Search Engines: Desktops Wanted
Search engines are no longer content with being
contained to the web. They want your desktop,
too. If you've always wanted the power of a
search engine inside your computer, desktop
search applications were made just for you. Many of the major search engines have created
desktop search applications that can help
you to find anything on your computer faster
then you can say "uncle." And I do mean anything.
>From text files to email and images, it can
find it all. Imagine no longer saying "now where
did I put that file?" You can search thousands
of files with a click. The best part is they won't cost you a dime and
if you've ever spent hours searching through old
emails for a specific message, these apps
will now do that for you too. That is, as long
as you use Outlook or Outlook Express. The major players in this arena are: 1) Google Desktop: http://desktop.google.com/ Search your computer's files, audio, video, images
and emails, and even the Web. You can preview the
search results in a mini-viewer before deciding
to open it. When you first download this program it needs to
scan your hard drive for all files. It can take
quite a bit of time for this initial index, but
rest assured it's just the first time. Afterwards
it updates itself periodically in the background
as needed. 2) MSN Toolbar: http://toolbar.msn.com Find messages, email, photos, music and data files
on your system quickly. You decide what is and isn't
indexed, with capability to index over 200 file types.
Like Google's application, it will need to index your
system when first installed (which can take several
hours), but it does give you the option to pause it
if needed. One drawback to this one is you'll have to download
Microsoft's Toolbar to get it; it's a package deal.
It also gives you the ability to preview files.
Includes a pop up blocker for your surfing pleasure
and other cool gadgets. 3) Ask Jeeves: http://sp.ask.com/docs/desktop/ Enter a phrase or keyword and it quickly finds all
files or email housed on your system matching the
search term. Free to download but must be run on Win
2000 or WinXP. 4) Yahoo Desktop Search: http://desktop.yahoo.com Requires WinXP or Win 2000. Search for more then 200
file types. Also has a built-in previewer so you can
peek without opening the documents that it finds.
Search for email and attachments, search Yahoo, even
Messenger archives, PDF files and Web pages and word
processing docs. It even has the ability to save your
favorite searches and allows you to customize and set
indexing options. If you've been wanting an easy way to find files on your
computer, you've got to download one of these powerful
software applications. Why spend hours and get frustrated
searching manually when you can have a powerful search
engine do the work for you?
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