I know it’s in here somewhere.

How to find almost anything on your Windows computer in less time than it took you to read this slide

© 2010 Marcia Riefer Johnstonmarcia_r_johnston@me.com

What’s a desktop search engine?

A search engine that helps you find files on your…

… desktop?

…whole computer and attached or mapped drives

What are some examples?

Windows Search Google Desktop

Dozens more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines#Desktop_search_engines

What do they do?

They “make searching your computer as easy as searching the web.”http://desktop.google.com/features.html

“The closest I'll get to a search engine for my brain." http://desktop.google.com/testimonials.html

Who needs them?

Not you

…if you always instantly find what you’re looking for.

How do they find things so quickly?

They index (comb through) your files when your system is idle.

Windows Searchrunning in the background

Google Desktop running in the background

What can they find?

Files & folders A gazillion file types – full text indexing of each document (not just the file name).

E-mail Outlook and Outlook Express.

Files & folders Ditto + search deleted (cached) files to retrieve “lost” text.

E-mail Ditto + search other e-mail clients.

Web historySearch viewed (cached) web pages, even when you’re offline.

Windows Search Google Desktop

How does Google Desktop work?

Your search returns appear.

Enter text.

cp50

It brings up previews of image files.

What are these gazillion file types that it finds?

What was that about the cache?Cache = a small, fast computer memory, which stores copies of the data from the most recently used main memory locations.

“The cool part [about Google Desktop] is that you have the Google cache local on your computer. So, if you need some info from a file that you accessed on the network when you were connected [or from a file that you deleted or from a web page that you viewed when you were online], you may be able to get that info from your cache.”www.techlifeweb.com/google/desktop_tips.html

Testimonial

“At a meeting, I took notes in Notepad. When I re-docked my laptop, every change in the Notepad file was gone – vanished. I have never seen this behavior before. I was able to locate the files with the changes quickly using the Google tool. The sinking feeling turned to joy.”

How easy is it to narrow a search?

How do I get Google Desktop?

http://desktop.google.com

Is this thing part of Google Desktop?

Google “gadgets” sidebar

It might show up by default. You can turn it off.

How do I include Lotus Notes in searches?

Google Desktop for Enterprisehttp://desktop.google.com/enterprise

Defuse arguments in a single click!

• E-mail• Calendar• Local databases

What do search results look like for Lotus Notes items?

Windows Search Google Desktop for Enterprise

How do I get Google Desktop Enterprise?

http://desktop.google.com/enterprise/index.html

• Uninstall any previous version of Google Desktop.• Close Notes before installing. • Search works on local replicas only; won’t find e-mail on the server.

Tip: Change this option.By default, when you press Enter, Google Desktop searches the, um, Web. You’ll want to change that.

1. In the system tray, double-click this icon.

2. Click Options.

3. Select Search Desktop.

What are the drawbacks to desktop search engines?

Indexing slows some computers down.

Index takes up space.

Can’t do wildcard searches (which catch typos).

Can’t preview EPS files.

partia*

Takeaway: Powerful search tools are out there.

This could be youinstantly finding the item you’re looking for.