Becoming a Windows Search Ninja - “Mastering Windows Search using Advanced Query Syntax”

ars technica - Mastering Windows Search using Advanced Query Syntax

“Search has become an integral part of Windows, particularly in later versions. While the major search improvements began with Windows Vista and were backported to Windows XP, it's really only with Windows 7 that the larger majority of users are discovering the search bar all over in the operating system. Search is built into every aspect of Windows 7 to help users cope with the increasingly rapidly growing number of files, be they work documents and e-mails, personal photos and videos, or music collections.

Many users perform searches without thinking nowadays: it's an ingrained habit of using the operating system. Like many habits, this one is worth breaking in order to to develop an even better one. Here we take a quick look at a few basic search techniques and a few more advanced ones. Force yourself to use them and you'll soon become a master of Windows Search. A bit of extra time now will save you loads of effort in the long run.

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Windows Search is one of those things I use a little allot, but rarely in depth, which I find ironic. I can’t live without the full text indexing of my email, which has also changed how I store and use email, let alone the power Windows Search provides in Win7, yet my searching is still very basic and primitive.

The next time I search, I need to try some of these things out…

Must… Become… Search… Ninja!