The best tools to find files on your hard drive and in the mailbox. You know the file to find somewhere in your PC. No worries, Windows can find it in a flash. Click Start, Search, enter one or two words (related to the file to find), click Search and wait ...
... and then continue to wait ... and finally get the message 'Search is complete. There are no results to display '. Can not be like that! Make sure this file is attached to an email, open Outlook, click Find, enter the search term, click Find Now, and again see the message 'No items found' - not found! Outlook can not find the attachment.
The search function is available in Windows and Outlook quite rudimentary. There must be a better way to browse each filename in Explorer. The new version of Outlook, scheduled for release in 2005, and the Windows version codenamed Longhorn, launched in 2006, promising to offer more advanced search features.
This article introduces 10 file finder utilities, including popular and unknown names, and one by one to find missing files in one or both cases: attachments in the repository Outlook 30MB (with 1104 files) and .doc files in the massive 750MB folder, holds 1110 file types and 43 subfolders. Limit testing with Microsoft Outlook as this is the most popular Windows based email client.
The utilities introduced here can do much more than find files and emails; The experiment focuses on finding missing files and locating all files related to a topic.
There are three major programs that work with Outlook data: $ 70 Caelo Software's NEO Pro, Lookout Software's Free Lookout for Outlook (Lookout has been acquired by Microsoft), and Stask Labs's $ 99 Bloomba Professional. You can also use Lookout to find files. Five of the remaining 7 programs can find both files and emails.
All but one exceptions found the file in the blink of an eye, after initial index creation.
Despite all the negligence, all 10 utilities have proven superior search capabilities over Windows and Outlook. The highly-searchable e-mail lookup is Free Lookout, and the $ 199 DtSearch Desktop features file search capabilities.
DTSEARCH DESKTOP
dtsearch.com
DtSearch Desktop gives you more ways to search than Windows. It only takes 6 minutes to create indexes of test files. The program creates indexed Excel (.xls), Word (.doc), RTF, text (.txt), Outlook Express, Outlook, PowerPoint, PDF, MBOX (Eudora, Netscape and other email clients), HTML and other files. Index includes attributes, macros, and other hidden content in the Office file. Even with this flood of information, DtSearch also returns results quickly. In fact, the program finds the folder and the test email files are fast. Price 199USD is quite high but the search results worthy.
LOOKOUT
lookoutsoft.com
There are some things in life that are good and free. Lookout Software's free Lookout utility complements Outlook not only to find email attachments but also to find files in folders. Lookout installed as an Outlook toolbar. It requires the .Net Framework (downloaded automatically if you have not already, as long as you allow it). Loader takes only 5 minutes, and Lookout indexes Outlook files and test folders only takes about 90 seconds. However, you can not search by email attachments if you do not open the Advanced option and check 'Index attachments and file contents'.
HOTBOT DESKTOP
hotbot.com
Showing Office documents in IE can be a bit confusing to you; But after the first minute you will appreciate this free utility because it uses the same search and click for email and file. Unfortunately, the 'cold' interface of the program does not tell you how much time it takes to index the email and the file. The only way to know what the tool is doing is moving the mouse pointer over its icon in the system tray while indexing is in progress.
Outlook and Outlook Express attachments and attachments - with Excel (.xls), Word (.doc), RTF, text (.txt), PowerPoint and PDF files; You can add other file types manually. To create index files, you have to browse to and select the drive or folder you want. It took 42 minutes to create an index of test Outlook data, and 50 minutes to create an experimental test index. However, after index creation, it finds files quickly. Especially, this gadget is free.
BLINKX
blinkx.com
Search is often associated with keywords, but the free Blinkx utility can help you find emails and documents without having to bother with keywords. The utility creates index files and adds a small toolbar to IE and other applications. Click one of the toolbar icons to find files related to the theme of the open document. You can choose from local drives, online news, web, shopping sites, video content or weblogs.
The utility can also perform file searches under old style keywords. Just click the Blinkx icon on the toolbar to open the search window. Enter the keyword and hit the magnifying glass icon, and the search results from the web and local drive will appear in the IE window. Blinkx can be a useful survey tool, though it lacks advanced search features but its segment solution is fast, simple and free.
NEO PRO
emailorganizer.com
It is hard to find any program that offers more email searching than Cael Software 's NEO Pro (Nelson Email Organizer). At $ 70, this utility puts a small Outlook icon on the lower left corner of the screen, and adds a toolbar icon to the Outlook toolbar to quickly switch back to the program. . Importing the experimental Outlook data into the NEO takes just seconds, and the import operation includes automatic indexing of each sent and received text. The test found the attachment successfully on the first attempt, and NEO completed all other searches less than a second for each job. Although NEO does not work with local files, it does help resolve the difficulty of finding Outlook emails.
BLOOMBA PROFESSIONAL
statalabs.com
No need to care about folders. That is the $ 99 Sterna 's "Bloomba Professional" philosophy, which replaces the Outlook search function. The $ 60 Personal Edition offers automatic Palm sync, shared calendaring, and more. During the installation, Bloomba took only 1 minute to enter the test Outlook data. Bloomba promises not to change Outlook settings, you can access all your mail and contacts as well as send and receive emails in Outlook while Bloomba is open. New emails are synchronized with Bloomba automatically when the program reopens.
Less than 1 second, Bloomba found the attachment, it also performs well by keyword search. You can limit the search to certain email fields (for example, to: or cc :) and the specified date along with other options. Two other highly regarded features are the convenient 'Delete as spam' feature, which lets you save and revise your searches in advance. Although Bloomba has an intuitive and fast email lookup, it costs $ 99 too much for an Outlook replacement.
X1 SEARCH
x1.com
X1 X1's $ 99 X1 Search builds on the initial sympathy when 'polite' asks if you want to load at Windows startup. However, the original index creation program took 25 minutes without any notice. You can find the index while creating, but X1 recommends that the result is not complete.
During the initial setup, X1 allows you to specify the file types to create the index, and you can select the folder for the browse utility. After X1 creates the index automatically, you can go back and manually issue it to re-index the folder limit. The index creation utility takes about 2 minutes, and then it finds the test files immediately.
X1 allows you to search by name and size, or by file extension, there is an option that allows you to specify the maximum file size for index creation (also applies to email attachments).
TURBO SEARCHER
knownsoft.com
Knownsoft's $ 30 Turbo Searcher is the slowest, although it supports many file types. You can not limit the drive or folder to an index. The program finds Word (.doc), text (.txt), Excel (.xls), PowerPoint, HTML, applications (.exe), video (.avi), MP3 and MPEG-2 files; You can add other file types.
ENFISH FIND
enfish.com
The program automatically indexes the entire hard drive after installation without giving you the chance to change the default settings. In the free trial version of Enfish Find, the default settings and index creation automatically omit the data folder; However, after re-creating the index manually, it finds the file in a snap.
SLEUTHHOUND
isleuthhound.com
The sleuthhound is fast, but the $ 20 share utility puts itself in the system tray and groups applications that launch with Windows without asking you. The program does not work with Outlook and only looks for Word (.doc), text (.txt), and HTML files. (You can add other file types and Outlook through the plug-in. The $ 96 Sleuhhound Pro Power Pack is full of plug-ins.)
Nguyen Le
PC World USA 11/2004
