Faster than FileLocator searches

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Faster than FileLocator searches

NSM

10 posts

Wannabe Geek
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#221411 10-Aug-2017 03:49

Does anyone know of a desktop search tool that is faster than FileLocator Lite? All my files are on an SSD, and my searches definitely stalling because of I/O-blockage. Before upgrading to FileLocator Pro (that indexes files so subsequent searches are faster), I wanted to know what everyone else is using.

I use FileLocator because it can search through binary files and extract text in many different charsets. It’s also dead-useful for digging through my huge pile of notes and code snippets.

Windows Desktop Search is entirely unsuitable for locating files. What other alternatives are out there?

Ramjet007

320 posts

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#1843142 10-Aug-2017 05:04

Played with Ultrasearch http://www.jam-software.com/ultrasearch/ it does the job.

timmmay

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#1843158 10-Aug-2017 07:39

Everything Search does lighting fast searches by filename, but doesn't look at contents at all. It won't suit your needs, but others who read the thread might find it useful.

Ultrasearch recommended above seems to be a filename search as well, rather than a contents search.

ANglEAUT

altered-ego
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#1843171 10-Aug-2017 08:22

? Save everything into OneNote or Evernote and use their search functionality ?

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

raytaylor

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#1845447 11-Aug-2017 23:28

timmmay:

Everything Search does lighting fast searches by filename, but doesn't look at contents at all. It won't suit your needs, but others who read the thread might find it useful.

Ultrasearch recommended above seems to be a filename search as well, rather than a contents search.

"Everything" is as good as the windows 95/98 search applet, but so much faster.

The file search built into windows xp or newer is just crap at trying to find *documentname*.doc*

Ray Taylor

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SepticSceptic

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#1846469 14-Aug-2017 16:02

Lookeen Desktop search. You would need to specify that you want to index BIN files.

It's free for non-outlook mail use.

edwinov

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#1860059 7-Sep-2017 00:15

Agent Ransack

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NSM

10 posts

Wannabe Geek
Inactive user

#1860062 7-Sep-2017 00:42

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Ramjet007:

Played with Ultrasearch http://www.jam-software.com/ultrasearch/ it does the job.

Not multithreaded and also doesn’t maintain any sort of cache or index. I can’t imagine it would be any faster than FileLocator.

IcI:

? Save everything into OneNote or Evernote and use their search functionality ?

This would limit me to text only, and I’d use a solution hosted on other people’s computers instead of a local search service.

SepticSceptic:

Lookeen Desktop search. You would need to specify that you want to index BIN files.

I gave it a go, but Lookeen has no understanding of binary files. It can’t parse text stored with different character encodings, for example. It’s also quite a bit slower (talking 10+ seconds slower) than FileLocator when searching for a string stored in a text file when limited to searching within single directory.

edwinov:

Agent Ransack

Agent Ransack is FileLocator. It’s the same program under different names.