Advanced search in Windows or how to find a file in Windows? Restoring the search field in the start menu How to find the search bar in windows 7
Good afternoon friends! Today we will continue our lessons with the Windows 7 operating system and learn another secret - how to properly configure and search for files in windows 7.
It would seem that there is such a thing? The search engine is the search engine. I switched to 7 about a year ago. And to be honest, in XP I tried not to use the built-in search engine. Absolutely uncomfortable. Yes, and what you need either does not find, or finds, but the process is sometimes delayed for several hours.
From the 7-ki, I really did not expect anything. But, just the other day, this OS pleasantly surprised me. I needed to search for one file in Windows 7, I did not remember its exact name, but I typed part of the name .. and got my file in less than 2-3 seconds. Now I use only the built-in search engine.
indexing service in windows 7
Microsoft developers did a good job. The search tool in Windows 7 compares favorably with previous operating systems of this family not only in quality, but also in search speed.
My favorite browser is Chrome, so its search mechanism is very similar to that in Windows 7. The search starts when you enter the first characters. In addition, there is a hint system based on the history of previous requests. If there are too many results for a search query, the system suggests using dynamic filtering by various criteria - date, file size, type, etc.
The basis of such an effective work of the OS search engine is a special indexing service. It starts with the operating system, works in the background, creates a special database of information about files. Updating and restoring the index in case of any failure also occurs automatically, without user intervention.
It should be noted that for the operation of this service, the OS allocates a certain system resource. In order for the service to work effectively, but not to the detriment of other programs, it must be configured correctly. We will definitely talk about this today.
Instant file search in windows 7
In 7-ke there are two ways to instantly search for files.
- 1. Search using the start menu. Click on the “Start” button and enter the required search query in the search field at the bottom. For example "Christmas trees".
In the process of entering data, search results will be displayed directly in the “Start” window. It should be noted that the search is also carried out by the contents of the files.
If there are too many results, and you want to see them in more detail, click on the "View more results" button.
The Search Results window will open. The files here are already sorted by type and the search query is highlighted in yellow.
You can refine your search. To do this, scroll the list of search results to the very end.
And in the “Repeat search in:” section, select the appropriate option.
If you assume that the file you are looking for is in the OS Library, then select this option.
If you know approximately what folder to search in, select the “Other…” option and specify a specific folder to search.
If you want to search on the Internet, then click the "Internet" button.
If you want to repeat the search on the entire computer, then click on the “Computer” button. By default, the indexer goes through all files except OS system files and program files. This allows you to increase search speed and reduce the size of the indexer base. and it's true, how often do we look for system files? It's not often. By selecting the “Computer” option, the system will repeat its search, but only more thoroughly and, accordingly, will take a longer period of time.
- 2. The second instant search option is to search in the “Windows Explorer” window. The principle of operation is about the same.
Configuring the Indexing Service
- 1. Go to “Start” –> “Control Panel” –> then in the search area, enter “indexing” –> select the “Indexing Options” section.
- 2. In the window that appears, you will see all the folders on which the indexing service works. If you want to exclude a folder from the search (for example, you know that one of the sections of your hard drive are used for backup, then it can, in principle, be removed from this list), click the “Change” button.
And uncheck the box next to the folder that you want to remove from the search engine. Next, click the “OK” button.
- 3. Next, click on the “Advanced” button. In the window that opens, on the “Indexing Options” tab, uncheck all two items. In 99% of cases, we do not need these functions, and therefore there is no need for an additional load of the indexing service.
- 4. If you want to move the index base from the system partition of the hard disk to another partition in order to free up free disk space, then you need to specify a new folder in the “Index location” section on the same tab.
Do not forget to restart the indexing service or simply restart the computer to successfully change the location of the index database.
- 5. Next, go to the “File Types” tab and edit the list of file types, leaving only the most significant (with which you work). Thus, you will significantly reduce the load on the system. By default, the indexing service handles almost all file types that are used.
- 6. Finally, decide how the indexing service handles files.
If you select “Index only properties”, then the indexer will only process the file name and its metadata (size, type, creation date).
If you select the “Index file properties and content” option, then the document will be completely processed, including its contents. This will take longer and require additional system resources, but will increase the likelihood of search accuracy.
The choice is yours, my dear reader.
- Next, click the “OK” and “Close” buttons.
Today we looked at the features of the Window 7 search service and how to configure it. In the next article, I will share with you another interesting tool (though from a third-party developer) that allows you to search adapted to the Russian-speaking population, taking into account declensions and cases.
When switching from Windows Vista search in only becomes more convenient and does not contain any special surprises. The same cannot be said for many Windows XP users who are just discovering their daily work on the system with such a convenient tool as instant search. Searching in Windows 7 is really very easy. But, as with any search, the goal is to find what you need, and sometimes there are difficulties with this. With this article, I begin a story about how search works in Windows 7, how to set it up, how to search, and most importantly, how to find.
How search works
You have most likely heard of an index - a set of files that contain a variety of information about the files and documents stored on the disk. When you use the search, it is the index files that allow you to quickly display the results. Various properties of files get into the index, and this is not only the path, name or size. For example, MP3 files have all tags indexed - from author to bitrate. For office documents, data is indexed, which can be seen in the file properties on the tab Details, document content, and so on. If this kind of search is new to you, I recommend reading a couple of help articles to get an introduction to searching. Minimize all windows, press F1 and in the field Help search enter... Search.
Indexing happens all the time - if you add, delete or change a file in a folder, it will be immediately reflected in the index.
The screenshot shows the locations that are indexed by default. Therefore, if you store your documents somewhere in F:\Documents, they will not be indexed and will not be found by a quick search - they must be added to the index separately. Search settings will be discussed below.
Search and indexing settings
To be honest, the default search settings are quite good, and most users do not need to change anything in them, especially if documents and files are stored in standard folders. To configure the settings, open the Start menu and enter search options in the search.
This is how we casually used one of the search features - quick access to control panel items from the Start menu.
Change search options for files and folders
I will not duplicate the parameters that are perfectly visible in the screenshot.
Pay attention to the following points:
by default search in folder searches in all subfolders
in non-indexed places, only filenames are searched, and compressed files are ignored
you can use language search, i.e. write search queries in a looser language - for example, last week's video (a lot of unexpected results will be mixed in here, especially in localized versions)
Indexing Options and Windows Search Services
Here you can configure many more options. To add folders to the index, click Change.
The Windows and Program Files folders are not accidentally excluded from the search - they will greatly increase the size of the index, and there will be little practical use. Programs can already be found by searching in the Start menu - after all, the main menu is indexed by default.
Clicking Additionally, you have access to two groups of settings:
indexing technical parameters
indexing options for file types
In the first one, you can add encrypted files to the index, rebuild the index (which may be necessary in case of problems), and set a new location for it.
For file type (extension) you can:
include or exclude it from the index
determine whether only properties or also content will be indexed
add new extension
For example, if suddenly your instant messaging client saves its history in text files with a LOG extension, or you just need to parse the logs, their content will not be indexed by default. But you can easily customize the search - just type log on the keyboard to move through the list of extensions and enable search by content.
How to search
When starting a search, it is desirable to immediately imagine whether the search object is included in the index. As I said above, the index covers the user's profile - libraries, files, etc. Here you can find the files you need relatively easily.
But if you open the main search window and expect to find something in the Program Files or Windows folder, you may even get the impression that "the search does not find anything" - after all, only the results from the index are displayed. We'll talk about searching in non-indexed places later, but now we'll look at general ways to search in Windows 7. You can search:
from the start menu
in the main search box
in libraries
in other explorer windows - folders, "Open" and "Save As" dialogs
Start menu search
When you search from the Start menu, the search results show not only files and documents, but also programs and Control Panel items. Now you can safely part with the habit of the times of Windows XP - careful sorting of applications in the menu Programs. It is enough to enter the first few letters of the program name to find it. This is much more convenient, especially if you have many programs installed.
Advice. If you are using portable applications, simply add their shortcuts to the %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder (you can create a subfolder for them). In the search results, they will appear in a group Programs.
In Windows 7, search results in the Start menu are very conveniently grouped, and the number of results in each group is immediately visible - this is an improvement over Windows Vista. As you can see in the screenshot, searching for the word word finds not only applications Microsoft Word and WordPad, but also offers results in other groups.
The Start menu displays multiple results for each group, and clicking on the group's name opens a search box with all search results in the group.
Start menu search is good when you have an idea of the file name or its content - the first 5 - 10 results are immediately visible, and you don't have to go far. In addition, the Start menu is indispensable for quick access to programs and control panel items using search.
Main search box
An empty search box can be opened by pressing a keyboard shortcut WIN+F. It, in my opinion, has somewhat lost its meaning, since it no longer contains advanced file search capabilities. Searching in the windows of the explorer practically forces it out of the system. It seems to me that links to help on using the search or a link to this article could brighten up its dull look.
However, the main search window still carries a payload. It opens with search results by typing a query in the Start menu and clicking on the name of a group of search results, or by See other results right above the search field.
Libraries
Now I will explain why I separated the search in libraries and other explorer windows. Pay attention to how search results are displayed in the library. They correspond to the type of files in it and are very well perceived visually. For example, music files display album art, large song title, size, and "music" options for ordering results. This is a property of all libraries, which confirms the thesis - the possibilities of Windows 7 are best used together. In this case, it is a search in libraries, which has other advantages.
Here's what a search for a simple query in the library will offer Music.
While in File Explorer, you can sort your search results by available file properties. The default display order is top scores, but, for example, you can organize music files by album or genre. This feature is available alongside Explorer's traditional sorting and grouping features (although the latter may be new to Windows XP migrants).
In this case, the results will display several songs from each album. You can see all the songs in the album, and then "fold" it if the one you need is not there.
If you did not find the desired file in the current folder, you can search again:
Other Explorer windows
In folders and libraries, the search field is the same as in the main window. But we must not forget that the same opportunity is in the "Open" and "Save as" windows, which are used even by those who prefer alternative file managers.
Searching in folders is more convenient when you know the approximate location of the file or document - in this case, you will not get lost in the results. In addition, this method is useful when it is known for sure that the file is not included in the index. Finally, in the Open and Save As windows, you can quickly filter the contents of a folder using search.
I'm sure you've already tried simple search queries and maybe they've worked out for you. However, sooner or later you will need to find the file, and a simple query won't help. Next, I'll show you how to use the advanced search features of Windows 7 to find the files you need.
What's New in Windows 7 Advanced Search
To master the search, of course, you need to practice using its capabilities. In the Windows 7 Search articles, I'll give you some examples that you can easily replicate on your own.
If you're migrating from Windows XP, everything about Windows 7 will be new to you. Compared to Windows Vista in Windows 7 externally:
have changed search filters
Search filters
When the name of the file or the subject of the document is approximately known, it is usually not difficult to find the desired file - just enter a partial or full query into the Start menu search. But this information is not always deposited in random access memory brain, and simply often you need to set special search conditions - the size, date of modification or the author of the file. Windows XP had a search assistant, Windows Vista had filters.
At first glance, there is nothing visually striking in Windows 7. In fact, the filters have not gone away - they just become visible when you place the cursor in the search field.
Advice. To see more filters, expand the search field - place the cursor on the separator between the field and the address bar and drag to the left.
In the screenshot you see the standard set of filters in the main search window.
Hints
Your search queries are remembered if they were entered:
to the search box
in explorer folder or library
in the start menu (assuming you navigated to the results and not just opened the file)
These prompts annoy some users and they tend to turn them off immediately. And, in my opinion, they do it in vain. Tips remember not only search queries as such, but also filters searches you specified, such as the size or modification date of the file. Suggestions are very handy if you want to use the full power of Windows 7 search. It's easy to change an old term to fit the current query, and it's faster than typing it all over again. And you can always delete an unnecessary hint - just select it (with the mouse or cursor) and press Delete on the keyboard.
As I said above, the new features of Windows 7 are best shared. The connection of search with libraries is not only in the display of results, but also in the formation of search conditions. In the next part of the article, I will look at:
using filters to search in libraries and mail
search in internet explorer 8
search in non-indexed places
search operators
In order to find any object on your computer, just enter the name of the file or folder you need in the Start menu. The computer will search for all files containing the given name in whole or in part. But this is not always enough to find all the necessary information on your computer. There are times when you need to find a document(s) with certain words in the text, for example: “free computer courses”, but by default in Windows 7 this feature is disabled.
Configuring File Search in Windows 7
To do this, open the “Computer”, on the left click on the “Organize” button and select “Folder and Search Options”.
After such a small adjustment, the search will work on file names, as well as on its contents.
Searching for files in Windows 7 in practice [verification]
Let's check if everything works correctly. To do this, open the "Computer", enter in the search field the word that you need to find in the files. For example, I chose the word "quality". When you enter a word or phrase, the search will start automatically (no need to press anything).
After the search completes the task on the given word, files will appear below where the word “quality” occurs. You should also be aware that after finding the information you need, you need to change the default settings (which were). This is due to the fact that the search will take much longer, since it searches not only for the file name, but also for its contents.
For a quick search in Windows 7 by content, it's best to go to the folder where your file may be located and start searching from there.
After understanding the extension of the lost file, for example, ".zip", all that remains is to enter it in the "Search" field and press Enter. A search on the computer will immediately display a list of files with this extension. Of these, we already choose the right one.
Rules for searching files on a computer by size
Many users may object - video files can have many extensions, what should be done to search in this case? One of our clients once lost a missing film and asked for advice on this issue.
We noticed that on the user's computer all the movies were in the ".avi" format. It would seem that you just need to enter the extension in the search, and everything will work out right away. But not everything turned out to be so simple, it was not so easy to find the file on the computer. Therefore, it was decided to search for the desired file by volume.
All client video files were approximately 1.45 GB. Therefore, it was quite reasonable to assume that the lost file had a similar volume. Therefore, it was enough to execute a simple System.Size:>1000MB procedure to search the computer's memory for files larger than 1 GB.
Based on the search results, a list of 20 video files appeared, including a file without an extension at all. But already by the title itself one could guess - this is exactly the missing film. All that remained was to add the extension “.avi” to the file - and again you could enjoy watching the video. Later we managed to understand that our client was just joking with friends, who removed the extension.
How to find hidden files in Windows OS
Sometimes Windows assigns the "Hidden" attribute to some files - as a result of virus attacks or a system failure. Because of this, the files cannot be seen and found even through the “Search” if the “Show hidden files and folders” item is not checked. Although nothing will happen to the files themselves.
To make hidden files visible, open the "Control Panel", then go to the items "Folder Options" - "View". Check the box next to "Show hidden files and folders" and click OK. After that, sometimes the lost file is immediately located on the desktop. Or you can find it by searching by extension or name, as we have already considered.
Search files by their content
For example, when losing text documents from Microsoft Office Word, Notepad, OpenOffice or other programs. When working with text, part of the content is still stored in the user's memory. Therefore, in the search, we enter part of the text, press Enter and find the desired document.
However, keep in mind that on an old and slow computer, the search process may take a long time. Upgrading your PC is something to think about while waiting for the result.
Total Commander for easy search of required files
Popular and convenient file manager, with which you can quickly search for files on your computer by several parameters at the same time - extension, name, content. To do this, you need to specify the search location in the program (for example, C :), after which we go to "Commands" and "Search for files" (or press the Alt + F7 hotkey combination).
The Windows 7 operating system has many different features and utilities that make life easier for the user. Sometimes, a user's computer accumulates a huge amount of information, folders and files that are still located non-systemically on the computer and make it difficult to find them. Then it becomes difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find the desired file or folder without special Windows 7 operating systems. Then the file and folder search system in Windows 7 comes to the rescue.
Let's take a closer look at everything possible ways find a file or folder in Windows 7.
How to find a folder or file in Windows 7
There are three simple ways find the desired folder with files or the files themselves among many other information in operating system Windows 7:
- Using the search field in the Start menu;
- Using the search field in a folder or library;
- Or using advanced search outside of folders and libraries.
Let's consider each of the methods in more detail.
Search box in the start menu
The easiest way to find folders or files on your computer is to use the search box on the Start menu. To do this, just open the "Start" and write in the search field, which is located at the bottom next to the computer shutdown button, any name. After that, the Start menu is transformed into a list of possible options for files and folders with the same name.
Moreover, with such a search, a list will be displayed not only of files and folders with the same name, but also files where this word can be mentioned in one form or another inside the file or its properties. In addition, it should be noted that only those files that have been indexed are displayed in the list. However, most files are indexed automatically.
Search box in a folder or library
You can also search for files locally if they are stored in a specific folder or library. For this:
This search returns results even for part of the word. The search is conducted by the name, the internal text of the file and the properties of the file. The library searches through all folders within a particular library. It is not necessary to enter the full name. It is enough to enter a part and find the desired file. Also, when displaying the search result, the words will be highlighted in color for the convenience of the user.
Among other things, you can enter a few keywords that will narrow the search area very significantly.
Advanced Search
If a folder or file cannot be found by searching specific folders and libraries, you can expand the scope of the search. For this.
