Search engines are no longer content with beingcontained to the web. They want your desktop,too. If you've always wanted the power of asearch engine inside your computer, desktopsearch applications were made just for you.
Many of the major search engines have createddesktop search applications that can helpyou to find anything on your computer fasterthen you can say "uncle." And I do mean anything.>From text files to email and images, it canfind it all. Imagine no longer saying "now wheredid I put that file?" You can search thousandsof files with a click.
The best part is they won't cost you a dime andif you've ever spent hours searching through oldemails for a specific message, these apps will now do that for you too. That is, as longas you use Outlook or Outlook Express.
The major players in this arena are:
1) Google Desktop: http://desktop.google.com/
Search your computer's files, audio, video, imagesand emails, and even the Web. You can preview the search results in a mini-viewer before deciding to open it.
When you first download this program it needs to scan your hard drive for all files. It can take quite a bit of time for this initial index, but rest assured it's just the first time. Afterwardsit updates itself periodically in the background as needed.
2) MSN Toolbar: http://toolbar.msn.com
Find messages, email, photos, music and data files on your system quickly. You decide what is and isn'tindexed, with capability to index over 200 file types.Like Google's application, it will need to index yoursystem when first installed (which can take several hours), but it does give you the option to pause itif needed.
One drawback to this one is you'll have to downloadMicrosoft's Toolbar to get it; it's a package deal.It also gives you the ability to preview files.Includes a pop up blocker for your surfing pleasureand other cool gadgets.
3) Ask Jeeves: http://sp.ask.com/docs/desktop/
Enter a phrase or keyword and it quickly finds all files or email housed on your system matching the search term. Free to download but must be run on Win 2000 or WinXP.
4) Yahoo Desktop Search: http://desktop.yahoo.com
Requires WinXP or Win 2000. Search for more then 200file types. Also has a built-in previewer so you can peek without opening the documents that it finds. Search for email and attachments, search Yahoo, evenMessenger archives, PDF files and Web pages and wordprocessing docs. It even has the ability to save your favorite searches and allows you to customize and setindexing options.
If you've been wanting an easy way to find files on yourcomputer, you've got to download one of these powerfulsoftware applications. Why spend hours and get frustrated searching manually when you can have a powerful searchengine do the work for you?
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