Desktop Search

Compiled by Karen Blakeman
karen.blakeman@rba.co.uk
web: http://www.rba.co.uk/
blog: http://www.rba.co.uk/rss/blog.htm

What is Desktop Search?

Desktop search applications search for information and files on your desktop PC. You download a program to your machine, tell it what to index and set it going. The first time they run, it does take a while to index your files. They may include cached web pages, word documents, emails, audio, video, IM, PDF etc. depending on the desktop search tool you choose and the settings you stipulate. Some programs combine desktop with web search. The types of files indexed by these programs varies and, for those of us using non-Microsoft programs, support for applications such as Open Office, Star Office, Thunderbird and Firefox is an important factor. But there are other criteria and features and these are covered in a separate fact sheet.

Why not use the built in Windows Search for files and folders?

First of all, you must make sure that it is set up correctly. In some versions of Windows, the Search option appears "broken" because of the default settings. For details and instructions on how to fix it see "Making Windows XP Search do what it says on the tin - almost" in the December 2004 issue of the newsletter Tales from the Terminal Room. (Note: this article is nearly a year old so some of the comments at the end of the article are no longer valid.)

The second problem is that if you have disabled the "Indexing Service" it takes an age to find file names containing your terms, and an eternity to search the text within files. And it does not search inside files that have extensions that Windows does not recognise as being associated with text applications. It will be interesting to see what Windows Search will be able to do in Vista, the next version of the Windows operating system.

What is currently available?

The following are the most prominent in the current market for desktop search and all are free of charge:

Ask Jeeves Desktop Search
Blinkx
Copernic
Exalead one:desktop
Google Desktop
MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search
Yahoo! Desktop Search

PDF of Desktop Search Factsheet (23 KB) - opens in new window