![]() ![]() If you keep typing the same search string, you keep getting back the same answers - guaranteed. If you’re looking for a file that you last opened a few days ago, why have Search look at all files? Windows Search, out of the box, doesn’t even look inside Outlook or Outlook Express’s collections of e-mail messages. If you’re looking for a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or Outlook message, use the search tools inside Word (which are quite extensive), Excel, or Outlook (which can be frustratingly limited). Don’t search for lightning if you’re looking for lightning bug. You can save a lot of time and frustration by following these suggestions: Engaging Your Brain Before the SearchĪll the search engines in the world can’t help until you have your act together. If you decide to replace Rover, step through the Rogue’s Gallery by pressing the Back and Next buttons.Ĥ, Click OK. If you want to get rid of Rover and don’t want another character to replace him, click Without an Animated Screen Character. If you made the change to Advanced Search, which I describe in the preceding section, you see the search criterion in Figure 21-3.įigure 21-3: Advanced Search - without the training wheels.ģ, If you want to replace Rover, click With a Different Character. To change Rover to another Companion (or get rid of him completely), follow these steps: Take Rover, change him, or leave him, with impunity. But the distraction might cause you to waste time. The animation itself doesn’t slow down your computer. You might think that having Rover around slows down your searches. Rover is Windows’ anointed Search Companion (whom you can see in most of the figures in this technique). Recommended for Advanced Users Only button.Īt this point, you’re ready to start using Windows Search.įigure 21-1: Taking off the training wheels.įigure 21-2: Search settings. Click Change Files and Folders Search Behavior.Ĥ. The Search Companion asks How Do You Want to Use Search Companion? (See Figure 21-1.)ģ. Windows Explorer brings up the Search Companion. Working directly with the search engine is far better. The options you have to wade through can be obfuscating and misleading. If you’ve used Windows Search and come away confused, there’s a reason why. The best way to speed up searches is to make searching for files and folders the right way, for the right thing, easier for you to do the first time. You might think the best way to speed up your searches involves some arcane setting, or checking the box that the Search Companion frequently displays asking if you want to make future searches faster. ![]() Make sure you follow the steps in Technique 20 and make Windows show you filename extensions. Go for the real thing, Google, which I talk about in Technique 24.īefore you start thinking about searching for files, you need to be able to see the full filename. ![]() Even though Windows Search claims to run on the Internet - and it does, to a point - don’t waste time with the Microsoft-bound version. If you want to search the Internet, this technique isn’t the place to look. In the interim, the nostrums in this technique can serve you well. If the Redmondians remain true to form, that means we have at least one, and possibly two, full revisions ahead before Microsoft irons out the kinks. Everything I’ve seen reinforces the fact that the new search capability - both on the desktop, and on the Internet - will be a “version 1.0″ product, in the pejorative sense of the term. The Windows Indexing Service, in particular, has been riddled with bugs for many years.Īs this topic went to press, rumors appeared almost daily about Microsoft’s much-anticipated entry into the search engine market. With the possible exception of Word/Excel search in Office 2003, not one of Microsoft’s search tools comes close to its competitors. Microsoft has made search products for years: MSN Search on the Internet, Rover’s search on the desktop, Word and Excel search in the Office arena, and the Windows Indexing Service, the mother of all PC search engines. The problem lies with the way Windows XP puts layers of time-eating feel-good interference over the top of its search engine. To tell the truth, Rover isn’t the problem. No, I don’t have anything against dogs, even ones who tell me they want to “play fetch” when I really want to find a file quickly. Rover, the Search Companion, may look cute, but he’ll eat into your time. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |