June 5th, 2008
Fixing Windows Vista, Part 5: Faster, smarter search
In previous installments of this series, I discussed the virtues of a clean Vista install, some useful User Account Control workarounds, top tools for troubleshooting, and the wisdom of shutting off Windows system services. Today’s fifth and final installment is a little different from its predecessors, in that it focuses not so much on fixing what might be broken, but rather on taking advantage of a feature in Windows Vista that has the potential to transform the way you work.
Through the years, I’ve tried just about every third-party desktop search utility for Windows. But I threw them all away after a few weeks of using Vista’s built-in Windows Search capability. In this post, I’ll explain how Windows Search works, how to monitor the SearchIndexer service to avoid potential performance problems, and how to speed up indexing operations on the fly.
First, an overview of how Windows Search works. By default, the Windows Search service runs on every Vista installation, maintaining an index of data files, music and pictures, e-mail messages and contact information (for supported programs), shortcuts to installed programs, and Internet favorites and your web-browsing history. The index is limited to the contents of specific folders and subfolders (you can customize this list), and the extent of indexing is controlled by file types. Virtually all files have their file properties (name, date, size, and so on) indexed; in addition, specific file types that have matching iFilters installed have their full contents included in the index.
You can use the index from just about anywhere:
- Click Start and begin typing in the Search box. A categorized subset of results appears in the Start menu, and you can click Search Everywhere to see a more complete list in a Windows Explorer window
- Press Windows logo key+F to open the Search dialog box and begin constructing an advanced search
- Enter some text in the Search box in the top right corner of any Windows Explorer window
- Enter some text in the Search box in the top right corner of any Vista common dialog box (not available in older applications)
- Open the Searches folder in your user profile (using the Favorite Links bar in Windows Explorer) and execute a saved search.
Search is especially useful in Control Panel, were you can find a direct link to any task using the search box. You can also search for e-mail messages and contacts directly from Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, or Outlook 2007, all of which use the same index.
In Windows Explorer, the search results are returned almost instantaneously, after which you can sort, group, and filter them. You can also save a search so that you can perform the same search later without having to re-create its parameters.
In my experience, Windows Search works well on any system that runs Windows Vista. If you haven’t done so already, I strongly recommend that you download and install the Windows Search 4.0 update, which was released earlier this week. It’s available for all 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 (you can also download updates for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Home Server).
I’ve been running a preview version of the Windows Search 4.0 update since its release in March and can attest to its reliability. The update improves indexing speed and also adds support for indexing encrypted files. My favorite feature, though, is its support for using indexes on networked computers. If you have a shared folder on a networked computer (XP, Vista, or a Windows Server product), you can run a search using the search box in Windows Explorer and the results will use the index on the remote computer to give you instant results.
Page 2: Managing search performance –>
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Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 06/05/08
