How to find a program in Windows 7. Restore the search field in the start menu. Indexing and Search Settings

When going from Windows Vista search in Windows 7 only it becomes more convenient and does not harbor any special surprises. This cannot be said about many windows users XP, who are just discovering day-to-day work in the system with such a convenient tool as instant search. Searching in Windows 7 is really easy. But, as with any search, the goal is to find what you need, and this can sometimes be difficult. With this article, I begin my story about how search works in Windows 7, how to set it up, how to search, and most importantly, how to find it.

How search works

You've probably heard of an index, a collection of files that contain a variety of information about files and documents stored on disk. When you use search, it is the index files that allow you to quickly display the results. The index includes various properties of files, and this is not only the path, name or size. For example, MP3 files have all tags indexed - from author to bit rate. Office documents have data indexed, which can be seen in the file properties on the tab In detail, document content, and so on. If this search is new to you, I recommend reading a couple of help articles for background information and searches. Minimize all windows, click F1 and in the field Search Help enter ... Search.

Indexing happens all the time - if you add, delete or change a file in a folder, it will be immediately reflected in the index.

The screenshot shows the locations that are indexed by default. Therefore, if you store your documents somewhere in F: \\ Documents, they will not be included in the index and will not be found by a quick search - they must be added to the index separately. Setting up a search will be discussed below.

Search and indexing settings

Honestly, standard settings searches are quite successful, and most users do not need to change anything in them, especially if documents and files are stored in standard folders... To customize your settings, open the Start menu and type in search options.

So at ease we used one of the search possibilities Windows 7 - quick access to control panel items from the Start menu.

Change search options for files and folders

I will not duplicate the parameters, which are perfectly visible in the screenshot.

Pay attention to the following points:

by default, folder search searches all subfolders

in non-indexed places, the search is performed only by file names, and compressed files ignored

you can use language search, i.e. write search queries in a more fluent language - for example, last week's video (there will be a lot of unexpected results mixed in here, especially in localized versions)

Indexing Options and Windows Search Services

There are many more options you can tweak here. To add folders to the index, click Edit.

Windows folders and Program Files not accidentally excluded from the search - they will greatly increase the size of the index, and there will be little practical use. Programs can already be found by searching in the Start menu - after all, the main menu is indexed by default.

By clicking Additionally, you get access to two groups of settings:

indexing technical parameters

indexing options for file types

In the first, you can add encrypted files to the index, rebuild the index (which you might need in case of problems), and set a new location for it.

For the file type (extension), you can:

include or exclude it from the index

determine if only properties will be indexed or also content

add new extension

For example, if suddenly your instant messaging client stores history in text files with the LOG extension or you just need to analyze the logs, their contents will not be indexed by default. But you can easily customize the search - just type log on the keyboard to navigate through the list of extensions and enable content search.

How to search

When starting a search, it is advisable to immediately imagine whether the search object is included in the index. As I said above, the index covers the user's profile - libraries, files, etc. Here you can find the files you need relatively easily.

But if you open the main search window and expect to find something in the Program Files or Windows folder, you might even get the impression that "the search is not finding anything" - after all, only the results from the index are displayed. We'll talk about searching in non-indexed places later, but now we'll look at the general search methods in Windows 7. You can search:

from the start menu

in the main search box

in libraries

in other windows of the explorer - folders, dialogs "Open" and "Save As"

Search in the Start Menu

When you search from the Start menu, the search results show not only files and documents, but also programs and Control Panel items. Now you can safely part with the Windows XP habit of carefully sorting applications in the menu Programs... It is enough to enter the first few letters of the program name to find it. This is much more convenient, especially if you have a lot of programs installed.

Advice... If you use portable applications, just add their shortcuts to the% appdata% \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ Start Menu \\ Programs folder (you can create a subfolder for them). In search results they will appear in the group Programs.

In Windows 7, the search results in the Start menu are very conveniently grouped, and the number of results in each group is immediately visible - this is an improvement over Windows Vista. As you can see in the screenshot, search by word word finds not only applications Microsoft Word and WordPad, but also offers results in other groups.

The Start menu displays several results for each group, and clicking on the group name opens a search window with all the search results in the group.

Search in the Start menu is good when you have an idea of \u200b\u200bthe file name or its contents - the first 5 - 10 results are visible immediately, and you don't have to go far. In addition, the Start menu is indispensable for quick access to programs and items in Control Panel using search.

Main search box

An empty search box can be opened by pressing the keyboard shortcut WIN + F... It, in my opinion, has somewhat lost its meaning, since it no longer contains advanced file search capabilities. Searching in windows explorer practically displaces it from the system. It seems to me that links to help on using search or a link to this article could brighten up its dull look.

However, the main search box still carries a payload. It opens with search results if you enter a query in the Start menu and click on the name of a search result group, or See other resultsright above the search field.

Libraries

Now I will explain why I split the search in libraries and other explorer windows. Notice how the library search results are displayed. They match the look of the files in it and are very well perceived visually. For example, for music files, album art, large song title, size are displayed, and there are also "music" options for organizing the results. This is a property of all libraries, which confirms the thesis - windows capabilities 7 is best used together. In this case, it is a search in libraries, which has other advantages.

This is what a simple query search in the library will suggest. Music.

While in Explorer, you can sort your search results by the available file properties. The default display order is top scores, but, for example, you can sort your music files by album or genre. This feature is available alongside the traditional sorting and grouping tools of Explorer (although the latter may be new to migrants with Windows XP).

In this case, the results will display several songs from each album. You can watch all the songs on the album, and then "fold" it if the desired one is not there.

If you haven't found desired file in the current folder, you can search again:

Other explorer windows

In folders and libraries, the search field is the same as in the main window. But do not forget that the same option is available in the "Open" and "Save As" windows, which are used even by those who prefer alternative file managers.

Searching in folders is more convenient when you know the approximate location of a file or document - in this case, you will not get lost in the results. In addition, this method is useful when you know for sure that the file is not in the index. Finally, in the Open and Save As windows, you can quickly filter the contents of a folder using a search.

I am sure that you have already tried simple search queries and may be completely satisfied with them. However, sooner or later you will need to find the file, and a simple query won't help you. Next, I'll show you how to use Windows 7's advanced search capabilities to find the files you want.

What's New in Windows 7 Advanced Search

To master search, of course, you need to practice using its capabilities. In the Windows 7 search articles, I will provide a number of examples that you can easily reproduce on your own.

If you are migrating from Windows XP, everything will be new to you in your search for Windows 7. Compared to Windows Vista, Windows 7 looks:

changed search filters

Search filters

When the name of the file or the subject of the document is roughly known, it is usually not difficult to find the required file - you just enter a partial or complete query into the Start menu search. But this information is not always deposited in random access memory brain, and it is simply often required to set special search conditions - size, modification date or author of the file. Windows XP had Search Assistant, Windows Vista had Filters.

At first glance, there is nothing that visually stands out in Windows 7. In fact, the filters have not gone anywhere - they just become visible when you position your cursor in the search field.

Advice... To see more filters, expand the search field - place your cursor on the separator between the field and address bar and pull to the left.

In the screenshot, you can see the standard set of filters in the main search window.

Hints

Your search queries are remembered if they were entered:

to the search box

in explorer folder or library

in the start menu (assuming you navigated to the results and not just opened the file)

These prompts annoy some users, and they tend to turn them off right away. And, in my opinion, they do it in vain. The tips remember not only search queries as such, but also filters searches that you asked - for example, the size or date the file was modified. The hints are very handy if you want to use the full power of Windows 7 search. The old condition can be easily changed to match the current query, and it is faster than retyping it. And you can always delete an unnecessary hint - just select it (with the mouse or cursor) and press Delete on the keyboard.

As I said above, the new features in Windows 7 are best shared. The link between search and libraries is not only in the display of results, but also in the formation of search terms. In the next part of the article, I'll cover:

using filters to search libraries and mail

search in Internet Explorer 8

search in non-indexed locations

search operators

Hello, friends! Before writing this article, I hardly used Windows search. Why, if everything is clear, what and where lies. It was enough to view 2-3 places. It took about 5 minutes. Moreover, the search service was turned off as unnecessary, which gives great opportunities in. And the search service also automatically turns off indexing and it was not possible to find any files quickly through the search at all. That is, unknowingly, I turned off this universal thing. But this is not the same slow search in. It evolved a lot in Windows Vista and took a huge step forward in. Here we will consider the main search capabilities in Windows 7so that we could find the information we need even more efficiently.

First you need to show the main search box. It is called using the keys Win + F or F3 on your desktop.

The window is not fancy and there is almost nothing to talk about. The question immediately arises about the need for it in Windows 7. Most likely it was left for those who recently switched from previous versions Windows. So as not to get lost.

The most accessible and easily found search in Windows 7 is from the main Start menu. (You can read how to make the familiar Start button in). It is enough to open the main menu and the cursor is immediately placed in the search field. You start typing part of the filename and the results already appear. Surprisingly, the speed of delivery of results and its further sorting. We will talk about this later.

The results are presented as groups of files from different categories. In the figure, these are Programs, Control Panel, Documents, Videos and Music. If you know in which category your file may be, go directly to it and look further. Below we will analyze this too.

It is convenient to search for programs or control panel items from the Start menu. Now there is no need to walk on a long way Start\u003e All Programs\u003e Accessories to select the Calculator. It is enough to open Start, write "Ka" and the good old Calculator is already at hand.

For convenience, the width of the search field can be changed by dragging the border between the address bar and the search field to the desired location.

You can and should combine different filters. For example, you sorted files by date modified, now you can sort by size. Click on the search box and select the filter Size. The window below with a range selection will open before you

If you need files up to 50 MB in size and from 100 to 200 MB, then search operators will come to your aid again.

the size:<50мб + размер:>100mb<200мб — вот такой вот получился запрос.

Of course, it is inconvenient to type it because everything slows down because of the search. Therefore, it is recommended to form a query with notepad and copy it to the search bar.

As I wrote the article and tried different filters and sorting options, I was able to find such files in such places that you are amazed. Search + indexing by efficiency like google for the internet.

In addition, you can search not only by modification date and size, but also by other properties of files. For example, by extension, frame width and others. If the search did not give the desired result, then you are offered a choice below to search in the Libraries (see the next section) in the Home group on all yours, choose another place to search, search the Internet and the contents of the files.

If you select Other search location, a window will open where you can use the checkboxes to select the locations where the files you want may be. It can be flash drives and other drives

Then click OK and the search will automatically start in the selected locations.

If you have chosen a place that is not in the index, then the system will immediately warn you and warn you that the search may be slow. It is also suggested to add the selected place to the index

If you often search from this place, then you need to add. If this is an isolated case, then most likely you can skip it. The index will be smaller and the search on it will be faster.

Search in Libraries

The library is where a lot of useful information is stored. On the computer, the same thing, only there the library is divided into four categories for ease of search: Music, Videos, Pictures and Documents. You can add up to 50 folders to each of these libraries. + you can create your own libraries. To create a new library, click right click mouse on "Libraries"\u003e New\u003e Library. Give a name to the new library

It turns out the Library is a virtual folder into which you can connect your real folders from various places of yours. The library will be searched for all folders connected to it.

How to connect a folder to the library

Go to the library to which you want to connect the folder. In the "Includes" section, click on the link. In my case - 2 places

In the window that opens, click the Add ... button and select the desired folder

Libraries are indexed by default and when the process is over you can instantly find the information you need.

Libraries have an extended set of filters, which adds convenience to search

When placing the cursor in the search box, in addition to filters, your search queries that you entered in the past are also shown. If they suddenly begin to interfere with you, you can easily delete them by hovering over the desired mouse cursor and pressing Del on the keyboard.

In Explorer, you can search in the folder you are in and in all subfolders. In the library, you can search all the connected folders at once, and since they are in the index it will be fast. Another plus of using libraries is advanced filters for easy search. I don't know how to get around using the Library in.

Since Libraries are something virtual, nothing happens to your files when you delete them.

Conclusion

Friends! In this article, we touched on a small part, the tip of the iceberg, called - search in Windows 7... We also figured out how to index files on and how it can help you find information faster. We stopped in more detail on the search in the explorer. Thanks to convenient filters, you can search and find information much more efficiently.

I would also like to add that the search terms can be saved. To do this, click on the button of the same name on the toolbar

All saved searches are located in the folder of the same name (Searches) in your profile.

To display the results for one of the searches, just go to the Explorer (on the left side of it) in the Searches folder and select the one you need. The results will appear immediately.

More information about searching in operating system you can read on the site http://www.oszone.net/11299/Search

If you want to find something in windows 7, you probably came across a simple form, which surprises with the lack of familiar settings that were useful and understandable.
It became unusual to use search, as most likely the developers followed the following logic - for ordinary users, you need to make it easier, and more advanced users will figure out how to make queries more complex.
So let's find out how to find files and folders in Windows.

Finding folders in Windows 7

1. To start the search, go to logical drive or in the folder where we will search.
If you are looking on the hard disk, then go to "My Computer", if on the logical drive C, then you need to go to the logical drive C.

2. Having opened the folder, you will see in the search window - the search area - the place where your computer will search.
If you are looking in the “documents” folder, the “Windows” folder, then your search will not be crowned with success, so pay attention to the “Search area”.

(Picture 1)
3. Enter the request.
You can enter not the entire word, but part of it.
Are complex queries made with symbols? and *.
? - any character at the beginning of a word
* - any number of characters

Example:? Lot *
The word plotter is suitable for this query, and if you have a document or file with this name, it will be displayed in the search window.

(Figure 2)

Example: * ter
The words winchester, computer are suitable for this request.

(Figure 3)

Finding files in Windows 7

The peculiarity of file search is that files have extensions.
If you need to find all the videos on your computer, enter the query * .avi and you will receive in the search results window all films and videos with this extension, at the same time, you will find movies with the mp4, 3gp extension only by changing the query.
This way, you can find any files in Windows 7.

Search filters in Windows 7

If the number of files and folders found is too large, you can use the filters, for this click on the form and in the drop-down that appears context menu choose "Date of modification" or "Size".

(Figure 4)

Find programs in Windows 7
There is another way to find something on the computer by clicking on the "Start" button - here you can also enter a search query.

(Figure 5)

conclusions

So, all the complaints about the search in Windows 7 are groundless, since this function is still preserved, it can be used, the only thing to get to it has become easier.
Happy search.

Almost all users who switched from Windows XP to the "Seven" were disappointed with a more meager set of search functions, since, at first glance, the search for programs and files in Windows 7 is not equipped with the usual filters. However, if you know the basic techniques of using the system in order to find the necessary data in a computer, it will not take a significant investment of time and effort, even for novice users. Below are all the main methods of how to quickly find any file or program on a Windows 7 computer.

Using the Start button

You need to do the following:

Note: As you can see from the above example, this same method allows you to find the program, not just the files.

As an example of quickly finding and launching a utility, consider launching the "Console". You can just type in the same column "cmd", while the top line displays a link to open the "Command line".

Using a special search interface "Windows 7"

Of course, the relevance of this method has almost completely disappeared after specialists from Microsoft introduced the search field directly in the start menu, but it will be useful to know about its capabilities to any owner of a computer running the Seven.

It is required to perform the following sequential steps:

Through conductor

The algorithm of actions consists of the following stages:

How to configure search parameters

There are several steps to take:

Quick search by file type

In the case when the user knows the type of the searched file, you can specify its extension, and only specific types of files will be displayed: images, video, text, audio, etc.

To perform an operation only among Word files, it is necessary to type the extension “* .doc” or “* .docx” in the column. Instead of *, characters from the document name are entered. The procedure for "Excel" is carried out similarly, only "* .xls" or "* .xlsx" is applied.

Examples for searching images, video, text and audio files:

* .jpg, * .avi, * .txt, "* .mp3".

Content search

In the "Seven" there is a convenient opportunity to find the desired file and the text it contains. For example, the user knows that inside the document there are precisely printed symbols - "Shovel", sequentially and next to each other.

To identify the location of the file with such a word, you will need to perform the following steps of sequential actions:

Note: the search procedure will now take several times more time for the user, so it is recommended to use this filter only when the others did not allow to get a successful result.

Fixing search parameters

Users usually need to use the same search parameters. In Windows 7, there is a convenient opportunity to save them in order to eliminate the time wasted for re-entering them in the future.

For this purpose, it is enough to specify the required parameters once and, having received the result, click "Save conditions". Next, a menu will be displayed in which you should type the name of the request and click "Save".

During the next search with similar parameters, the user will only need to enter the "Favorites" section and click on the previously specified name of the request.

The search engine in Windows 7 is organized slightly differently than in Windows XP, but it is no less convenient and is performed at a much faster speed.

How to start a search

To start searching for files in Windows 7, you need to open Explorer and select the folder in which you want to search, or, if you do not know where the file is located, select "My Computer". Then the search will be performed on all hard drives.

You need to search for files of any format using the search bar, which is located in the upper right corner of the Explorer in any of its windows. Keyword or a phrase must be entered on this line.

The search is done very quickly by analogy with the request processing mechanism in any search engine. As you enter a query word, the system immediately starts scanning files and producing results with titles containing the entered characters, words, or phrases.

How to use search filters

At first glance, it may seem that such familiar filters available in XP, such as creation or modification date, file type, size and author, are not available when searching in Windows 7, but this is not at all the case.

When you enter a search query, a list of filters corresponding to the type of file you are looking for appears in the drop-down line below, the conditions of which can be set right there in the search line. To do this, you need to click on the desired filter and set its value, for example, the change date "Last week".

How to find files of a specific type

To find a file whose format is known, for example, audio, video, photo, or document but its name, creation date, or other parameters are unknown, you can search by file type by specifying its extension in the search terms.

Documents . To search for documents in Word format, enter the characters "* .doc" (for the Word 2003 format) or "* .docx" (for the Word 2007-2010 format) in the search bar. An asterisk denotes any sequence of any characters.

For Excel files, use the symbols "* .xls" (for excel format 2003) or "* .xlsx" (for Excel 2007-2010 format).

For text files created using the Notepad application, enter "* .txt" in the search box.

Video. To search for video files, enter the video file extension in the search bar. The most popular extensions: "* .avi", "*. Mp4", "* .mpeg", "* .wmv", "* .3gp", "* .mov", "* .flv", "*. Swf ". You can find out the file extension by right-clicking on it and selecting Properties from the context menu, where its extension will be indicated in the File type line.

Audio. The most popular audio file format used on computers is MP3, and to search for them, you need to enter the characters "* .mp3" in the string.

Images and photographs. To search for pictures in the search bar, enter the most commonly used extensions of such files "* .jpg", "*. Jpeg", "* .png", "* .bmp", "* .tiff", "* .gif".

How to find a file in a large list of already found files

It often happens that the attributes of a file are unknown, or only one is known, and it is very uninformative. For example, we know that the document was created last year. However, over the past year, a huge number of documents have been created, stored in different places. It often does not seem realistic to view and check a huge number of files found based on one attribute.

To find the desired file in the list of already found files, you can use several filters at the same time, setting and changing each of them in the search process as needed. Each time a new filter is added, the selection will be repeated already in the list of found files, reducing the processing time and the number of results, which greatly simplifies the search for the very desired file.

How to find a file by content

As a rule, Windows 7 searches for files by the content of the query in the file name, and not in the text that the file contains. To find the file with the desired word in its text, and not in the name, you need to make simple settings.

Let's say the task is to find a document among 500 files with the word "Shovel" in its content. To do this, on the control panel, click "Organize" and select in the drop-down menu, select the line "Search folder options".

It is worth noting that a search with this parameter will take a longer time, and when the need to search through content is no longer needed, this option should be disabled.

How to save search terms

It often happens that files need to be searched frequently, the same search conditions are used for this, and there are several of these conditions. In order not to waste time each time entering the same search parameters, the list of these conditions can be saved.

To do this, you need to set the search conditions, wait for the results to be displayed, and upon its completion, click on the "Save search conditions" on the control panel, and in the window that opens, enter the file name for a repeated query, for example, "JULY 2013".

Later, when the saved set of search conditions is needed again, the desired shortcut can always be selected in Explorer and the Favorites folder under the saved name.

How to clear search terms

By clicking on the cross at the end of the search line, you can clear the previously entered information and filter conditions that were used for the search, and the line will become empty.

Having tried searching in Windows 7 several times, you can see in practice that it is practical, lightweight and fast. Now you know how to search for files in Windows 7.