Its a shame that NYB's comment has been overlooked and even downvoted - currently at -1. I'll try to explain some 'backstory'.

File searching can be done via 3 methods. method 1 (like a DOS command of 'dir *.doc') is done via searching through every directory comparing every file. This is the slowest method ever, but very thorough. If you do a search, then add a new file then run the search again, the second search will pick up the new file.
The second method is using an index. Perform the search as per #1, but record in a database every file (and details) for later on. Perform another search, and instead of rattling through each file, you can go through the database which is much quicker. Databases are designed for searching, so searching for 'fred.doc' can take seconds, regardless of the number of files. The downside though is that if you add a file, its not recorded in the database until you re-index, and this re-indexing can take a while - 'is this file in the database still valid? Is this one? And this one? What about this one?'. It could be quicker to ditch the index and just start again.
The third method is using the index already on the hard drive. When you store 'fred.doc' on your desktop, the computer notes this in the FAT (file allocation table) on the hard drive. Well, it used to in the days of FAT and FAT32 disk formats, but generally, NTFS (what Windows uses) works the same way. A file is stored on the disk, and the NTFS system records where on the disk its stored in its own index. This index is therefore an up-to-date list of what files you've got stored. You're not interested in what sector they're located at, just the names (and you can get other details - date, etc, from looking up the physical file). The advantage of this is that as soon as you add a new file, this index is update and current, and you didn't have to do a thing.

So going back to software we know and love, lets see where they slot in. 'Secret Agent' in comment #1 asked about Windows Search. This runs in the background monitoring new files and updating its index. It actually takes up a lot of memory and resources and can slow a machine down quite a bit (especially one with little memory in the first place, like older laptops). Its useful if you search for files a lot, but if you don't, its holding your machine back for no strong purpose. Its also quite buggy - searching for 'fred.doc' wouldn't actually find 'fred.doc' in some situations, due to the directory it was in, for instance.
NYB (comment #5) mentioned Everything, and this is a disk index searcher (method #3). The initial read is quite slow as it 'plugs itself in' to the disk index, but once thats done, every search you perform is nearly realtime. Search for 'barney.doc' and it'll show you every barney on your hard drive and even portable drives you've plugged in. If you've got it running on another PC (as a service) you can even search that PC, so great for running on a network server (which could potentially hold thousands of files for hundreds of users).
In a rush to type the above, I don't know if this program fits into method 2 or method 3, but I'm going to go for method 2 - the website says it maintains its own database of filenames. Like the Microsoft Search, this means (potentially) it could slow your machine down as it continually updates its index. Everything on the other hand has nothing to maintain and just runs when you need it.

So in summary (ie, skip the above and just read this bit). File searching methods vary with newer methods requiring little system resources and being near-instant. Unfortunately, this software doesn't fit into this category and other software (free!) is recommended instead.

Chris Locke  –  10 years ago  –  War dieser Kommentar hilfreich? Ja | Nein (+122)

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Installed and registered without problems on a Win 8.1.2 Pro 64 bit system.

We had had version 1.1 on February 18th, 2014.

Here are the old reviews. I wrote a longer comment, still valid after installation and update.
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/filesearchy-1-1/

I was waiting for this update:
Future features. Scheduled on February – March 2014. Free Pro
Search contents of eBooks (EPUB, FB2, MOBI)

Well, on their page, there is nothing written about search in eBook documents.

A test for a word within an .epub file did not produce an error, but also showed no "find". It displayed in the right bottom line :
Found: 2 objects in 0 seconds.

Dear programmer - here you have a real bug. You search obviously within content, but you cannot show a result. You should display : found the word "Test" in file x and file y.

The content search is in that way unusable:

http://www1.xup.to/exec/ximg.php?fid=81708188

A fast file searcher. Strong in searching file names, not a real content searcher. Will be better in future?

I'll keep it - but IndexYourFiles remains my favorite for file indexing.

Karl  –  10 years ago  –  War dieser Kommentar hilfreich? Ja | Nein (+109)

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No bad at all....I had used it when it was in Beta stage and I have to admit that I was very much impressed by its advanced functions.

Can search any file by name, location, content, modified date, and/or size, but best part is that users can perform multiple searches with their own rules, by opening several tabs at the same time, not to mention that it can even integrate itself in Windows Explorer, thus allowing you to search through the contents of a folder by simply right-clicking on it.

3 THUMBS UP from me!

As BEST FREE alternative I recommend this tool (it's also PORTABLE):

http://hddb.xp-zed.com/getstarted/index.html

See also:
http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/findrun/index.html
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html
http://www.ultrafilesearch.com/features.html
http://www.joshcellsoftwares.com/2011/12/instant-file-searcher-professional.html

Enjoy ^_^

Giovanni Mr FREE  –  10 years ago  –  War dieser Kommentar hilfreich? Ja | Nein (+88)

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@ post #10, abc8808: Filesearchy Pro, offered here today, is not the same as FileLocator Lite and is not from the same developer;

@ post #12, abc8808 (again): if you're not sure what Filesearchy Pro does, then read the developer's description on this page. If you're not sure what FileLocator Lite does, then go here:


http://help.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorlite/en/index.html

FileLocatorLite is the "polite name" for the multi-million downloaded freeware Agent Ransack created by developer MythicSoft more than a decade ago. Home users who wanted to have Agent Ransack on their work machines were nervous about the word 'Ransack' appearing on-screen in a corporate environment so asked MythicSoft if it could provide this same software under a less contentious name. MythicSoft duly obliged.

Regardless of your own experience, I can't see why folks who have a need to search by string, date and size shouldn't take advantage of today's kind offer from GOTD and MidlineSoft.

Those who don't have such a need can contentedly stay with Agent Ransack / FileLocator Lite from MythicSoft.

Those who simply want a lightning fast (and ultra lightweight) folder and file NTFS searcher can happily stay with David Carpenter's freeware gem, Everything. David has popped the details here:

http://www.voidtools.com/faq/

I have both Everything and Agent Ransack on this computer. I use the former for the blistering speed at which it finds any file and folder on my HDD and Agent Ransack for the occasional content -- occasional, because as most of the stuff I have is in MS Word, then it's easier to run a Find/Replace.

As to Windows Search, I abandoned it in the OS travesty that was Vista. Friends tell me it improved in Windows 7 . . so all the criticisms that one hears about indexing slow-downs may just be anecdotal stuff endlessly relayed by people who think it's true but don't actually know themselves.

Me, I'm happy with Everything and Agent Ransack. Others seeking more should DL today's giveaway.

MikeR  –  10 years ago  –  War dieser Kommentar hilfreich? Ja | Nein (+75)

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This was offered here in February as version 1.11. You can read the comments here..

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/filesearchy-1-1/

I like this as it works well but if you miss out on this you will be happy with Everything. It's quick, easy, and portable. You can find it here...

http://www.voidtools.com/downloads/

Thank you GOTD team and Midlinesoft.

dadams  –  10 years ago  –  War dieser Kommentar hilfreich? Ja | Nein (+73)

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