Windows Search 4.0

[VirusType2]

I updated Windows XP the other day and I downloaded Windows Search 4. I had never heard of it before.

Is this thing worth having? I see it as a program that takes up 30,000KB and I will very rarely use it.

I have 2TB of HDD space and I guess I have to scan it all to archive it before I can even use it, which could take days.


I'm thinking of uninstalling it. Can anyone vouch for it being valuable to have, or on the other hand, point out flaws with it?

What I mean is, if I use it to try to find something, will it succeed? lol

 

[DEATHMASTER]

dont know, but my vista built in search finds anything instantly.

 

[VirusType2]

I just came across this,
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/technicalresources/techfaq.mspx

it should answer my questions.

Still, if anyone wants to comment that would be welcome; I'm not likely to find anything negative about it on a Microsoft web page.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

I'm using it on Vista, and it's a huge improvement to search.

It uses less CPU resources and memory than search that was in Vista (and probably way ahead of XP) and will find things very fast.

I would definitely keep it.

 

[Operational]

Vista's search is one of it's best features, if it's made it's way to XP it is definitely worth a look. For indexed locations I can get near instant search results that include looking in the filename, metadata and file contents.

The indexing probably won't take as long as you think depending upon how often your computer is on and you can always exclude drives and folders you don't need indexed. Even if indexing does take a while you'll only be using the slower non-index search the XP uses anyway (assuming you haven't enabled XP's indexing).

 

[VirusType2]

Even if indexing does take a while you'll only be using the slower non-index search the XP uses anyway (assuming you haven't enabled XP's indexing).

Not exactly sure what that means

One thing I have disabled on all my drives is indexing:

Go to [My] Computer, highlight a Hard drive and if I right click and click properties, I have this option:

"Allow Indexing Service to index this disc for fast file searching"


Going by TweakXP guides, this feature is a performance drain, so I disabled it long ago on all my HDDs.

Will this affect Windows Search 4?

Any thing to add or correct? thanks.

 

[Operational]

Not exactly sure what that means

I'm just pointing out that you have nothing to lose, that even if indexing takes forever your searches aren't going to be any slower than they are now.

Going by TweakXP guides, this feature is a performance drain, so I disabled it long ago on all my HDDs.

If the indexing works like it does on Vista it will only run when your system is idle so it shouldn't affect performance.

Will this affect Windows Search 4?

After installing the new search I'd enable it again on the hard drives you want indexed. If it works like Vista there will be more refined options in Control Panel -> Indexing Options.

 

[Asus]

It's better than google desktop.

But then again I rarely need to search for anything so I wouldn't need another program to do instant searches. The standard 'scan the drive' works fine here.