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I face this problem almost everyday when I work with ton of data. Sometimes I could not remember where I put my file and folder. Day after day the data increase, and the primary problem is finding what I need when I need it. Sometimes I feel that it is easier to find information online rather than in our own PC. Luckily, now our PC is equipped with search tools that make our drives accessible with no hassle.

Let’s take a look on what tools that can make your PC search friendly. And, you need to know how to optimize it for faster search.

In Windows Vista
If you need comprehensive searching tool, this is one reason why you should consider changing to Windows Vista. In Windows Vista, the search function is almost everywhere; Start Menu, Windows Explorer, Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer and etcetera.

This feature called by Microsoft as Instant Search. That’s mean Instant Search will gives you result almost in real time.

Open the Start Menu, type the first few letters of a program or file you are searching, and while typing the search result will appear the names of the programs and files that Vista thinks you are looking for.

Vista comes with comprehensive indexing service that runs in background almost every time since you first install the operating system. Instant Search not just indexes names of program and files but also the contents of files, email and visited web pages. Basically it is similar to Internet search engine and just about as effective.

In Windows XP
Earlier versions of Windows do not have Instant Search. In XP, user must using search option in the Start Menu or pressing Windows key plus F (Windows + F = Find). It will take much longer and searching must be specified with file name.

Microsoft then comes out with Windows Desktop Search (www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch) to Windows XP users. By using this tool you can speed up your search.

Latest version of WDS, 3.0.1 is designed for Win XP SP2, Win Server 2003 and Win XP 64-bit.

Other tools

Google’s Desktop Search (http://desktop.google.com) and Yahoo! Desktop Search (http://desktop.yahoo.com) still on top and they support Linux and Mac. Most important they give it for free.