Agent Ransack 2010 freeware lightweight - Desktop Search

[dantheman]

Although the latest Copernic Desktop freeware version has greatly improved, i really like this long awaited update to Agent Ransack by MythicSoft. It's just lightweight and beautiful! 

[mydexter]

This is cool..Thanks for sharing..

[dantheman]

My pleasure mydexter!

What's nice about this program is the fact that you don't have to index your system and it does the job quite fast. Choosing specific folders to look into helps even more.

[Innuendo]

This has always been a very solid application, but updates have always been few and far between.

Thanks to the OP for bringing the new update to our attention! I'll have to check it out on my next day off.

[kartal]

I own FileLocator pro from them and it is a really nice search tool. I even use it under Linux under Wine

[sajman99]

Wow, an update to Agent Ransack! This is indeed a rare event.

Thanks for telling, dantheman.

[dantheman]

Indeed, i was quite surprised myself.

An excellent job!

[beethoven]

I had a look at the site but find the info rather thin 

How does it work? Does it just look for the file names or can you search for text inside the files? Does it allow for search across networked drives?

I am using Copernic (the old version 1.7) which works very well for me. The later versions did not allow for networked drives or had other issues. I am curious to know if Agent Ransack improves on that but the website does not provide enough info.

[Darwin]

Beethoven - Agent Ransack doesn't index your files, so it works in a very different way from Copernic. It will (likely) search much more slowly and will find fewer "hits" in comparison to a file indexer.

[davolente]

Haven't tried Ransack but have been using a free dead-simple and extremely fast searcher called "Everything" for a while from www.voidtools.com
Does what it says on the tin. Have tried others but they slowed the PC down.

[joiwind]

Try this too : Index your files, as the name suggests this one does index your files but you can schedule that for during the night or whatever, and when it has indexed them then the search speed even for searches within files is really quite impressive.

(I am not affiliated with IYF)

[sajman99]

Try this too : Index your files, as the name suggests this one does index your files but you can schedule that for during the night or whatever, and when it has indexed them then the search speed even for searches within files is really quite impressive.

(I am not affiliated with IYF)

+1 for this portable search tool. The most recent version of Index Your Files can now display original (ie. native windows) icons. Previously the non-native icons always bothered me.

But indexing during the night? Whoa, I have to go check my settings! I've never had it take longer than 3 minutes to index all my drives.

Regarding Agent Ransack, some folks don't need or want an indexer always running, consuming memory, and thrashing away at their HD. Particularly if you don't search inside files very often, Agent Ransack is a very solid solution. Unless you have old hardware, Ransack is amazingly fast even though it's a real-time search.

[jojo99]

Try this too : Index your files, as the name suggests this one does index your files but you can schedule that for during the night or whatever, and when it has indexed them then the search speed even for searches within files is really quite impressive.

(I am not affiliated with IYF)

I replaced the last free version of XI with IYF.  Does what I need it to do and uses a lot less resources than X1.

If you use IE Favorites (I use these in both IE & FF), there is a nice little search program here:

http://www.carthagosoft.net/ff.htm

I also use Agent Ransack.  Where I find it useful is to quickly search a specific folder because AR puts an entry in the right-click menu.

AR can also search across all files on all drives.  So for instance, using the DATE tab, you could find all new .exe or .dll files that have been created after some time.

And AR can search for CONTENT inside a file also.

[redstarnyc]

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but given the infrequent updates I'm a little wary of AR.  I'd love to hear some counter-arguments.

[MilesAhead]

I just installed this when I noticed a mention on Gizmo's site.  Haven't used it yet but it looks like a nice tool to have.  For a long time I used Locate32 but I found the method it used to be advised of file system changes provoked the OS into scanning all the files on the chosen drives.  It took me awhile to find the cause.  For that reason I switched to Everything.

But if you are on an older version of Windows locate32 can still be a useful tool, or run it without the file system update option enabled.

I have Windows indexing off so I'm glad to get an alternative type tool.  The name doesn't inspire confidence though.  Anytime I noticed this software I thought "what a name for a malware... like it Ransacks your system!!"  Paranoia inducing product name.  Not exactly great marketing.  Kind of like the "Last Uninstaller."  Makes me think it will be the "last" because my system won't work after I uninstall something with it!!

[SKA]

Well MilesAhead

This author is ahead of you ,so to speak <grin>
He offers same product by another more palatable name: FileLocatorLite(free):
http://www.mythicsoft.com/page.aspx?type=filelocatorlite&page=home

Go for it !
SKA

[MilesAhead]

Yeah, I already have it on.  I just remember the name as one of those with built in deterrent value.

edit: maybe instead of the usual "Lite" in the name it should be called Diet Disaster since some people will consume anything if it's "diet."

[sajman99]

For those who are not familiar with Agent Ransack, this small article by Ian "Gizmo" Richards  provides a nice overview:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/free-replacement-windows-search.htm

Bottom Line-- he installed AR on his personal laptop.

[clean]

I'd like to add some details:

Agent Ransack / File Locator Light takes, on my system, about 2 minutes for finding things in a folder with several hundred files with more than 1 GB altogether. This is a very long time, from a subjective pov.

But then, I've got hundreds of outliner files that can NOT be searched by the major search tools, and even for Ultra Recall users, AR/FLL/FLPro (which for 39 bucks adds some more Boolean functionality, etc.) is of high interest since UR doesn't have multi-file search (because their philosophy is, "have it all in one big file", and there, search is top-notch).

It even searches for accented characters that are encoded in the form \'ep or \'aj, i.e. if I need to find files with such characters, I enter the term hélène in this form h\'efl\'edne (just an example) in File Locator (you could do this by macro automatically replacing special chars in your search terms), and it will not only really find these files (no wrong "hits", no overlooked occurences, as far as I can tell after some years of use)

but it will also give you the respective contexts of the terms found (multiple for a file if there are multiple hits).

Thus: For normal usage, a "real", indexing, search tool, like X1, is certainly best. But have a look at File Locator whenever you have special needs, it could save your day.

In general, if you have special files to search, don't read the "covered file formats" lists of the different progs, but download all of the available tools and trial them one by one, for / with your special files: Often, the developers themselves do not know what file formats their tools do recognize by accident.

[cyberdiva]

There's been some mention of Everything, but Everything is quite different from Ransack/FileLocator Lite/Pro.  I have both Everything and FileLocatorPro on my computer.  I love Everything and use it almost every day.  However, it can only search for file or folder names--it doesn't search their contents.  So if I just want to find where I put a particular file, or whether program X is on my computer, Everything is marvellous.  But if I don't remember the filename, or I'm not interested in the filename but rather in the content, FileLocatorPro is terrific.  It doesn't take up time and resources indexing, and its searches can be exquisitely fine-tuned.  Though it can take a long time, I'm at times pleasantly surprised at how fast it finds what I'm looking for.

[tomos]

I see they're very generous and allow commercial use of the Lite version

if I just want to find where I put a particular file, or whether program X is on my computer, Everything is marvellous.  But if I don't remember the filename, or I'm not interested in the filename but rather in the content, FileLocatorPro is terrific.  It doesn't take up time and resources indexing, and its searches can be exquisitely fine-tuned.  Though it can take a long time, I'm at times pleasantly surprised at how fast it finds what I'm looking for.

did you use the free version first cyberdiva?
just wondering do you remember what prompted you to get the pro version?

This seems like a biggie (just in pro version):

More precision with enhanced Boolean expressions
supporting NEAR, LIKE, wildcards and sub expressions

Comparision page:
http://www.mythicsoft.com/page.aspx?page=features&type=filelocatorlite

And if you came across any weak points in your use of it (thanks!)
[edit] apologies - it sounds like I'm asking for a mini review! I'm not btw - I'm just curious [/edit]

(I've always wanted to get a decent 'full' search app but I would use it relatively little so it didnt really justify the investment. And I never got around to installing any of the free ones - but also kept hearing stories that put me off them.)

[cyberdiva]

did you use the free version first cyberdiva?
just wondering do you remember what prompted you to get the pro version?

This seems like a biggie (just in pro version):

More precision with enhanced Boolean expressions
supporting NEAR, LIKE, wildcards and sub expressions

Comparision page:
http://www.mythicsoft.com/page.aspx?page=features&type=filelocatorlite

And if you came across any weak points in your use of it (thanks!)

Yes, I did start with the free version.  I think the enhanced search capabilities of the Pro version appealed to me, though I think when I made the switch the differences between the two versions may have been more pronounced than they are now.   As for weaknesses, the only weakness I've noticed--and it applies to both the Pro and the Lite versions--is that both are at times substantially slower than search programs that index one's files.  But I never found an indexing search engine that I liked as much as I like FileLocatorPro (or Lite).  For me, the indexing programs had several drawbacks.  Often, they included only a limited number of file extensions.  Also, I wasn't delighted with having an indexing program always running.  Some allowed me to turn the indexing off and index only when I asked them to, but that resulted in there being files they knew nothing about.  Also, in at least one case, the index was humongous. 

I still have one indexing search program on my computer, an old copy of Yahoo Desktop Search, which indexes only when I tell it to.  However, I rarely use it.  I find my needs are well met by Everything and FileLocatorPro. 

[Tinman57]

I still have one indexing search program on my computer, an old copy of Yahoo Desktop Search, which indexes only when I tell it to.  However, I rarely use it.  I find my needs are well met by Everything and FileLocatorPro.

  I turned off all indexing services on my computer and search software and it runs much faster.  In the long run, unless you do massive searches everyday (ie; searching the whole drive instead of folders), indexing will take up more of your time than the occasional search without indexing.
  BTW, I've been using Agent Ransack for years now.  Much faster than the OS search with a lot more search options and easier to use....