Better desktop searching tools - any recommendations?

S

Ship69

Registered
Hello

This risks being heretical, but have any of you folks found a really good desktop search tool - i.e. to search your own hard disk?

For searching email and document file contents, for a number of years now, I have been using 'X1 Search' (from x1.com). Basically it spiders all your data and then does some blisteringly fast searching (as fast as you can type - in theory!).

However although X1 Search allows you to do very specific very fast searching, it's development seems to be becoming 'dead in the water'. For many months we have been promised a new version complete with hotkeys, but still nothing. Worse, I am starting to use Evernote for storage of raw / 'non actionable' data and X1 Search does not seem to be able to spider & search Evernote notes.

Likewise 'Everything' (from VoidTools.com) is blisteringly fast for searching file names - I have yet to find anything that comes close - however development for it too seems to have stopped. It has some quirks, bugs and wrinkles and so at some point I should probably ditch it too.

Any recommendations?

J
 
devon.marie

devon.marie

Registered
Are you on a Windows computer or a Mac? Mac has many great tools (the built-in Spotlight, Alfred) but I'm not currently aware of any for Windows.
 
M98Ranger

M98Ranger

Registered
I have a really good one for windows....the best...and it is opensource...it is a program called "Everything".....I usually install it on most of the hundreds of computers that I set up for customers over the years (I have a computer business)... Although I am pretty sure you can get the exe from 'www.sourceforge.net'....(by googling something like 'everything sourceforge.net download' ...without the quotes).....or do what I do ...go to www.ninite.com....scroll down the list of programs to check and just check the checkbox next to the "Everything" program (it happens to be the second to last program of like a hundred programs there). After checking that program then scroll down a little lower and you will see a big (blue button...it used to be green), that says, "GET YOUR NINITE"....click it and run the exe

It autoinstalls it on your system and doesn't install any bloatware (i wouldn't do that to people).....figure out how to run it by typing in something like "Everything youtube" and or "How to set up Everything Youtube" or "How to set up Everything, Youtube" and watch quick videos on how to use it....it really is one of the best if not the best for windows search.
 
S

Ship69

Registered
M98Ranger said:
I have a really good one for windows....the best...and it is opensource...it is a program called "Everything".....I usually install it on most of the hundreds of computers that I set up for customers over the years (I have a computer business)... Although I am pretty sure you can get the exe from 'www.sourceforge.net'....(by googling something like 'everything sourceforge.net download' ...without the quotes).....or do what I do ...go to www.ninite.com....scroll down the list of programs to check and just check the checkbox next to the "Everything" program (it happens to be the second to last program of like a hundred programs there). After checking that program then scroll down a little lower and you will see a big (blue button...it used to be green), that says, "GET YOUR NINITE"....click it and run the exe

It autoinstalls it on your system and doesn't install any bloatware (i wouldn't do that to people).....figure out how to run it by typing in something like "Everything youtube" and or "How to set up Everything Youtube" or "How to set up Everything, Youtube" and watch quick videos on how to use it....it really is one of the best if not the best for windows search.
Click to expand...

Do you mean "Everything" from VoidTools?
https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/

If so yes it's utterly brilliant as far as it goes. However it only searches file NAMES and not file contents. Also very sadly last time I looked development had completely stopped.

Aside: I do find it plain weird how developers can build things that are so utterly brilliant widely downloaded and then almost deliberately fail to make any money out of them. Surely Everything is crying out for a Freemium version. (Likewise the very simple but useful Scapple...but I digress)
 
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