Vista Search: The outstanding feature of the new operating system

Every computer has its own way to search for files, as each system has different ways to open the file. However, with the Search function, a bright feature of Vista, incorporating both functions introduced in one, it can allow your task to be done quickly, efficiently and spectacularly. . Vista Search is like Google Desktop (or Spotlight on Macintosh), in that it searches for files even when you are importing - unlike Windows XP that searches only when you press Enter or Search and is still out of date. quite a long time to search.

You can search files in your computer using Vista's fast search box in two locations:

  1. Start menu : The Start Search box is located at the bottom of the Start menu, allowing you to search anywhere on your computer.
  2. Explorer windows : The Search box is located at the top of each screen window that only allows searching of folders inside Windows. You can expand it to search for specific file types or installation dates.

Search boxes also appear in the Control Panel, Internet Explorer, Windows Mail, Windows Media Player windows and some other locations to easily perform searches. Below we will talk about two main Search boxes, mainly searching for files and folders.

Search from the Start menu

Start by opening the Start menu, you can use the mouse or use the Windows shortcut.

The Start Search box appears at the bottom of the Start menu, you can start immediately by entering the information you want to find and open.

Picture 1 of Vista Search: The outstanding feature of the new operating system

When you type, items that normally select the Start menu will not appear and replace them as search results. This is an interactive and lively search; That's one of Vista's changes, Vista changes the search menu as soon as you enter content - you won't need to press Enter after entering the search term.

Search results list files, folders, email messages, book address entries, calendars, pictures, videos, PDF documents, music files, Web bookmarks and Microsoft Office documents (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) relates to what you typed, regardless of the name or directory location.

Vista not only searches for icon names but also searches for their content as well as all the metadata in your file (about what is in a file like height, width, size, creator, copyright holder, title, date of preparation and last change date).

Picture 2 of Vista Search: The outstanding feature of the new operating system

If you see the icon you are looking for, double-click it to open it or use the arrow to move and press Enter to open it.

If you choose a program (the programs listed first in the results menu), the program will open the screen for you.

A few tips in the results menu

• You can open anything in the results menu by selecting it and then pressing Enter to open it.

With this technique, everything is incredibly convenient, the whole operation is very fast and you don't need to take your hands off the keyboard. Just press the Windows button to open the Start menu, type cale (search Windows schedule), and then press Enter.

Why is pressing Enter open the Windows script? Because it is the first item selected in the results list and its name is selected.

• If Vista cannot find the program that matches what you typed, it cannot be selected in the list. In that case, pressing Enter will open the Search Results window, which provides more features.

You can use alternate mouse or arrow key method / Enter to open one of the search results.

• The Vista menu only shows you the 20 most positive results, even between categories: Programs (including Control Panel applets), Favorites and History (Web sites), Files (including documents, folders and shortcuts) and Communications (email, chat).

To view the entire list, you must open the Search results window by clicking "See all results". But having such a short list makes it easy to move in the menu item you want to open, as well as using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

• Esc key (top left key of the keyboard) is used for quick exit. Use it to close the results and restore the Start menu to its original form.

• To clear the Search-other search box or redo the steps from the Start menu - simply click the x icon to the right of the last section of the Search box.

• When you need to search for a number in Address Book, you should not open Mail to get the address, it will be easier and faster to use Search. You can type someone's name or even a person's phone number.

• Between a million different things, Vista checks the main keywords you have applied to your pictures or photos. The result allows you to find, open or insert photos at any time, no matter which program you are using. This is indeed the magic of inserting a photo into an email message, a presentation or a Web page you are designing.

• If you specify an item selected in the results menu without clicking, a small toolbox appears. It will tell you the actual name of the selected item and its directory path (that can tell you where it is located on the hard drive).

• You can directly drag the name of the selected item to the menu and drop it to the desktop, to a folder or a window or even to the trash.

• If you only want to know the file's location or properties, simply point to the search results without opening it. (A rectangular tool appears including detailed files and folders.)

You can also open the results right on the current window instead of opening another number. To do that, right-click its name from the shortcut menu, select Open File Location.

• At the bottom of the results menu, "Search the Internet", open your web browser and search the web for your search terms, using Google or your favorite search page.

You know nothing about Vista

The beauty of Vista Search is that it not only finds the entire filename that matches what you typed, but it actually looks at the inside of the file. It can read and find text file contents, RTF documents, PDF documents and other Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint).

However that is just the beginning. Vista searches for files not only for text within them but also on 115 bits of text - another terrible collection that includes names of layers in Photoshop documents, the tempo of an MP3 file, speed blink of a digital photo, the copyright holder of the movie, the size of the document page and .

You might think entering something into the Search box triggered a search. But technically speaking, Vista is ready to perform previous searches. In the first 15 to 30 minutes after you install Vista or after a few minutes after you install a new hardware - Vista will implicitly select information about everything on your hard drive. Like kids doing an exercise, it reads, writes notes and remembers the contents of all files.

It stores all this information in hidden form, called multi-megabyte files, creative enough and indexed. (If your primary drive is full, you can specify index storage on other drives .)

When it has indexed your hard drive in this way, Vista can perform search results in a moment. It does not have to perform searches throughout the drive.

After initial indexing, Vista continues to check what is on your hard drive, indexing changed files and new files in the backgrround.

On which side Vista searches

Start menu searches do not actually steal files on your computer. Searching inside a lot of materials such as Windows' own operating system files and in the guts of software applications should be categorized so Vista doesn't bother with this problem.

It will index everything in your personal folders: email, photos and music, videos, Start-menu items, program names, entire addresses and schedules, Office documents, offline files .

To keep searching fast (reduce the size of unseen files), Vista does not index Windows system files and application support files. It indexes all the drivers that are connected to the computer but not the other hard drives on the network.

It indexes individual folders every user account, but you are not allowed to search them from the Start menu. So if you want to find a letter from your spouse with a phrase like 'meeting at midnight,' then forget this idea.

If you try to search anywhere that Windows doesn't match its index - for example, in a system folder, or a hard drive on the network - a message will appear. It tells you that because you're working beyond its index limits, the search will slow down and only find the file names - not the file or metadata content.

In addition, this type of search outside the index is not found as soon as you start typing, you must press Enter after typing the name (or section name) of what you want to find.