MREZ.biz

Using Window’s XP Search Tool To Find A File Or Folder

Do you find yourself sometimes looking for a file you created and you can’t remember where you saved it? Are you looking for a file that is not where it’s supposed to be? Windows XP has your answer.

Whatever you’re trying to find, whether it is on your computer, on your network, or on the Internet, Search Companion helps you find it faster. It maintains an index of all the files on your computer, and it lets you search for specific criteria such as the type and size of a file. You can find a file based on when you last worked on it, or search for files containing specific text.

To search in Search Companion
Click Start, and then click Search.

Choose whether to look for:

Pictures, music, or video
Documents ( this will show you all Office documents )
All files and folders ( most common choice, and allows you to specify a file name )
Computers or people
Information in the Help and Support Center
Information on the Internet
Click on the type of search you want and Click Search

If using the All files and folders option, you may use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard if you don’t remember the whole file name.

Eg.) You are looking for a Word document; you know the first three letters of the filename are “mut”. If you type mut*.doc and start the search….it will return all Word documents beginning with “mut”. The same for files that begin with numbers…0068*.doc will return all Word documents beginning with 0068. Type mut*.xls to get all Excel files that begin with “mut” .

Now, suppose you are not sure the file you want is a Word document or in Excel…you can use the same wildcard a little differently. Type mut*.* and start the search. It will return ALL files and folders that begin with “mut” .

To clear the search criteria fields and begin a new search, click Clear All. If you get too many results, try using additional search criteria to make your search more specific.
Using the Search tool will help you find that file fast and keep you from possibly retyping a document just because you filed it incorrectly.