Vista file search : how to locate groups of files

Hairy Scot · Nov 27, 2007

In XP there were various search options to help locate groups of files.
For example: one option was to find all video files (AVI MPG etc).
It appears that Vista does not have this type of search option, or that I cannot find it.
Anyone know of a way round this, or perhaps where the options are hidden?

Dzomlija · Nov 27, 2007

Hairy Scot said:
In XP there were various search options to help locate groups of files. For example: one option was to find all video files (AVI MPG etc). It appears that Vista does not have this type of search option, or that I cannot find it. Anyone know of a way round this, or perhaps where the options are hidden?

I've always thought it odd that search doesn't have an automatic filter to show Video files, but perhaps this little workaround will do the trick:

Initiate your search using criteria that you know will return some Video results
In the result window, hover your mouse over right-hand part the header for "Type". You should see a drop-down arrow appear. Click this arrow.
Wait for Vista to "Compute Filters". Place a check mark in the appropriate video file types to filter down the results to show only videos.

This screenshot shows what I mean:

This will incedentally work also for other type of searches!

Vista file search : how to locate groups of files

Hairy Scot

My Computer

System One

Dzomlija

Resistance is Futile

My Computer

System One