# "Search programs and files" doesn't work **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162 "2016-04-26T05:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/1 "2016-04-26T05:30:34Z")
What do I do about this? I keep legal files on my computer; the lawyer asks me to pull up a specific file and I wind up having to scroll down through the _entire list_ because the Search feature doesn’t function. Is there a way I can reactivate it? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/2 "2016-04-26T05:43:12Z")
What operating system are you running? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/3 "2016-04-26T06:31:46Z")
Also, are you searching for files by name, or content? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/4 "2016-04-26T14:24:22Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > What operating system are you running? Windows 7. And I’m looking for the name–the client’s name is usually the first word in the file name. ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/5 "2016-04-26T20:58:20Z")
Even when Win.7 search is active, it is pretty lame. Download and run the free utility: Agent Ransack. Basic searches are pretty intuitive, and it has some really advanced functions. I couldn’t do my job without it. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/6 "2016-04-26T21:52:11Z")
Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/7 "2016-04-28T17:28:57Z")
Agent Ransack seems somewhat fastidious. I set it to search in C:\Users\Doug\My Documents and got a dialog box that said I had given it the wrong directions–or words to that effect. I didn’t know it was so particular about phrasing… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/8 "2016-04-28T20:49:09Z")
Go to Control Panel -\> Indexing Options. (Switch Control Panel to “View by: small icons” if you can’t immediately find it.) Once you have the “Indexing Options” dialog box open, make sure the folders you keep the data are in the list of “included options.” By default the “Users” folder should be there, and most people keep the data in a sub-folder under Users, so it should be fine. If you use a non-standard folder for data, add that to the list. If that’s in order and search isn’t working, click on “Advanced,” and click on “Rebuild.” Windows won’t rebuilt the index immediately, but it’ll do it when the computer is idle. It can take hours. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/9 "2016-04-29T00:05:29Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Go to Control Panel -\> Indexing Options. (Switch Control Panel to “View by: small icons” if you can’t immediately find it.) > > Once you have the “Indexing Options” dialog box open, make sure the folders you keep the data are in the list of “included options.” By default the “Users” folder should be there, and most people keep the data in a sub-folder under Users, so it should be fine. If you use a non-standard folder for data, add that to the list. > > If that’s in order and search isn’t working, click on “Advanced,” and click on “Rebuild.” Windows won’t rebuilt the index immediately, but it’ll do it when the computer is idle. It can take hours. Thanks. I’ll try that. ---
**Author:** ![Chickenwrangler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chickenwrangler/32/91_2.png) [@Chickenwrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenwrangler)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/10 "2016-04-29T08:00:55Z")
A great little free program called “Search Everything” that does a much better search:- [http://www.voidtools.com/](http://www.voidtools.com/) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/11 "2016-04-29T14:26:05Z")
OK, I’ll try that, too. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-programs-and-files-doesnt-work/753162/12 "2016-04-29T18:49:06Z")
Hey! Thanks! This works much better than Agent Ransack! No protocol, no index required. Found what I wanted immediately. Perfect! 🙂