Can't search DVD drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter C. Roy Blye
  • Start date Start date
C

C. Roy Blye

When I highlight (select) my DVD RW Drive (F:) and do a search for a file
that I know is on the disc, it comes up "not found." If I search the folder
on the disc which contains the file, it is found. So it appears I'm unable
to search the disc as a whole, but instead must select individual folders
within the disc to search. Is it possible this is really how search is
designed in Vista? I can put the same disc in an XP machine and immediately
find the file by searching the disc as a whole.

Am I doing something wrong?
 
When I highlight (select) my DVD RW Drive (F:) and do a search for a file
that I know is on the disc, it comes up "not found." If I search the folder
on the disc which contains the file, it is found. So it appears I'm unable
to search the disc as a whole, but instead must select individual folders
within the disc to search. Is it possible this is really how search is
designed in Vista? I can put the same disc in an XP machine and immediately
find the file by searching the disc as a whole.

Am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...

Hello Roy,

In the Search tab of the Folder Options dialog, is the item "include sub
folders when typing in the search box" checked?

Doug M. in NJ
 
Hi Doug,

Yes, sub folders is checked.

Roy

Retroman said:
Hello Roy,

In the Search tab of the Folder Options dialog, is the item "include sub
folders when typing in the search box" checked?

Doug M. in NJ
Click to expand...
 
This is going to sound like the most ridiculous elementary question, but how
do I access the advanced search options? I've been there many times, but the
only way I can recall getting there is after doing a non-advanced search, a
link appears to access the advanced search. However, it isn't doing that in
the present situation in which I'm trying to search the DVD drive. I think
I've also seen a button for search options on folder toolbars, but it's not
there now. This is very frustrating.
 
Thanks. I ran the program and it did not find any problems, so, of course,
it didn't fix the problem. I should note that I don't have a problem reading
or writing to the DVD drive; it's only a search-related problem.

Here's a bit more specific description of the problem:
When I search a CD as a whole for a "naked" file (a file not in a folder),
it will find the file.
When I search a CD as a whole for a folder, it will find the folder.
When I search a CD as a whole for a file in a folder, it will not find the
file.
When I search the folder containing the file, it will find the file.
When I search a folder containing a subfolder containing the file, it will
not find the file.

BTW, I ran a search of a flash drive as a whole, and there was no problem
finding the specified file. The problem seems to be specific to my DVD
drive.
 
Hi Doug,

Yes, sub folders is checked.

Roy


Roy,

...how do I access the advanced search options?
Click to expand...

If you mean the advanced search pane, press Win key + F, then click the
Advanced button on the right of the menu bar.
The problem seems to be specific to my DVD drive.
Click to expand...

That is unusual. It would be helpful if you could you post an example
query that fails from the root of the drive. The syntax is completely
different now and using the old-style queries will give erratic results.

Have you tried different types of queries? For example, what happens if
you search by extension from the DVD root for files known to be in sub
folders? To return files by extension, try this, with whatever extension
is appropriate after the colon:

ext:doc

Don't include a dot or wildcard characters (those are rarely needed now
and they work differently)

Doug M. in NJ
 
Doug,

"If you mean the advanced search pane, press Win key + F, then click the
Advanced button on the right of the menu bar."

Excuse me, but you gotta be sh!tting! How exactly was I supposed to find
that if you hadn't told me?
With 95, 98, 2000, &XP, you search with a right click on the start button.
So, of course, it makes complete sense that with Vista you press Win key +
F, then click the Advanced button on the right of the menu bar. I really do
dislike all the gratuitous Vista-bashing that goes on in the newsgroup, but
stuff like this might make me a convert! Geez, what crap!

Searching with ext:html yields 2 finds, both "naked" (not in folders) on the
DVD drive. There are 272 more html files in folders on the disc which were
not found.

Now get this: now that I know how to access advanced search, I am able to
find all the files on the DVD drive easily. All I did was pick the DVD drive
from the location dropdown list in advanced search and then search using the
same search term that failed when I selected the location from the explore
pane on the left side of the window. Go figure.

Well, you have been very helpful in solving my problem, and I thank you very
much! The experience hasn't endeared me to Vista, though, sorry to say.

Thanks again,
Roy
 
I posted a reply to Doug's message and it seems to have disappeared. Does
anyone know what happened to it?

crb
 
I posted a reply to Doug's message and it seems to have disappeared. Does
anyone know what happened to it?
Click to expand...

Roy,

I see no reply, and this being Usenet, there is no way to know what
happened. Best to repost it.

Doug M. in NJ
 
Doug,

Strange that my post got lost. I must admit I went into a slight frustrated
rant, and thought maybe my message had been deleted somehow, even though I
was careful to substitute strategic vowels here and there with *s and !s,
etc.

I am going to post my original reply (or a paraphrase of it, anyway) in the
same position in the thread hierarchy where I think it will make more sense.

CRB
 
Doug,

Thanks for the tip on calling up the advanced search page. I probably should
have known that. Every OS since Win 3.x has accessed search via a right
click on the start button, and it's clearly silly of me not to see the logic
of changing that tradition and putting it in Win Key + F, then click on
advanced search, instead. </sarcasm> It is very frustrating that before
starting this thread I had spent considerable time going through Windows
Help on the subject of search, and nowhere did I see the Win Key tip. What I
did find was a LINK to advanced search from within Help, but no mention of
the Win Key or other keystrokes to get there. Gr-r-r! </rant>

Maybe it was understood in my first post in this thread, but I didn't
explicitly state that I was searching by selecting an item from the explore
pane on the left, then entering a search term in the little search window in
the upper right of the window. When I searched the DVD drive by this method,
it did not (and still does not) find any subfolders or files within folders.
By comparison, when I search a flash drive by the same method, everything is
found. The search problem appears to be specific to the DVD drive, even
though I have no problem reading and writing to that drive.

Now get this: When I open advanced search and select the DVD drive from the
location dropdown, a search of that drive finds everything! Go figure. So,
my original problem remains, but at least I have an easy work-around. Still,
if anyone knows what's causing the original problem, I'd be interested.

Thanks,
Roy
 
Doug,

Thanks for the tip on calling up the advanced search page. I probably should
have known that. Every OS since Win 3.x has accessed search via a right
click on the start button, and it's clearly silly of me not to see the logic
of changing that tradition and putting it in Win Key + F, then click on
advanced search, instead. </sarcasm> It is very frustrating that before
starting this thread I had spent considerable time going through Windows
Help on the subject of search, and nowhere did I see the Win Key tip. What I
did find was a LINK to advanced search from within Help, but no mention of
the Win Key or other keystrokes to get there. Gr-r-r! </rant>

Maybe it was understood in my first post in this thread, but I didn't
explicitly state that I was searching by selecting an item from the explore
pane on the left, then entering a search term in the little search window in
the upper right of the window. When I searched the DVD drive by this method,
it did not (and still does not) find any subfolders or files within folders.
By comparison, when I search a flash drive by the same method, everything is
found. The search problem appears to be specific to the DVD drive, even
though I have no problem reading and writing to that drive.

Now get this: When I open advanced search and select the DVD drive from the
location dropdown, a search of that drive finds everything! Go figure. So,
my original problem remains, but at least I have an easy work-around. Still,
if anyone knows what's causing the original problem, I'd be interested.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

You're quite welcome, Roy.

I followed your exact procedure to search my DVD drive from Explorer, and
it worked as expected. I'm using Vista Home Basic SP1. Sorry, but I
don't have a clue as to the cause of your problem with that drive.

The one thing that I can suggest would be to look for "shell extensions",
the Explorer context menu items that many applications add. These are
notorious for causing a variety of problems with Explorer if they are
poorly coded, which they often are. You can use the Microsoft "Autoruns"
utility to see what extensions are loaded and to disable them for testing.
There is also the Shell Extensions Viewer from Nirsoft.net that makes this
process even easier. Both items are freeware.

Good luck,

Doug M. in NJ
 
Back
Top