Desktop Search Tools

Copernic Desktop Search allows you to instantly find files, emails, images, multimedia and more, that are located on your PC (not the Internet). It creates an initial index of your hard drive and provides an attractive and easy to use search interface that returns results instantly, as soon as you type in your keyword. It provides image thumbnails for picture matches, integrated preview with keyword highlighting and more. Copernic Desktop Search can also (optionally) index your web surfing history, as well as Contacts and Favorites. A very nice and easy to use tool to find files on your computer.

Windows Live Toolbar (formerly MSN Search Toolbar) adds desktop search capabilities and enhanced browsing and security features to Windows. It indexes your files and emails and allows you to quickly search for files by simply typing a keyword,. The toolbar integrates with Internet Explorer, as well as your desktop, where it provides instant search results from the taskbar. The results include image thumbnails, and document previews and can be further filtered by document type (some document types such as PDF and Office require free add-ins). Additional features (you can select which to install) include form filling, popup blocking, anti-phishing, address lookup (maps) and more.

DK Finder is a desktop search tool that indexes selected drives and folders and returns instant results for keyword searches. You can search for file names and also for keywords contained within the files. The program uses a smart indexing algorithm that can be configured to only scan files that have been modified recently, thereby reducing the time needed to update your index database. You can sort and/or filter the results by file name and content, mark individual results and export them to text or CSV format. Other features include extensive keyboard shortcuts, automatic index updates after file operations, group operations, configurable open/view/edit options, advanced filtering, folder exclusions, and more.

DupKiller helps you find duplicate files on your computer, that may be scattered across multiple folders or hard drives. It scans all selected drives, and presents you with a list of duplicates, organized in individual groups, and you can decide which files to delete. The standard scan process which considers the file size, date and name for a match is very fast and will accurately detect most duplicate files. For increased accuracy, you can choose content matching, which will take longer but is highly reliable since it compares duplicate files byte by byte. The program offers a modern interface and a variety of options to exclude files, preview image files, filter files by size and more.

Google Desktop brings the power of Googles search capabilities to your local computer. The program runs on your PC and maintains an index of your files, documents and even email messages - it supports Outlook, Outlook Express, MS Word, Excel, as well as text files and web surfing history. You can customize the indexing and choose which items to include, and also exclude specific documents or paths. To start searching, you just type your keyword in the browser based interface (runs locally, not on the web), and it returns lightning fast results of all items that match your search. Clicking on any of the search results, will open the file with the default application, or in case of email provide you with a text overview and reply options. The Google Desktop interface is similar to the online Google search, and can optionally be integrated with online search results.

Agent Ransack is a very powerful and easy to use tool for finding files and information on your hard drive fast and efficiently. You can search for file names or text in files with support for Regular expressions. When searching the contents of files Agent Ransack displays and highlights the actual text segments found in a separate window so you can quickly browse the results without having to open each file! The program features several wizards that can help you if you are not familiar with the use of Regular Expressions. Agent Ransack integrates into the Windows Find menu, so it is readily available to be used instead of the common Windows search dialog. The program also includes a very detailed help file.

Duplicate File Finder is a simple, but effective tool to locate duplicate files in one or more selected search paths. It scans the files and compares them based on Byte for Byte Comparison, which ensures 100% accuracy. You can then choose to delete the selected duplicate or original files. The program is multi threaded and performs scans quickly.

Heatsoft Clone Cleaner Lite enables you to find and delete duplicate files with the same name, same size or same content. It can search multiple folders simultaneously and offers filtering by name, size and date. In addition, a smart marking feature lets you keep files in specified folders and remove their duplicate versions from other locations. An optional Pro version is available with support for multiple drives, folder exclusion and some other features.

Harddisk Search and Stats is a file and disk search engine for your PC, that scans your drives or folders for files that contain one or more specified keywords. It then presents you with a list of files found, as well as statistics for keyword occurrence in each file and more. You can open the file and the built-in viewer can jump directly to the first location of the keyword. Features include recursive searches, file extension filters, wildcard support. The program supports all ASCII/text-based file types, and does not require any installation.

neoSearch indexes your computer and provides almost instant search results for file queries. Just type in the first few letters of the file name and view the best matches or hit Enter for a detailed search report. You can include/exclude drives and folder paths from the indexing process and automatically have the program update the index on a regular basis. Other features include support for ID3 tags, keyboard shortcuts and access via tray icon.

Instant File Name Search (IFNS) is an easy to use search tool that allows you to find files on your computer instantly. After an initial scan, it maintains an index of all the files on your computer or LAN and and allows you to search them by name, partial name or wildcards. It offers additional support for Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), database management with an option to maintain multiple database files. You can choose to exclude or include selected files, folders or extensions to further speed up the search and reduce the size of the database.

GlobalFind is a file search and replace tool that allows you to find files that contain a specific keyword, and optionally replace the keyword with another. The program supports search for extended characters by using a special query string, but other than that offers mostly basic features. You can search within the results and also save the results to a file.

DNKA acts as a web server that allows access to Google Desktop Search (GDS) from across the Internet or local network. It provides built-in security and will reject all connections unless they originate from approved IP addresses. In addition, you can also require a username and password to access the GDS interface, and add folders to the Google indexing. When a user connects to DNKA, he will see the standard GDS interface and can search the files on your computer and optionally download them as well. (Note: The Google Desktop Search is not designed to be accessed from outside your computer. You should be very careful as to who you allow access to your files). Should be used by advanced users only.

FileBolter is a file search with some unique features. Similar to the standard Windows `Find` feature, it allows you to define filters for the files that you are looking for; the filtering options include directory conditions, file masks, file date and file context. In addition, to these standard search options, it also offers a plugin that lets you find specific images (landscape, portrait, custom sizes and more), as well as a graphical context search designer, that lets you built advanced context searches with a combination of boolean operators(little complicated to use). You can save the list of found files, search within the results and create custom bolters (developers) and more.

Seeker is a search and replace tool that enables you to search and replace text within files that match your criteria. The program offers an easy to understand interface with basic options that allow you to filter target files by name, size and date. The text replacement is limited to simple one-line words or phrases (not suitable for larger text blocks), but supports regular expressions for those that are familiar with the concept. The program lacks a backup or Undo option, so be careful and backup your file manually. The results can be presented in 3 different report styles.

eXpress FreshFiles Finder is a small utility that allows you to quickly find the last modified (freshest) files in a given directory, with optional sub-directories. You can also limit the number of files to list, and copy the name(s) and path(s) to the clipboard.