Local volume search engine?

I'm looking for a search engine for a local PC/hard drive that can search and index in a similar manner to. I'm aware of the indexing service, but it seems only accessable via a MMC template. Ideally, it would be free (open source an extra plus), and be fully capiable of searching contents/keywords for most all com ...

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2172 Posts
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I'm looking for a search engine for a local PC/hard drive that can search and index in a similar manner to Lookout.
 
I'm aware of the indexing service, but it seems only accessable via a MMC template.
 
Ideally, it would be free (open source an extra plus), and be fully capiable of searching contents/keywords for most all common document files, such as Excel, Word, Adobe PDF, etc.
 
TIA!

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1547 Posts
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I wish I knew of something besides the Indexing service
 
BTW - what you want to do sounds a lot like what Microsoft envisions for their Longhorn release don't you think ?!?

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I've used Grep before, and I really like it, but do you know if it creates an index or catalog so that future searches would be faster?
 
Thanks for the input so far, too

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2172 Posts
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If you can query by filename, partial filename, or file type, then Ava Find looks really nice.
 
It's partially freeware, there are some features that will timeout after 30 days, but it looks like a good application. On c|net download.com, it has a 93% positive rating, for what that's worth.
 
Only downside, it does *not* search for strings inside of files.

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Hate to keep "bumping" my thread, but it looks as though I've found the perfect FREE solution:
 
Filehand!
 
Indexes, searches with the following filetypes: doc, xls, ppt, wpd, txt, html, pdf, mp3, Outlook 2000-2003 items, etc.
 
The search for the perfect search is over!

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2172 Posts
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May as well add here that Google has released a beta version of their Google Desktop Search.
 
Supported files:
 
Outlook / Outlook Express
Word
AOL Instant Messenger (prior conversations)
Excel
Internet Explorer (history, cached pages, etc.)
PowerPoint
Text
 
Again, once this product matures, it will likely be the best, at least until a SQL-based FS becomes a reality...?
 

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3867 Posts
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The email search works, need to read up on how it does what it does.