Vista - Can't search message text in XP

I recently upgraded to Windows Live Mail and XP.
I can search for messages by SUBJ, sender, etc., but can't find messages
according to content.

I pursued HELP and found this:
"If you use Windows XP, you can't search the full text in the body of your
e-mail messages unless you have Windows Desktop Search installed on your
computer."

I installed Desktop Search. Of itself, it works. But I still can't search
for message content within Live Mail.

tia for your help,
Gerry
GerryC dot [numeric one] at gmail dot com

That warning about needing Windows Desktop Search is misleading. It
applies to the "Find a Message" box that you see above the message list

But if you Edit, Find, Message (Ctrl+Shift+F), no additional software
is needed. It searches the message contents fine. However, this find
feature is substantially slower than the same feature in Outlook
Express. It can take a while before it shows any results.

--

Mike - http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/techhelp.htm



"Gerry" <nospam@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:#EFwMu#8IHA.4588@xxxxxx

When you say "of itself, it works", do you mean that you can use
Windows Desktop Search (as it was known until the penultimate
release, version 3.01) or Windows Search (as the latest version,
4.0, is called) to find search terms in the body of email messages?
If you can, then you should also be able to do it from within WLMail
using the 'Find a message' box. There have been cases where users
have claimed to be able to find search terms in the body of emails
using WDS/WS but not in WLMail; it turned out that the results found
were in fact those still sitting in their Outlook Express .dbx
files, from where they had been imported into WLMail on
installation.

It is not always easy to get WDS/WS to index the WLMail message
store (which is the prerequisite for being able to search quickly).
If you are sure it is being indexed but that Find a message is not
working, then something else is wrong. Can you confirm that you can
find a search term in a WLMail email message with WDS/WS but not
when you use Find a message? It would help to know the version of
WDS/WS you are using - if you don't know, you'll have to go to
Control panel > Add or remove programs and find it in the list. That
may tell you the version, but otherwise click on 'Click here for
support information' if it doesn't. Is your XP patched up to SP3?
--
Noel

"Michael Santovec" <michael_santovec@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uWub$gA9IHA.3336@xxxxxx

Thanks to Michael Santovec who wroteThanks! I didn't know about Ctrl-Shift-F, and it works! But I still would
like to search from that "Find a Message" box, since it offers the option of
searching in all folders (I have several) while Ctrl-Shift-F searches only
the current folder. That "Find a Message" box won't find any text although
I have Desktop Search installed.

And thanks to Noel, who wroteSorry for the lack of clarity. WDS 3.01 finds files and folders, but does
not seem to concern itself with mail messages.
This is the first I've heard about this indexing-- I find nothing on it in
HELP-- what must I do?
No. As noted above, WDS only finds files and folders, not messages.
WDS/WS you are using

3.01. I DL'd only about a month ago and I'm surprised to learn it's not the
latest version.
Yes, as of about a week ago. That made no difference to this problem.

Thanks again,
Gerry
GerryC dot [numeric one] at gmail dot com

"Gerry" <nospam@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OmqQbzL9IHA.5104@xxxxxx
It's as well at this stage to point out one thing that the WS team
seem to have ignored: WLMail messages *are* files, not bits of data
in a database like they are in Outlook and Outlook Express. So, if
WS finds files, it should find messages.
Indexing is the core feature of WS, and the reason why it's better
than, say, the inbuilt Indexing Service in XP. The program looks at
each file in indexed locations and notes its properties. Some files
have dozens of properties - a .jpg might include not only a file
name, date created, date modified, size and so on, but also details
of the camera used to take the picture, the date the picture was
taken and the size of the image. These will all be indexed by WS, so
a search for 'cameramodel:canon' should return all pictures taken
with your Canon.

In many cases, WS will also index the content of the file - this
applies chiefly to documents (.doc, .pdf, .txt, .log, for example)
and should also apply to email and newsgroup messages, which are
after all only text files. The index notes all meaningful words in
(the first megabyte or so of) the file and records them as occurring
in that file.

So, you must make sure that your Store folder - containing all your
email and newsgroup messages and contacts - is being indexed by WS.
You'll find its location by - in WLMail - going to [Tools >] OptionsWindows Explorer, you must make sure that 'Show hidden files and
folders' is selected at Control panel > Folder options > View. Do
that, and when you find it, right-click on it and select Properties.
First, clear the box called Hidden, then click Advanced and make
sure that "For fast searching, allow..." is checked. (This is
allowing the inbuilt XP indexing service to index it, which won't
hurt). OK, and then make a note of how many files are in the folder.

Now click on the WS tray icon (the magnifying glass) and select
Windows Desktop Search Options. Click Modify and use the explorer
view to find your Store folder and select it. OK your way out, click
the tray icon again and select Indexing Status. If the folder is now
being indexed, you should see some activity there, with the number
of items left to scan increasing up to something like the number of
files you noted earlier.
Windows Search 4.0 was released on 3 June. So far, I've not found
any great improvement over WDS 3.01, so I wouldn't recommend
upgrading at this stage.
I didn't suppose it would, but you never know.

Try this lot out, and if you still can't find search terms in WLMail
messages, come back and we'll instigate Plan B.
--
Noel

On Sat, 2 Aug 2008 12:28:48 -0400, Gerry wrote:
Try something else? I am using the Copernic desktop search engine, and it
has no trouble finding Windows Live Mail email messages. And WLM is not
listed in the search options with Outlook, Outlook Express, and Thunderbird.


I think Ildhund is on the right track, though. WLM stores email as .eml
files, and Copernic is finding those .eml files just fine. Maybe you need to
add the WLM message store to the WDS indexing list.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

Upgrade to Windows Search 4.0.
--
DSH
Lux et Veritas et Libertas
Vires et Honor

"N. Miller" <anonymous@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:25vfjtp3uiaw$.dlg@xxxxxx

"Gerry" <nospam@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OmqQbzL9IHA.5104@xxxxxx
As will Find Message, if you tick Include Subfolders
and search from a higher node (same as OE). ; )



Does the WS Taskbar search find them?
If not, they aren't being indexed.

....That's still not clear. WS 4.0 seems to find .nws
and .eml files under category "Everything" at least,
provided they are indexed. But may only format .nws files
if you also index Location: Outlook Express.

BTW WS 4.0 can't seem to make up its mind which are which.
E.g. *.nws and kind:OE both find some from both
sources for me and though both searches result in different
counts, *.nws NOT kind:OE results in 0 while kind:OE NOT *.nws
does result in a subset but the numbers don't add up anyway.
YMMV. ; ]


Oh. Darn. I always forget. Before searching I have to do:

<cmd_output>
E:\>sc config wsearch start= demand
[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

E:\>net start wsearch
The Windows Search service is starting.....
The Windows Search service was started successfully.
</cmd_output>

That would be another reason why WLMail's Find a message
"word wheel" wouldn't work. <eg>

Otherwise, see Noel's answer?


HTH

Robert Aldwinckle
---

On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 08:44:33 +0100, D. Spencer Hines wrote:
Actually, *I* don't need to. Copernic Desktop search finds Windows Live Mail
messages just fine, thank you.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

[Noel-- I replied direct to you, but it doesn't seem you got it.]

You wrote=================
Now click on the WS tray icon (the magnifying glass) and select
Windows Desktop Search Options. Click Modify and use the explorer
view to find your Store folder and select it. OK your way out, click
the tray icon again and select Indexing Status. If the folder is now
being indexed, you should see some activity there, with the number
of items left to scan increasing up to something like the number of
files you noted earlier.
=========================

All appropriate folders are selected. It did show some indexing activity,
but the number of items did not increase and I still don't find email
messages by text. Apparently they're still not getting indexed?

Gerry