem tob elisted as a separate product on their site:
http://eau.v-com.com/product/index.html


Ship
Click to expand...

Sorry; been ill.
"FileFinder" is part of PowerDesk7 and is on the top menu bar. It's
located in the Standard Buttons toolbar (View; Toolbars) or can be toggled
on /off with CTRL-4 (that's 4, NOT F4!). Just to the right of the
forward/back buttons, looks like a folder with a magnifying glass over it.
Click that and the File Finder will start for you. Look thru the several
possibilities for a Find search it gives you; by drive, or by drive and
folder and several goodies that all work well, unlke win explorer.
One thing I really like is it'll let you capture entire paths from start
to the file as text, which can then be pasted into any text editor. Stops a
lot of typos if you're like me<g>!

By looking in the program folder for PD, you can create a shortcut to the
file finder also, and put it on your desktop. The exact same File Finder
will run for you but you don't need the PD main program running; it's also a
stand-alone so can run on its own. The same goes for the Synchronize,
Favorites, Size Manger, FTP. File Viewer just puts a thumbnail of an image
on the screen to visual verification.

I no longer use windows explorer at all; PowerDesk does everything win
explorer is supposed to be able to do but doesn't and a lot more. I love
being able to tell it, say, find "love" in all files on (any path) and show
the text before and after the work so you can get the context of its use.
It saves having to open hundreds of files to see which is the one you want.

No, I don't own a piece of them; I just really like the program. Their only
downside is, they keep track of the number of installs. When you reach 5,
you're done; you won't do a 6th until you contact them and ask to have the
counters reset. And you don't know you're out of installs until you try to
do that 6th install. So if you give the program away or reinstall it on a
new hard drive or computer, keep that in mind.

HTH,

Twayne`
 
In
ship said:
Pls can you explain further?

Ship
Click to expand...

Sorry; what I meant was the %1, %2 etc. operators for bacth files. If you
have a file named find.bat designed with a %1, say, you type "find ret.reg".
The ret.reg is placed in the %1 variable and thus passed to the batch code.
That's all.
 
Hmm I for Binging it!!
Windows for Windows.
Microsoft for Microsoft .
So http://www.bing.com is by Microsoft Windows.
Look at this if you Google Houston # 1 Minpin you will not get it the text
Title.
But Bing it and you get http://minpin.ww.com (Who title is Houston # 1
Minpin cam) or http://www.minpin.ath.cx (Who title is Houston # 1 Minpin)
so if a Title is just text then I would recommend Bing it........
 
So, you're saying that OP should use Bing for searching for and within local
PC files because:-

a) his PC is running a version of Microsoft Windows and Bing is "by
Microsoft Windows"

and

b) you got a result in an oddly specific *Web* search with Bing that you
didn't see with Google - one for which the first four results start "About
My WebCam: WebCam Name C-LisaMinPins"? (Forgive me for not clicking on any
of these links to what might turn out to be "Lisa's webcam" for all I know.)

That's an... interesting... take on the matter. One I feel, however, that
the OP will wisely skip.
 
WTF?
I am talking about searching my own LOCAL desktop machine - not about
searching
the Web.


Ship
 
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