Desktop Search - A Closer Look

Dennis O'Reilly has penned a new article that will appear in the November issue of PC World Magazine which has an accounting of ten desktop search tools for your hard drive and inbox. Some of the software is well known, and not so well known.



While this is a more interesting read than the Open Sourcery's list and Amit's detailed comparison, it only accentuates the fact that everyone's view of what Desktop Search should be and how it should function are widely varied. All three had different choices for top dog in desktop search. (Btw, Amit mentions Filehand Search which was not on either of the other two lists.)



The only thing they could agree on is that Windows Search sucks and Google Desktop is an interesting novelty, albeit a hot topic garnering a lot of buzz.



Commonalities in Desktop Search

All of the software have something in common though, they do not support too many non-Window file types. If they do, it is made to order.



The fact is some of these programs leverage a portion of the Windows operating system known as the Catalog Index Server which drops a file called index.dat onto your hard-drive. The aforementioned Filehand Search states that the program will not function properly if you turn the Index Server off.



Carlos Perez says that Google Desktop uses the index.dat file to locate URLs you visit, the email you receive and send, AIM chats, your cookies and apparently everything you open with the file manager. He also has a stark warning about spyware that already exploit this file:

"Google Desktop could make it even easier to exploit, allowing for easier discovery of confidential data on your computers! Now you have to make a call. Do you trade convenience for a potentially massive privacy hole? The problem is compounded when you have no option but to use Internet Explorer, the primary entry point of most Spyware programs."

I do not hold a PHD in Computer Science, so I will take this statement with a grain of salt. I will concede however that with all the choices that we now have out there ... are any of them really that safe to use?



Faster Search using Windows Index Server

So why is it that Windows Search does not utilize this Index Server as efficiently as these programs can? Good question, of which I do not have an answer for.



But Windows does have another file search available to the user, if you look in the right place. This search is lightening quick and searches a lot more than just email and html pages.



Located in the Control Panel's Administrative Tools is the Computer Management snap-in. This snap-in allows you to configure and create custom catalogs that can be queried within the snap-in itself.



The catalog that you will want to query is located in the Computer Management snap-in under Services and Applications > Indexing Service > System. You will see the "Query the Catalog" link, which will open up your search form. I tried a couple of searches and the results were instantaneous.



Another feature is that you can create custom snap-ins that will hold your searchable catalogs. This allows an easy one-click access to your custom catalogs -- all of which you choose what gets searched and what directories will be included to be indexed.



Here is a complete guide on Creating/Configuring a Catalog for Indexing at Microsoft Support.



I am exploring this more in detail. It is not as pretty as the other alternatives, but it is just as effective. This method does give you far more control than any of the other alternatives, namely you are in control without the use of a third-party software and therefore no security issues.