Vista - Windows Search doesn't work!

It just doesn't work.
I have a simple text file with a certain word in it.
I try to find this text file, but vista won't find it.
Windows 2000, linked by network, finds it within a second.
I have tried all available options.
"include non-indexed"
"always search file names and contents"
"find partial matches"
"include subfolders"
etc
etc

It just doesn't work.
Why is there not a simple search function that actually works like in
windows2000?

I am using Vista Ultimate 64 bit.
But not having a working search function doesn't look that "ultimate" to me.

Please don't tell me i have to install google desktop to do a simple file
search in Vista!

I've got the same problem with Vista Home Premium. No matter how I phrase
the sought item, "Search" never finds anything ("No Items Match Your Search",
when I KNOW they do). The XP and earlier search function was much easier to
use and never failed to find what I wanted.

After 9 months with Vista I feel like the whole thing is crumbling around
me. It will no longer accept Windows updates etc from WindowsInstaller ("Not
Enough Storage is Available to Process this Command"). Windows Media Center
is a total mess--it can't find any of the music or videos on my computer.
Even worse, there doesn't seem to be any way to repair Vista short of doing a
complete reinstall and Microsoft doesn't seem inclined to offer much help.
Even if they did, I couldn't install it! ARGGGHHH!

All those "if you started this action, do you want to continue" messages are
starting to grate and, heck, even the Screen Savers are boring compared to
XP. Is it possible to downgrade back without losing everything. I'd even go
back to Windows ME and that was total crap.

After years of defending Microsoft, maybe a MAC is in my future.







"tvds" wrote:

Hi tvds and CPCIC,

You can disable the Index and let Vista default to doing nothing but non-indexed full searches. This should get you accurate search results.

Index - Enable or Disable

Shawn

It's terrible! Search doesn't find anything (I have vista 32 ultimate). It's frustrating...really frustrating. I hope disabling the index will work.
And I hope there is a way to go back to XP...i've had enough trouble with Vista.

After disabling the index feature, I was able to eventually get some type of
response from the Vista search. The frustrating thing now is that it seems
I have to tell it exactly WHERE to search for it to find the item. Logic
would seem to say that if I already know where to search then I don't need to
do a search. I've given up on using Vista to find anything. I've moved on
to Google Desktop. I'm just learning how to use it but it does seem to find
what I'm looking for. Oh for the good old days of XP!




"kkendall" wrote:

Hi kkendall,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

Take a look at this to see if it can help you get better search results.

Advanced Search

Shawn

I use x64 business - but I only stick with it because I have a windows 2000 machine networked to it that I can use for searching.
I keep hoping a service pack or update will fix it.
The 2000 machines finds the files I want very nicely. Vista is just pathetic - and for this reason alone I've told many people to steer clear of it.

"You can disable the Index and let Vista default to doing nothing but non-indexed full searches. This should get you accurate search results."

I only want non-indexed full searches - I'm more interested in getting accurate results than sheer speed. I have a suspicion that microsoft just doesn't understand this problem and they think it's a 'user training' issue.
Various posts I've seen seem to be telling people how to use the search interface. I think the problem is more than people just not knowing what buttons to click.
(though that does rather suggest that Microsoft's user interface is plain awful)
The original poster is spot on with "It just doesn't work".

Thanks for the sugestion Brink, but i already tried all the options in that
link.

But still no luck.

Vista just doesn't find this file.

"Brink" wrote:

I just found this topic when I was googling for a solution to this. I can't get it to work either, but I assumed I was missing something until I read this. It just doesn't work, I've got files in folders that I know contain content, and the search comes up empty every time. I've tried searching non-indexed content and it doesn't make any difference. This isn't like some obscure feature misbehaving itself, it's a key part of Vista and it doesn't work at all.