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What is the currently best Desktop Search software?
Armando:
I had been looking around at desktop searches since my copy of X1 seemed to be getting slow at waking up from the tray. Then after installation of other software it refused to wake up at all. I uninstalled it completely and re-installed it (X1 Enterprise Client Version 5.6.2) , and it's brilliant, back to the way it was before. So I'm not going to bother looking elsewhere.-jamesthebod (October 30, 2007, 04:39 AM)
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did you delete your index and reindex everything?
Those who still use X1 could try this :
- pick your biggest word document (or find and download one, or create one yourself by gluing 2-3 documents together : more than 500 pages and even longer if possible)
- Pick your biggest pdf file (or find and download one : more than 500 pages please, and even longer if possible, here's one : http://www.spinbitz.net/archives/SZ_Interface%20Philosophy_0.999...ebook.pdf ).
Pick a short group of words at the end of each document. Will X1 find them ? My X1 can't, not even the betas or the new version (Archivarius can, very fast). X1 won't find words at the end of very long documents, as I've said before. But I'm ready to change my mind about it and try to reindex my drive if others tell me their X1 performs differently…
Carol Haynes:
The more I read this thread the more convinced I am that there is still scope out there for the killer app - none of the existing solutions come close to ideal in my experience.
As I've said before Outlook is my biggest bug bear. None of the apps really handle Outlook PST files well - and surely finding a missing email is one of the most common uses for this sort of search.
I have reported problems with X1 corrupting PST files but I am slowly coming to the conclusion that the fault actually lies with the Microsoft API for accessing Outlook data via Outlook. A number of apps that I have tried consistently leave PST files with 'errors' or 'minor inconsistencies' when you run SCANPST.
I don't believe they all have bugs in this respect and anyway they should only be reading from the files - how can reading a file corrupt it? It's like saying you need a pen to read a novel!
Interestingly my recent experiments with PST files haven't lost data but the repaired files are actually larger than the files with errors (it is simple to compare the original PST which SCANPST simply retains with a .BAK extension). Each time stuff is added to the end of the damaged file to make it consistent. It is almost as if Outlook can't close the file properly when other applications have finished accessing the data.
My latest frustration with with Neo Pro - an addin for Outlook that allows you to use an alternative 'workflow' (I hate that word) to normal Outlook usage - it also indexes all of the PST files in catalogues so that it can search your data really quickly. I set Neo so that it doesn't open unless I click on the toolbar icon and bam as soon as I open Neo it updates its index and the PST files involved show inconsistencies and errors.
If I don't use any other apps with Outlook then all is fine.
Anyone else experience any of this?
I am using Windows XP SP2/Outlook 2003 SP2 and Neo 3 (there is a 30 day trieal of Neo Pro and also freebie version at http://www.caelo.com/products/download.php). Would some kind soul download and try this with Outlook 2003 and then check their PST files with SCANPST after each use?
Cheers
alxwz:
Cf. the original topic, I never used any desktop search software, but have been considering it for a long time. Now I dl'd and installed both Locate32 and Copernic and while I can't say anything bad (yet) about either program's speed (or resource usage), I discovered a major problem:
Locate32 works nicely and finds results instantly (updating seems to take a long time, though, even without major changes in files in the meantime), but I can hardly see it as a "desktop search", because it doesn't index file contents (unless I'm mistaken, but I don't think so). I'd rather say that it's Windows' classic "Find" on steroids. It's nice and I'll keep it, but it's out of the "desktop search" race for me.
The problem I have is with Copernic (don't really like the interface, and inadvertedly launching a web search drives me nuts, but the core functions seem to work well); it's that it does not look for folder names. I often have the files for a topic in a folder where only the folder's name contains the keyword. The files usually have more specialized names, and the keyword is missing there. I can't (and don't want to) rename all my files to match the search engine's specifications, so I'm SOL.
From what I've read about other programs, I can't find any information about searching for folders.
Does anyone know if one of the other contenders works with folder names?
Edit - Oh, I forgot: IF I'm going to stay with Copernic for file contents (and Locate32 for file/folder names, and Lookout for complete indexing of Outlook contents, sigh), I'll probably have to pay for a license, because CDS is only "free for personal home use". Does anyone know how much they charge for a single machine, single user business license?
Armando:
From what I've read about other programs, I can't find any information about searching for folders.
Does anyone know if one of the other contenders works with folder names?
-alxwz (October 30, 2007, 04:57 PM)
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Amongst "shallow" Desktop Search software:
- Locate32 or Find an Run Robot will search folder names.
Amongst "deeper" Desktop Search software:
- X1 has a folder column which lets you directly enter folder related keywords. In terms of search customizability and features, X1 is certainly the most sophisticated.
- Exalead looks like it will allow some folder filtering too. Carol could maybe confirm.
I am using Windows XP SP2/Outlook 2003 SP2 and Neo 3 (there is a 30 day trieal of Neo Pro and also freebie version at http://www.caelo.com/products/download.php). Would some kind soul download and try this with Outlook 2003 and then check their PST files with SCANPST after each use?
Cheers
-Carol Haynes (October 30, 2007, 10:33 AM)
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I don't have the time to check this tonight, but I might try in a few days...
I must say that when I use scanpst, it will show me errors half of the time. Outlook doesn't seem to have any problems with these errors though... For now, I've decided to accept these errors as an MS feature. These PST files always have errors. AS long as they show all my data...
Have your PST files shown any signs of data corruption? Or is it just scanpst showing errors?
Dormouse:
Programs like Directory Opus and Xplorer2 have sophisticated search facilities which certainly include searching for folders.
For me desktop search is all about the deeper searching.
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