OT: modifying windows XP search

[Bill Park]

Okay, 'search' hass pissed me off since the intorduction of XP.

I don't want all those extra steps, I don't need all the extra questiosn. All I want my computer to do is to search all files and folders for what I'm looking for. Period. ALL FILES, ALL FOLDERS. Search. simple.

Anyone here savy enough to tell me how to edit the registry so that I can take out all fo that other crap and eliminate all those ectra keystrokes?

Thanks,

Bill

[UpTilDawn]

It's been a while since I've used Win 2K Bill, but I don't get what the difference is in XP.
Just Start/Search/All Files and Folders..........

Not a biggie for me.

DanT

[Ian Alexander]

It seems pretty straightforward here. When in a folder I want to search, I type Ctrl-f. I type the name or text string I want to find and press Enter. Leave all the other boxes empty. Works in My Computer, in an entire drive, or any subfolder.

If yours doesn't work this way, type Ctrl-f in a folder. Then click Change Preferences in the Search pane. Poke around there until you get it set the way you like.

[Bill Park]

It seems pretty straightforward here. When in a folder I want to search, I type Ctrl-f. I type the name or text string I want to find and press Enter. Leave all the other boxes empty. Works in My Computer, in an entire drive, or any subfolder.

If yours doesn't work this way, type Ctrl-f in a folder. Then click Change Preferences in the Search pane. Poke around there until you get it set the way you like.

Perfect! I LOVE keyboard shortcuts.

Thanks,

Bill

[Tree Leopard]

Hi Bill - for fast searching try this freeware - Agent Ransack (http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/default.aspx). You can do very a simple "search everything now" or you can use various search filters. But its not a file management utility.

For that, there is A43 (http://www.shawneelink.net/~bgmiller/) - which uses many of the regular key commands - and the old Turbo Navigator v1.47 (http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/turbonavigator.html) which uses F keys for copy / paste / move etc. Both are very functional.

Andre

[Jay Q]

Perfect! I LOVE keyboard shortcuts.In case you don't already do it, add a shortcut for Windows Explorer. When I wanna find stuff, I do Ctrl+Alt+W to bring up WE, then Ctrl+F. Bringing up the search dialog this way takes all of 1 second.

Jay

[UpTilDawn]

In case you don't already do it, add a shortcut for Windows Explorer. When I wanna find stuff, I do Ctrl+Alt+W to bring up WE, then Ctrl+F. Bringing up the search dialog this way takes all of 1 second.

Jay

When I try that with XP, Ctrl/F dumps the explorer window on the left and puts the search window there instead. It also opens the default folder on the right, which is my documents (unless I first select a different folder before calling up Ctrl/F).

DanT

[Jay Q]

When I try that with XP, Ctrl/F dumps the explorer window on the left and puts the search window there instead. It also opens the default folder on the right, which is my documents (unless I first select a different folder before calling up Ctrl/F).That's what it's supposed to do, Dan. Ctrl+F is just a shortcut for clicking on the Search button below the menu; it'll search whatever folder is selected, and My Documents is selected by default. I never liked using the My Documents folder, so I organize everything within in the C drive (old habits die hard, I guess), hence I have the C drive as my default. You can actually set any directory you like as your default by viewing Properties for Windows Explorer and adding an option to the Target field. In XP, your default is "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe". Just add "/e," followed by the directory you'd like to default to, e.g., "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,C:\" goes to the C (root) directory when you open up WE.

Jay

[UpTilDawn]

You can actually set any directory you like as your default by viewing Properties for Windows Explorer and adding an option to the Target field. In XP, your default is "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe". Just add "/e," followed by the directory you'd like to default to, e.g., "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,C:\" goes to the C (root) directory when you open up WE.

Thanks for that tip Jay. I will check that out.

DanT

[Dave Labrecque]

That's what it's supposed to do, Dan. Ctrl+F is just a shortcut for clicking on the Search button below the menu; it'll search whatever folder is selected, and My Documents is selected by default. I never liked using the My Documents folder, so I organize everything within in the C drive (old habits die hard, I guess), hence I have the C drive as my default. You can actually set any directory you like as your default by viewing Properties for Windows Explorer and adding an option to the Target field. In XP, your default is "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe". Just add "/e," followed by the directory you'd like to default to, e.g., "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,C:\" goes to the C (root) directory when you open up WE.

Jay

Jay,

On my old NT system I had a WE shortcut for each drive and for a few folders. But when I moved to XP, accessing WE through the various shortcuts seemed to hose my folder view settings. They'd change and never stick, even when "applying to all folders" in Folder Options. So, I've had to work through a single WE shortcut for all my WE work. Got any ideas on how to fix that behavior?

Thanks.

[Pedro Itriago]

I think to remember a similar question some time ago in this forum about XP's folder options behavior. If memory serves me well, Bob said that it seemed as if XP had to learn the thing, so you had to change folder options again every time xp changed 'em back and eventually xp learned how you wanted the folders to be shown. Maybe search the forum to see if this "rememberance" of mine has any merit or, like the world getting better, is just a figment of my imagination.

Remember I hate XP hence I don't use it, so double check


Jay,

On my old NT system I had a WE shortcut for each drive and for a few folders. But when I moved to XP, accessing WE through the various shortcuts seemed to hose my folder view settings. They'd change and never stick, even when "applying to all folders" in Folder Options. So, I've had to work through a single WE shortcut for all my WE work. Got any ideas on how to fix that behavior?

Thanks.

[UpTilDawn]

I think to remember a similar question some time ago in this forum about XP's folder options behavior. If memory serves me well, Bob said that it seemed as if XP had to learn the thing, so you had to change folder options again every time xp changed 'em back and eventually xp learned how you wanted the folders to be shown. Maybe search the forum to see if this "rememberance" of mine has any merit or, like the world getting better, is just a figment of my imagination.

Remember I hate XP hence I don't use it, so double check
I remember that discussion too, but don't recall the specifics..... although I don't hate XP since I've had little in the way of PC disturbances since getting away from 2k, 98SE and ME. :)

[Bob L]

I have found that if you make an icon on the desktop and open from that same icon, the Windows Explorer can be trained to remember your settings.

I have also found that I have to set things up the way I want... then close the program... then double-click the icon and it will change certain things but keep certain other settings... change them again... close the program... double-click the icon... etc... after 5 or 6 times... it seems to remember everything from that point on.

Never did find a different way to make it work.

Bob L

[Jay Q]

But when I moved to XP, accessing WE through the various shortcuts seemed to hose my folder view settings. They'd change and never stick, even when "applying to all folders" in Folder Options.Dave, I haven't had that problem, so I'm not sure what to suggest -- I use the same view setting for all folders. Did you use the same view settings for all folders, or did you have particular view settings depending on the shortcut? I just tried an experiment where I created a couple of other WE shortcuts for different folders and applied different view settings, and they all worked as expected, so I'm afraid I'm not sure what to tell you.

I do what Bob mentioned about creating desktop shortcuts, but I don't experience a "training period" -- it just works. I do notice some oddness with shortcut keys, but that's another issue.

Jay

[Tree Leopard]

December must be "International Month Of File Management"... Over here its cropped so much in conversation the last few weeks that I started a blogging it...

http://sonictypewriter.blogspot.com/

The way to "fix" details view globally in XP is here (http://sonictypewriter.blogspot.com/2005/12/mayor-in-city-of-clowns.html) - about half way through the post.

Andre

[Mark Stebbeds]

The way to "fix" details view globally in XP is here (http://sonictypewriter.blogspot.com/2005/12/mayor-in-city-of-clowns.html) - about half way through the post.



Out-friggin'-standing!! I've been searching for that answer for years!!

Thanks.

Mark

[Jay Q]

The way to "fix" details view globally in XP is here (http://sonictypewriter.blogspot.com/2005/12/mayor-in-city-of-clowns.html) - about half way through the post.Wow, Andre, I never did your My Documents "fix", yet I never experienced the problem people have been speaking of. I'd love to know what the root cause is. Yet another of the many mysteries of Windows, I guess.

Jay

[Dave Labrecque]

Jay,

It was several shortcuts, each pointing to a different target folder or drive, but each using the same view settings. I gave up and did what Bob said, using a single shortcut for WE, but even so the "details" (column headings) get hosed every once in a while and I have to reselect them.

[Jay Q]

Jay,

It was several shortcuts, each pointing to a different target folder or drive, but each using the same view settings. I gave up and did what Bob said, using a single shortcut for WE, but even so the "details" (column headings) get hosed every once in a while and I have to reselect them.Dave, did you do Andre's fix? This all makes me wonder what's different about my setup because I, too, use the details view for everything but didn't have to go through multiple attempts to get it to stick.

Jay

[Tree Leopard]

Wow, Andre, I never did your My Documents "fix", yet I never experienced the problem people have been speaking of. I'd love to know what the root cause is. Yet another of the many mysteries of Windows, I guess.

JayIs your machine a hand-me-down from Carl Sassenrath or something? ;)

The solution that you suggested of making custom shortcuts for drives and folders is the most stable. Coincidently, that got blogged as well - more here (http://sonictypewriter.blogspot.com/2005/12/scripts-for-opening-explorer-in.html).

Whatever registry values handle anything to do with folders seem hooked to "My Documents" which is hooked to your user profile(s) which is hooked to... The Marx Brothers could have done it better...

Andre

[studio-c]

I've actually become quite dependent on that little dog and the little paperclip telling me how to do stuff... :D

[Pedro Itriago]

Oh man!!!!

[studio-c]

Hey Pedro, how is Caracas this time of year? A good friend of mine met his girlfriend online and she lives in the mountains of Venezuela (VERY cute by the way). He's going there for Christmas and staying for a month. He loves your country, even Hugo Chavez. :)

[Pedro Itriago]

It was usually about 15 to 18 ºC cooler than the rest of the year, but we've made so many buildings that I feel hot at night. Only very late (around 3 a.m.) starts to cool off.

I hope he deosn't have to come into Caracas. The highway from the airport is in such a poor condition that one of its bridges is about to collapse. It has no remedy and everybody knows for years now that it will fall. It moved with the mointain and has a 90 cm displacement. They are "trying" to prolong the life of that bridge by re-position it again. The work is being done while cars are passing over. My mom spent 3 days in constant panic when she was in Puerto Rico (this was last week) when she learnt what they were doing and that she had to go throught it to get back home.

Oh, and if they're not waiting for him at the airport in Caracas (if that's his final destination which I'm guessing is not), tell him to be very careful in the airport and trust noone. Insctruct him to take only the black SUV's with a yellow elliptical sticker with the taxi company name, it's the only "official" taxi service in the airport. There have been many tourist robbed by people posing as taxi dirvers, even with cars painted white with checkered black/yellow stripes

About the women here...what can I say. It's like what the russians said, the only way they could endure what was going on in USSR back then was Vodka, we have women.

If your friend ever needs anything while he's here, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Just tell him not, if he really likes him, to mention that guy you wrote his name last in your post, right before the smiley. To me that's more of a pet peeve than giving a...nevermind

[studio-c]

About the women here...what can I say. It's like what the russians said, the only way they could endure what was going on in USSR back then was Vodka, we have women.

At the risk of hijacking the thread, I've gotta say that you DEFINITELY have amazing women.

We return now to "Modifying Windows XP Search" on The Fashion Network.