It's easy to forget where you placed a file. With Windows XP, it's just as easy to find it again.

With XP, Microsoft has rebuilt the Windows search feature from the ground up. The result is the Search Companion, an almost overly friendly, wizard-style search which can track down music, video, pictures, documents, other files, people, computers on a network, and information on the Internet.

You can use the Search Companion in its standard, hand-holding mode or you can switch over to advanced mode to hurry the process along.

Search for beginners

To use Search Companion:

  1. Click Start -> Search to open Search Companion.

  2. Choose the type of search you want to conduct: pictures, music or video; documents; all files and folders (this is a broad search which includes all types of files, including programs, documents and multimedia); computers on your network or people in your contact list; Windows Help; or information on the Web. The latter two options open the Help and Support Center and a browser-based Web search respectively. The other options stay focussed within the Search Companion.

  1. Type the search criteria into the boxes provided. The search criteria change depending on the type of search. For example, if you're searching for multimedia files, you can specify whether you're looking for audio, video or graphics. If you're searching for a document, you can specify the time frame in which it was created and enter any part of the filename which may help identify it.

  2. Click Search to start the search.

  3. When the search has completed, you can either refine the search or click Yes, Finished Searching to close the search panel and display a Task Pane.

geekgirl.tip: A new search

You can start a new search by clicking the Search button on the toolbar and then clicking it once more to redisplay the initial search screen.

Advanced searching

More experienced users will find the Search Companion's step-by-step approach retards their progress. You can switch over to a more powerful and speedy mode:

  1. Click Start -> Search.

  2. Click Change Preferences.

  3. Click Change Files And Folders Search Behavior and click Advanced.

You can use the Search Companion in beginner or advanced modes.

Use the step-by-step search, or click Change Preferences to set up an advanced search.

The Advanced search lets you locate a file by part of its file name or part of its contents and it lets you nominate where to search on your computer. There are three additional options: When Was It Modified, What Size Is It, and More Advanced Options. Click the double-headed arrow beside any of these to expand the section and fill in the blanks.

geekgirl.tip: Saving searches for later reuse
If you need to search regularly for similar items, you can save a search by entering the criteria and running the search as usual. Then select Save Search from the File Menu and give your search a descriptive name. Next time you want to run the search, double-click the saved search file. You can then adjust the criteria, if necessary, and click the Search button to start the search anew.

The Indexing Service

Windows XP comes with an Indexing Service which boosts the efficiency of searches. When enabled, the Indexing Service works in the background, extracting the contents and the properties of documents and organising them in a way streamlined for fast searching.

If your computer strains under the weight of Windows XP, you may want to keep the Indexing Service switched off, as it slows your system somewhat. If you'd like to have faster searches, then turn it on.

You can switch the Indexing Service on and off, and adjust its properties, via the Search Companion:

  1. Open the Search Companion and click Change Preferences.

  2. Click the With Indexing Service option (if Indexing Service is already enabled, the option will be Without Indexing Service).

  3. Select the options you want and click OK.

Serious business

The Search Companion comes complete with its own animated cartoon character. It may seem that this little bit of flummery does nothing more than slow your system down. Despite its limited usefulness, the search character is a good way to entice youngsters into learning how to locate their own files.

The animated Rocky character makes an amusing search companion.

If you like having an animated search companion, dump the default character, Rover, quick smart! His collection of tricks is pitiful. Try out Merlin instead. If you have Microsoft Office XP installed you'll have additional choices including my favourite, Layback Rocky.

If you're at a loose end, double-click the animated character and it will let you switch it off, choose a different character, or have it perform a trick. If the search character is not visible, you can activate it by clicking Change Preferences and then selecting With An Animated Screen Character.

© 2002, Rose Vines  

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