windows explorer search function

  • Thread starter Thread starter shakey
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shakey

No replies received in new users so please do not consider this a crosspost.

Why is it that when I use windows explorer SEARCH for a one of a kind file
name such as "life
policies" I find multiple duplicated locations in results such as these
four--
C:\Documents and settings\me\my documents
C:\Documents and settings\me\my documents
C:\Documents and settings\me\my documents
and
my documents

All have same name, date, rev, etc. and are the same. Am I somehow
multi-filing them?
My concern is waste of disk space.
Thanks
Mel
win XP pro sp3
 
Ken Blake said:
It's not a crosspost, it's a multi-post.

Please do not send the same message separately to more than one
newsgroup (called multiposting). Doing so just fragments the thread,
so someone who answers in one newsgroup doesn't get to see answers
from others in another newsgroup. And for those who read all the
newsgroups the message is multiposted to, they see the message
multiple times instead of once (they would see it only once if you
correctly crossposted instead). This wastes everyone's time, and gets
you poorer help than you should get.

If you must send the same message to more than one newsgroup, please
do so by crossposting -- sending a single message simultaneously to
multiple newsgroups (but only to a *few* related newsgroups).

Please see "Multiposting vs Crossposting" at
http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

Crossposting is fine, but multi-posting is not, and should almost
always be avoided. However, if you let sufficient time go by, and
because you didn't get any responses repeat a message in another
newsgroup, that kind of multi-posting is OK.

But one more point: XP new users and XP help and support mostly get
the same bunch of people, so multiposting to two similar newsgroups
generally accomplishes nothing.





Those four? The first three have identical names.




It's hard to understand exactly what you mean, but almost certainly
you're just seeing multiple references to the same files and there is
no duplication or waste of disk space.
Click to expand...

Thank you Ken I really appreciate the reply. Yes the first three have
identical names and the fourth is also the same file. All exactly as show in
the directory after a search is run. Is it normal for windows explorer to
list the same file more than once after a search?
As for crossposting and mutiposting I try to avoid that as well and did
exactly as you suggest.
"However, if you let sufficient time go by, and because you didn't get any
responses repeat a message in another newsgroup, that kind of multi-posting
is OK.
But one more point: XP new users and XP help and support mostly get the
same bunch of people, so multiposting to two similar newsgroups generally
accomplishes nothing."
I allowed over 27 hours in first group without reply and you replied here in
34 minutes. I am still waiting in first group.
Sincere thanks
Mel
 
shakey said:
Thank you Ken I really appreciate the reply. Yes the first three have
identical names and the fourth is also the same file. All exactly as show
in the directory after a search is run. Is it normal for windows explorer
to list the same file more than once after a search?
Click to expand...

<snip>

It depends on the file names that were found, too - you only talk about
"duplicated locations". In your posts you seem to possibly be confusing the
terms "file" and "folder" - eg it's unlikely you have a file called "my
documents".

If you typed

life policies

in the search criteria and have, say, files called

My Life Policies list.xls
Life Policies I know and love.doc
Those life policies' screenshots.jpg

all in your "Me" My Documents folder, then the search will find all three
and in the "In Folder" column in the Search Results there will be (at least)
three results for "C:\Documents and settings\me\my documents" - along with
three *different* file names in the "Name" column. What else would one
expect?

The best thing is just to open Windows Explorer, browse to C:\Documents and
settings\me\my documents and satisfy yourself - although Windows won't allow
you to have distinct files with the same name (and extension) in the same
folder, so the "worst" you'll find is files that all have the test "life
policies" in their names.

If you have files with the same name in different *folders*, then the danger
(or worry) isn't so much wasting disk space as confusion as to which file
relates to what or, if they're copies, which is the latest version.
 
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