search by file type....and other ways I could search in XP

uh, thanks Tim but HOW?

"Tim" wrote:

> MBW wrote:
> > In XP, I could perform a search for a specific file type, like .doc for Word
> > documents. Can I do this in Vista?
> Yes.
>
> Tim
>

ext: .doc

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/addresources/advanced.mspx


"MBW" <MBW DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F0ED5D5C-9EF5-4BCC-9772-0498348CDD9E@microsoft.com...
> In XP, I could perform a search for a specific file type, like .doc for
> Word
> documents. Can I do this in Vista?

Dave,
Thanks for the help, but when I follow the link, it's showing me a lot of
syntax for a command line search.
In XP, in Windows Explorer, you could search by a file type by selecting
from a list of all the types available. The list included the icon for the
file type.
This was really easy (except it took a while to load all the file types into
the list). It was find/click/search.
It still seems that that capability is not in Vista.
If that is truly the case, then so be it, but if it's there (or something
equally easy) I'd like to find it. I used this approach a LOT in the past.

MBW

Press the WINKEY+F keys to bring up the search window. At the top/right,
click Advanced Search.

In the Location drop down menu, select a drive or click the Choose Locations
and select where you want to perform the search. In the Name box, type
*.doc and click the Search Button.

When you are finished, if this is a search in a location that you use often,
you can save this search. Click the Save Search button, enter a name for the
search and choose a location. The default location is:
C:\Users\username\Searches.

The next time you open this saved search, it will automatically refresh and
the search will be instantaneous and complete by the time the search window
opens.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"MBW" <MBW DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:05063E9D-B335-4516-9578-87A5D6F1688A@microsoft.com...
> Dave,
> Thanks for the help, but when I follow the link, it's showing me a lot of
> syntax for a command line search.
> In XP, in Windows Explorer, you could search by a file type by selecting
> from a list of all the types available. The list included the icon for
> the
> file type.
> This was really easy (except it took a while to load all the file types
> into
> the list). It was find/click/search.
> It still seems that that capability is not in Vista.
> If that is truly the case, then so be it, but if it's there (or something
> equally easy) I'd like to find it. I used this approach a LOT in the
> past.

Nah, it doesn't work like XP...

You can have it only show search results for certain file types: e-mail,
document, Pictures, or Music files
And if you turn on Advanced Search, then you can filter on date & size...


"MBW" <MBW.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:05063E9D-B335-4516-9578-87A5D6F1688A@microsoft.com...
> Dave,
> Thanks for the help, but when I follow the link, it's showing me a lot of
> syntax for a command line search.
> In XP, in Windows Explorer, you could search by a file type by selecting
> from a list of all the types available. The list included the icon for
> the
> file type.
> This was really easy (except it took a while to load all the file types
> into
> the list). It was find/click/search.
> It still seems that that capability is not in Vista.
> If that is truly the case, then so be it, but if it's there (or something
> equally easy) I'd like to find it. I used this approach a LOT in the
> past.

MBW wrote:
> uh, thanks Tim but HOW?
>
> "Tim" wrote:
>
>> MBW wrote:
>>> In XP, I could perform a search for a specific file type, like .doc for Word
>>> documents. Can I do this in Vista?
>> Yes.
>>
>> Tim
>>

Hey...did I not answer *all* of the questions you posted?

Tim

On Wed, 8 Aug 2007 05:18:07 -0700, MBW <MBW RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:

> In XP, I could perform a search for a specific file type, like .doc for Word
> documents. Can I do this in Vista?


Sure. Just search for *.doc

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Let it be known from the outset that I am trying very hard to back off from an almost overwhelming desire to flame some of the posters on this thread - recognizing, of course, that the utility of their posts is limited by what appear to me to be some inherent limitations in pissta. I found this thread because I was having some of the same problems as MBW but found that the questions MBW asked were not answered to my satisfaction and also found that another weakness of pissta file search was not addressed at all. None of my questions below are rhetorical. That is, if it has a question mark at the end, I'm actually looking for an answer, not just trying to make a point.

First of two issues:
Ronnie Vernon and Ken Blake: Suppose I'm looking for an excel file, but I don't know what extension excel uses because I've selected "Hide extensions for known file types" in 'Tools, Folder Options, View' (which, I believe, is the default) This is a specific example of the more general problem that your advice to use *.[extension] fails to address, but that XP handles with aplomb.

How do I find (using a method that approximates the simplicity of XP in this regard) a file in pissta that I do know what program it is associated with, but I don't know what its extension is?

I do this with great ease in XP. There is likely more than one workaround (including, but not limited to, scrapping pissta and going back to XP). It's not as if I'm expecting pissta to do back flips here! If memory serves me, this feature was available 95, 98, 98SE, and XP.

What is the reason micros**t allowed a user searching for a file to choose a file type via a drop down box (complete with icons for their respective file types) in XP, but doesn't include a feature to choose a file type when searching in pissta?

How can I select or create this feature in pissta?

Second of two issues:
I have a thumb drive with less than 5,000 total files on it. On this thumb drive I have a file named f1040a.pdf. (For the record, I actually found that file by sticking my thumb drive into an XP machine and using the search function there.) The file is not hidden, nor is it in a system folder. When I search my entire thumb drive (not just an index) in pissta, using the search string "1040" (a string that works splendidly in XP, by the way), I get no results: "No items match your search." Apparently, in order for pissta to find the file, the search string I enter must begin with the character the filename begins with. For example, the search string "f1" will find f1040a.pdf, but the search string "1040a.pdf" won't. XP works like a charm with any and all of the three search strings I've mentioned here.

I'll admit right up front that I may be missing something and that there is a very sound reason why XP file search is more powerful and useful (at least in terms of the issues I've brought up here) than that of pissta, but I have yet to find anyone who can supply a cogent reason for that. Oh, and for what it's worth, all of the search capabilities of XP that I've mentioned here (and then some) I've been able to discover and master just by piddling around, and not by searching the internets for an answer, or buying a book to tell me how to do it, or buying a third party add on.

Now, to tie both issues together, here is a modification of a question I asked above:

How do I find (using a method that approximates the simplicity of XP in this regard) a file in pissta that I do know what program it is associated with, but I don't know what its extension is and I can only remember three or four consecutive letters in the filename (not including the first letter)?

(This search scenario is not particularly unusual, in my experience.)

What is the reason micros**t allowed a user to, for instance, find f1040a.pdf in XP just by entering the search string "1040", but that same search string yields no results in pissta?

Or, should I just get a Mac? (OK. THAT question was rhetorical...)
I hope no one felt flamed...aside from a few examples of porr spelling...

Leverett