Tools better than Windows Search - what are you using?

[lfm]

Start menu is rather off compared to using desktop folders IMO.
On XP desktop folder could be really compact and smooth as you opened them.
I never had to open any Start Menu in XP, all was organized on desktop what I needed to reach.
Compact small with just icons and border around, not entire Explorer with navigation.

Since Windows Vista/7/8 a desktop folder is an instance of Explorer and also follow some settings last used in Explorer, not what that folder you did wants. So if last having navigation pane on in Explorer, that also happends on all desktop folders and making those occupy a lot more space than necessary.

I tried using Stardock Fences for a bit but did not quite resemble XP handling.

Since people have so different taste in how to organize solution would be to make things configurable. But they removed that for desktop folders, they follow last used Explorer instance to a large degree.

Desktop folders follow view style, icons and details etc, but that is it.

I found many posts on forums all over regarding this, yet MS decided to keep this Start Menu to get organized.

You have an entire desktop, why not use it????
- no limit on any number to pin there
- and you do nested folders as well as needed


I did a handful requests on Feedback to MS over desktop folders and how they work today.

Anybody missing them XP style, do the same, please. MS might listen in the end.
I find desktop perfect place to get organized. And the compact nice style of XP was way better and not open a complete lump covering entire desktop each time opened.

[Ex Machina]

Windows 11 Start Menu is such a massive improvement over the dead on arrival Windows Phone-inspired "live tiles" design featured in Windows 8 and 10.

How so? It's f**king useless. If you want to, you can make Win 10 exactly like Win 11 but with Win 11, you are stuck with something that is completely non-customisible so if it doesn't work for you, you're f**ked.

You have got to be the biggest crybaby on KVR (if not the entire Internet). Just spend the $6.00 and buy Start11 from Stardock:

https://www.stardock.com/products/start11/



Using Start11, you can configure the Windows 11 Start Menu in almost any way you like including adding stupid ass tiles if that's what floats your boat.

I find it amusing that you claim "billions of data points" are what led Microsoft to design that horrendous Windows 8 Start Menu and not the fact that Microsoft was idiotically trying to mimic a stupid phone OS on the desktop. I swear, Microsoft is where creativity goes to die.

Well, what do you suppose Microsoft relied on when designing the Windows 11 Start Menu? Even more data points indicating that the Windows 8/10 Start Menu was an abomination.

[ThomasHelzle]

OpenShell is free and works great for me, even in parallel to Windows 11 start menu.
For when I want that old style list of everything installed...

[legendCNCD]

Everything. It just works.

[BONES]

You have got to be the biggest crybaby on KVR (if not the entire Internet). Just spend the $6.00 and buy Start11 from Stardock

I already have it. I just thought I would give Win 11 a chance to prove itself on my new machine. All it's proved is that it is worthless to me.

I find it amusing that you claim "billions of data points" are what led Microsoft to design that horrendous Windows 8 Start Menu and not the fact that Microsoft was idiotically trying to mimic a stupid phone OS on the desktop.

Except that wasn't it at all. The Metro design language was first used on ZuneHD, which is easily the most intuitive thing I have ever used. It's so easy to work with that you initially find yourself trying to overcomplicate things, thinking it couldn't possibly be so stupidly easy. The one stupid decision they took was to remove the Start button from the Taskbar, which only happened in the final beta before release. That one dumb decision cost Microsoft billions and ensured everyone's first impression of Win 8 was terrible.

I swear, Microsoft is where creativity goes to die.

Right, which is why their second gen AR headset is already 4 years old, just as Apple are finally talking about their own half-arsed first version, brimming with features Microsoft successfully implemented last decade, that still won't be available until next year. That puts them 8 years behind Microsoft.

Well, what do you suppose Microsoft relied on when designing the Windows 11 Start Menu? Even more data points indicating that the Windows 8/10 Start Menu was an abomination.

I imagine so but I have not read anything about it, so I can't be certain. What will be more interesting, though, is to see how long it lasts.

[bagpipe200]

The Everything search tool is fantastic. I was having a problem on Windows 11 where trying to search in a File Explorer would hang with the little icon just spinning forever. The Everything tool works like a charm. Heres a link in case anyone is interested:

https://www.voidtools.com/

[camsr]

I am having problems in windows search, in the file explorer window. I search for a string in a text file (actually a .lua file) and it will not find the matching file. All the settings in file explorer were correct for this. Is it broken!?

[camsr]

edit: it is not searching within .lua files for text, however it does return results within .html files.

[camsr]

Holy shit, windows 10 search is so f**king bad.

[GaryG]

At work we have some systems that generate folders with literally hundreds of thousands of files (think some have reached a million...) Literally takes minutes for Explorer to list them (often hangs) and lawd forbid you ever change the sort order... And, as we're quite locked down for security reasons, can only use approved tools, have to be open source etc... Had a mild existential crisis when I saw tools like Everything, a glimpse of what could be.....

[liquidsound]

At work we have some systems that generate folders with literally hundreds of thousands of files (think some have reached a million...) Literally takes minutes for Explorer to list them (often hangs) and lawd forbid you ever change the sort order... And, as we're quite locked down for security reasons, can only use approved tools, have to be open source etc... Had a mild existential crisis when I saw tools like Everything, a glimpse of what could be.....

Yes. As I mentioned previously, it goes through around 9 million+ files (after being indexed) as I type a search string in a fraction of a second!

[sjm]

I am having problems in windows search, in the file explorer window. I search for a string in a text file (actually a .lua file) and it will not find the matching file. All the settings in file explorer were correct for this. Is it broken!?

It is broken in that indexing is only enabled for certain file types by default. You can set it all up if you want to, but the whole indexing process is painfully slow and inefficient. I can't remember the details of how you set this all up though, you'll have to use your favourite search engine for details on configuring the Windows search index. On my old machine, I think I completely disabled the whole search indexing because of how useless the functionality is.

You are probably better off just looking for a tool that works OOTB and that can search file contents.

[lfm]

I think all tools listed in this thread are superior to windows search and indexing.

Trying to make windows as efficient as it could be I went through
- going through every file extension and uncheck those I never would want in search result anyway. 90% I had no clue what they are even.
- extensions left, I modified to never search content, just file attributes

But it failed so often anyway, and restricted it seems in which characters in file name are indexed. Had about 100 000 files indexed. But it worked for the most part until 2-3 months ago with an update.

And now I am glad they did, now I found way better tools and always find what I need.

This change to have one search field and always search files that match, and also search content of those active for content is just wrong thinking.It takes much longer to search content too, and if that is not intended just a waste of time.

XP had separate search field for content, simple for search engine never bother search content with empty content field. Best built-in search engine IMO. It sometimes took minutes but results were reliable.

My fav still is Ultrasearch, and has separate field to search content or simply don't activate and show that field. It warned that no engine installed to search Office files first time, which is ok since I only have OpenOffice, but a link to Microsoft for a filter pack to install if you need it.

But Everything is good too, just less of a gui and missing some good headers like Length of files for the result list. So a notch below Ultrasearch for me.

[GaryG]

Yes. As I mentioned previously, it goes through around 9 million+ files (after being indexed) as I type a search string in a fraction of a second!

First time I tried it on my home machine I pointed it at my music drive (300GB of audio files) and sat back to wait for it to finish then realised it had...

[Karbon L. Forms]

But Everything is good too, just less of a gui and missing some good headers like Length of files for the result list. So a notch below Ultrasearch for me.

Audio and Video Length is right there in available columns.
You can search with "Length:>3:30" and suchlike.

ev.png

Unless I'm misunderstanding you.