Author Topic: New program: FileSearchy - Quick file search utility (freeware) (Read 62893 times)

Cashper · « **on:** November 22, 2013, 04:40 AM »

Hi, all!

I would like to announce my new software: FileSearchy.
Program homepage: http://www.filesearchy.com/
Download URL: http://www.filesearc...load/filesearchy.exe

Key features:

Instant search by file name.
Search by file file contents, size and date.
Supports search inside PDF, Office and other documents (e.g. PDF, RTF, DOC, XLS, PPT, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX etc).
Highlights found text in file names and contents.
Clean and intuitive multi-tabbed user interface.

Please let me know what do you think of it.
This is a first release and a beta, so might have a lot of bugs. Please let me know of them.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #1 on:** November 22, 2013, 07:10 AM »

Sounds perfect, and doesn't require any runtime crap, but... Why is it triggering a UAC prompt? That strikes me as rather bad form for something that shouldn't need admin rights.

Cashper · « **Reply #2 on:** November 22, 2013, 07:23 AM »

It needs an access to MFT and NTFS change journal in order to read and maintain list of all files.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #3 on:** November 22, 2013, 07:37 AM »

It needs an access to MFT and NTFS change journal in order to read and maintain list of all files.
-Cashper (November 22, 2013, 07:23 AM)

Hm... Well I imagine that could be a dicey hair to split, but the requirement does rather hamper the programs usage in user land on business networks where most people don't have access to an admin account.

Cashper · « **Reply #4 on:** November 22, 2013, 07:56 AM »

I hope that most Windows users do have admin rights.
As for non-admin users, technically it is possible to bypass UAC, for example, by installing a service (permissions are needed only on install in this case).
But it will not take into account file permissions and will search through all files.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #5 on:** November 22, 2013, 08:26 AM »

I hope that most Windows users do have admin rights.
-Cashper (November 22, 2013, 07:56 AM)

That unfortunately does not align with industry trends/best practices which have been gaining momentum over the last decade. Even Administrators for the past several years are urged to avoid engaging day-to-day activities with administrative rights because of the massive amount of risk involved in one small slipup taking down a corporate network.

As for non-admin users, technically it is possible to bypass UAC, for example, by installing a service (permissions are needed only on install in this case).
But it will not take into account file permissions and will search through all files.
-Cashper (November 22, 2013, 07:56 AM)

Speaking as an Admin...if one of the users came to me with that as a request ... I would probably set them on fire.

Is there a possibility of mode switching the application so that it could be started in a lower performance but still user (level) account accessible state? IIRC this can be don't with an at launch runtime prompt so it wouldn't (/shouldn't) require requiring the user to deal with hotkeys or command line switches. Perhaps a quick rights test and then a dialog prompt appears if/as necessary.

It would go a long way towards making the application business network friendly.

Cashper · « **Reply #6 on:** November 22, 2013, 09:02 AM »

Is there a possibility of mode switching the application so that it could be started in a lower performance but still user (level) account accessible state? IIRC this can be don't with an at launch runtime prompt so it wouldn't (/shouldn't) require requiring the user to deal with hotkeys or command line switches. Perhaps a quick rights test and then a dialog prompt appears if/as necessary.

It would go a long way towards making the application business network friendly.
-Stoic Joker (November 22, 2013, 08:26 AM)

Yes, this is possible. I will probably add this possibility in future versions. Thanks for your input!

rgdot · « **Reply #7 on:** November 22, 2013, 01:00 PM »

Thanks for this, writing a brief review.
The In directory browse button doesn't actually browser for a folder but individual files on XP

MilesAhead · « **Reply #8 on:** November 22, 2013, 01:13 PM »

Hmm, I wonder if it's that Everything Search either doesn't use the journal or doesn't search contents that enables it to run without the UAC trigger. I thought I had it set to Run As Administrator but I just checked and it's not.

It definitely uses the MFTs to get the index.

4wd · « **Reply #9 on:** November 22, 2013, 04:48 PM »

Hmm, I wonder if it's that Everything Search either doesn't use the journal or doesn't search contents that enables it to run without the UAC trigger. I thought I had it set to Run As Administrator but I just checked and it's not.

It definitely uses the MFTs to get the index.
-MilesAhead (November 22, 2013, 01:13 PM)

Latest versions, (1.3.1.636b+), install a service, (if necessary), so the interface doesn't need to run with admin privileges.

Wednesday, 20 February 2013: Version 1.3.1.636b
   added %APPDATA% option
   added Everything service option
   added search history option
...

MilesAhead · « **Reply #10 on:** November 23, 2013, 10:17 AM »

I reverted to ES 1.2.x as the beta kept hanging until the index was rebuilt. I looked in Services applet and didn't see anything. Also they say on W8 forum that if an autostart program needs to be run as admin, it won't do it without UAC prompt. They create a scheduled task to get around it. I have UAC set to show me no notices or whatever the lowest setting is. I thought it would be better than W7 but it seems to be worse. Programs in Program Files folder can't even create files in their own folder without being run as Admin. Really annoying.

Of course running as a service just runs as System to bypass all the bs.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #11 on:** November 23, 2013, 12:54 PM »

Programs in Program Files folder can't even create files in their own folder without being run as Admin. Really annoying.
-MilesAhead (November 23, 2013, 10:17 AM)

Even if you reset the permissions on the program's directory? I've had to do that in the past with some legacy applications (in a pinch), and it always resolved the issue. But I haven't tried it on a Win8 machine yet ... So you're saying it still won't work without nagging you? ...That does suck.

-----------------------------------------///-------------------------------------------------------------

But scampering back closer to the assigned topic...

...I've been using Xteq's X-Find for years to do this kind of thing, but it hasn't been updated for years. So I've been toying with looking for an alternative application (hence my interest here), but it has to be something I can use in a quick-N-dirty fashion when dealing with client networks that may or may not have access to the fancy hat account for a variety of reasons.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #12 on:** November 23, 2013, 02:55 PM »

You have to do the take ownership thing or whatever. W8 is a lot bitchier than W7. Also it has that secure boot crap. If you want to boot a CD say Partition Wizard, you have to boot into BIOS, turn secure boot off, then boot the CD, then after you do whatever from the CD, you then enable the secure boot again. I leave secure boot on just because I can't make backup images. 3.5" HDs are too heavy to carry around.

I hope it does prevent rootkits because it is a PITA.

dr_andus · « **Reply #13 on:** November 28, 2013, 06:32 AM »

Nice. Thanks for posting this. I like the relevance bar. However, I miss the ability to rank the search results by relevance (the way it's possible in DocFetcher for instance). I need to search for terms in the contents of 1300 PDF files (ebooks and articles), and going through e.g. 500 results is time-consuming.

highend01 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 28, 2013, 06:50 AM »

Not bad Cashper!

Looks nice, finding files is really instant.
I would install it on 10 notebooks but there are only limited user accounts available.
So the only way atm is to create a task that runs with highest privileges but I do not
want it to popup automatically so could you please add an option to just display it's
tray icon instead of the full gui?

Cashper · « **Reply #15 on:** November 28, 2013, 07:08 AM »

Not bad Cashper!

Looks nice, finding files is really instant.
I would install it on 10 notebooks but there are only limited user accounts available.
So the only way atm is to create a task that runs with highest privileges but I do not
want it to popup automatically so could you please add an option to just display it's
tray icon instead of the full gui?

-highend01 (November 28, 2013, 06:50 AM)

Thanks for your message! I am currently implementing ability to run without admin permissions and will provide a new version shortly.
I already implemented bypassing UAC prompt on accounts that have admin permissions.
You can run FileSearchy without full gui even in v0.9 using the following command line: "FileSearchy.exe -minimize".

Cashper · « **Reply #16 on:** November 28, 2013, 07:24 AM »

Nice. Thanks for posting this. I like the relevance bar. However, I miss the ability to rank the search results by relevance (the way it's possible in DocFetcher for instance). I need to search for terms in the contents of 1300 PDF files (ebooks and articles), and going through e.g. 500 results is time-consuming.
-dr_andus (November 28, 2013, 06:32 AM)

Thanks, sort by relevance seems very useful.
I've taken a look at DocFetcher, it seems that it gives a higher score based on number of matches and size of the document. Do you find the ranking in DocFetcher really useful?

dr_andus · « **Reply #17 on:** November 28, 2013, 08:28 AM »

Do you find the ranking in DocFetcher really useful?
-Cashper (November 28, 2013, 07:24 AM)

I have only just looked at it today. It doesn't seem to be all that accurate, as I get radically different (i.e. more relevant) results when I search my PDF library for the same search term with PDF-Xchange Viewer Pro. So it's not so much about the way DocFetcher does it. It's more about the idea of being able to sort the results by relevance (even Copernic Desktop Search doesn't seem to be able to do that) by clicking on a column. PDF-Xchange Viewer Pro doesn't seem to be able to rank by relevance either.

P.S. Agent Ransack doesn't seem to have a relevance ranking either, though it compensates for it somewhat by only showing the relevant paragraphs, which is kind of clever, and by making it easy to move from one document to the next using the arrows.

rjbull · « **Reply #18 on:** December 01, 2013, 04:36 PM »

it has to be something I can use in a quick-N-dirty fashion when dealing with client networks that may or may not have access to the fancy hat account for a variety of reasons.
-Stoic Joker (November 23, 2013, 12:54 PM)

Would Nir Sofer's SearchMyFiles do enough for you?

Cashper · « **Reply #19 on:** December 03, 2013, 01:36 AM »

I've published new beta v 0.91.
Important changes:
1) Now it is possible to launch program without admin permissions. The program will work slower in this case - it will not use indexing, and that means that instant search by name will not be available.
2) Application skips UAC by creating a task in task scheduler.
3) Security improvement: When launching a program from FileSearchy, it is launched without elevation (and prompts UAC).

stewcam · « **Reply #20 on:** December 10, 2013, 01:27 AM »

I am running this from a USB stick for the purpose of finding files on my 32 Gb stick. It makes a very nice portable app.

Cashper · « **Reply #21 on:** December 13, 2013, 03:34 PM »

Hi all,

Released v0.92 beta today with few fixes.
Any more feedback?
Do you think it is stable enough to remove "beta" label?

stewcam · « **Reply #22 on:** December 13, 2013, 07:01 PM »

I have found it stable. It would be nice to have an additional option to exclude certain folders (plus subfolders) from indexing.

Cashper · « **Reply #23 on:** December 15, 2013, 07:45 AM »

Hi stewcam,
What folders do you want to exclude from indexing and why?

stewcam · « **Reply #24 on:** December 18, 2013, 07:11 AM »

I have several directories on my USB stick with a large amount of files (tens of thousands) that are of no relevance for indexing purposes. These include my email client (which stores attachments as numbered files) and some reference apps (which store their data in numbered HTML files).