Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

jason.donner81 reviewed v4.0 on Aug 9, 2009

I would never use the integrated windows desktop search software cause its features does not satisfy me...and it's not as fast as possible.
over that, google DS is called to be some kind of unsafe concerning your personal datas.
In our company, we use the outlook plug-in LOOKEEN for searching desktop files and outlook mails likewise. so we spare time and money...
Lookeen provides furthermore features, so it is able to search shared index in network.
the link is:
www.lookeen.net

greezt, jason

halc reviewed v4.0 on Apr 17, 2009

Good idea, bad execution:

1. Does not install/uninstall/re-install cleanly - can foul up its own settings: end result is errors in previewing indexed search hits

2. Unreliable indexing on a huge number of files / multiple filters (MS only): resets the index to zero and starts indexing again from scratch

3. All search functions disabled while indexing is in progress (cf. above)

4. Arbitrary / not user-selectable file size limit on files to be indexed (e.g. cannot index big PDF files)

5. Does not support various file types properly for full contents indexing (e.g. djvu)

6. Several usability quirks that only MS can manage - too long list to be detailed here, but one of the most important is that there are almost no user selectable settings to configure anything - just locations and file types

Very unreliable - not ready for prime time.

Will try again with Search 5.0 to see if the bugs are fixed.

roj reviewed v4.0 on Aug 1, 2008

Not ready for prime time.

Produces a MAPI2 error that is quite common if one Googles - but the solution is anything but.

Take this crap back and test more thoroughly M$ - it's just more of the same we've come to expect from you of late.
TWO stars.

belthurgp reviewed v4.0 on Jun 5, 2008

WDS has always worked for me and it's getting better with each release.

Copernic might be good, but WDS is just as good or better.

testman reviewed v4.0 on Jun 5, 2008

aszure, you are completely wrong. An earlier version is NOT installed with Office 2007 Pro (or any version of Office). What you do get is a prompt to download and install it when you launch Outlook 2007. If you say no, you just get the regular built-in search.

As for this app, pretty good. Still not sure about the interface though (Copernic looks better) but on the whole it's pretty good.

trevithick reviewed v4.0 on Jun 5, 2008

Works for me too, and you can add folders and files to your hearts content once you learn the interface. I do think the interface needs work.

Google's Desktop search wreaked havoc on Outlook 2007 until I finally uninstalled it.

I didn't like this in an earlier version, but it works well now.

outofcoffee reviewed v4.0 on Jun 4, 2008

Oh how trendy it is to knock Microsoft.

Works for me.

thezelda reviewed v4.0 on Jun 4, 2008

How is it that copernic is free and its better?

Microsoft is insane. This stuff is bunk.

EarlyMorningHours reviewed v4.0 on Jun 4, 2008

One of the (many) reasons that Vista is so terrible, slow, and buggy is because this search technology is baked right in the OS. Actually a slightly earlier version. It never ceases to amaze me how fast Microsoft is racing to the bottom and that every time I think they've found the bottom, they seem to go even lower.

If you find that you even need some sort of desktop search software at all, give Copernic Desktop Search a try. It's really an outstanding product that Microsoft and Google could learn a lot from. But honestly, I don't really think that most people even need this type of software in the first place.

aszure reviewed v4.0 on Jun 4, 2008

For the most part...worthless.

An earlier version gets installed with office 2007 pro, and I need to take great pains to make sure that none of my users installs it.

I havent found any use for this program except to turn your nice core duo into a 600mhz celeron.

F1Racer reviewed v4.0 on Jun 4, 2008

Never mind this rubbish that misses out files and folders all over the place.
Download 'Agent Ransack' and all problems are solved.

mjm01010101 reviewed v4.0 on Jun 4, 2008

I don't understand why a search indexer has to use so much cpu. These things should be background processes and should not interrupt the experience of the user. It's OK if the initial index takes a while.

In my test on older hardware (Althlon XP 2500+ with 2 gigs RAM) it took quite a bit of CPU initially on index starting up.

On my test on a more modern desktop (about a year old core2duo 6600, the indexing was nonintrusive.

The interface for search doesn't work well with the taskbar. Typing text and having it not find anything after pressing enter brings up strange error messages. If you have a vertical taskbar, you are screwed.

When I searched it ignored my Outlook Email. could find nothing. I looked through the config perhaps I'm missing something, it claims to have indexed everything.

Finally, it crashed (explorer.exe [shell], like the post below me) when I clicked on "No email found in All locations for query" in the "windows search results" Crashing = uninstalled.

Just seems very "sloppy" for all the years products like this have been available.

halc reviewed v4.0 Preview on May 12, 2008

A huge piece of steaming turd.

1. Crashes explorer.exe. Nice. Very nice. NOT.

2. Can't search with filename, wild cards, just a dummy "free text search"

3. Indexer is slooooooooooooooooow

4. Index database is corrupted often and starts from scratch! This is takes forever if one has 160 000 pdf/rtf/doc files

5. When WDS is indexing Outlook Mail search cannot be used. Ouch!

All in all, stay away from this. ANY of the alternatives is much better. Really. Any.

chrisvol reviewed v4.0 Preview on Mar 29, 2008

This program brings what is nice about the Vista search capabilities to XP. I much prefer this to google desktop. If installing this beta trashed your PC I would suggest that you had other problems present. I have installed this on four test machines of varying capabilities and configurations and have had no issues.

madmike reviewed v4.0 Preview on Mar 28, 2008

Well, I have Windows XP but am no fan of M$, this latest peice of software totally trashed my PC, had to reinstall windows completely. I long for the day when someone will write a decent OS, Microsoft obviously arent there yet..

minasinahanmetehe reviewed v4.0 Preview on Mar 28, 2008

This is not a good search program.
Why the MS bother to feed these unproductive programs for they customers, are they proud of these ? or are these coming because marketing dept want these or what?

Copernic is much better and X1 http://www.x1.com is the best (Free version for the pure PC search, i.e. when the server files are not indexed).

DatabaseBen reviewed v4.0 Preview on Mar 28, 2008

i give it a five.

works well on my laptop and beats the old fashion way of searching using the explorer.

what might help others to do is to give the program time to initially search your disks and build the required indexes. this may take up to an hour, so it is best to close all programs in the interim.

there are a couple of tips that could help. however, these are tweaks for fine tuning windows.

so, if your windows is not optimize and running flawlessly, then this program would only be an added burden to your system.

philosopher_dog reviewed v4.0 Preview on Mar 28, 2008

Garbage. A hog, unreliable, no real support. Forget it. Copernic Desktop Search (free) is the way to go. The only issue for me is that they don't support Evernote, which would be nice. Please don't say Google Desktop Search. It's better than MS, but it still only archives the first 10,000 words of a document, if it feels like it that is. Obviously MS still isn't taking searching technology that seriously or they would be putting something better together than this. Shame.

irv4oh reviewed v3.01 on Jan 10, 2008

There are unclear and unavoidable linkages to file attributes that folders/files are available for indexing and to the Windows XP Indexing Service. WDS should just replace the Indexing Service and the user-unfriendly attribute controls, but it seems to need it. Also, file attributes need to be set before you can include or exclude folders for WDS indexing. Troubleshooting is complicated (there's a weird mmc for controlling the Indexing Service, and I have no idea how this impacts WDS). At any rate, I could not get it to index all the files I wanted it to. It especially had a problem with indexing files that were encrypted with efs. Copernic Desktop Search is so much easier, that I'd rather use that even though it doesn't integrate directly into Outlook 2007.

buehler_a reviewed v3.01 on Apr 5, 2007

Bill Gates, please bring the handy Lookout back. WDS is slow, inaccurate and buggy. Lookout was fast, accurate and reliable and far the best desktop search i've ever seen. I'm close to that point were i downgrade to Office 2003 because is miss lookout.

photonboy reviewed v3.01 on Feb 25, 2007

Okay, but Copernic Desktop Search is better (and free).

trevithick reviewed v3.01 on Feb 23, 2007

I hate this program! Microsoft took an addin for Outlook called Lookout, bought them out, and then destroyed the product.

Lookout was fast, efficient, and accurate for searching from within Outlook. Now this piece of dung requires Indexing to be installed before it will even function against specific areas of your hard drive. The root of C:\ or C:\Windows for example. I don't want to use Indexing as it creates a constant hit on resources and you can hear your hard drive working constantly. Even with Indexing enabled, it would not save settings and would frequently not find files that are easily seen in Windows Explorer.

I removed this and installed the Google Desktop Search engine. At least it is accurate.

I can't begin to tell you how much I loathe this program. It deserves a Zero!

belthurgp reviewed v3.0 on Nov 27, 2006

MS has released the workaround for FAT and UNC indexing. Can be found here

http://www.microsoft.com...7283&DisplayLang=en

WDS 3.0 is working fine for me. No complaints here.

abear27 reviewed v3.0 on Oct 27, 2006

It seems the new WDS 3.0 requires the Indexing Service to be running on your system.

This version was also unable to properly detect my Outlook 2003 email.

I'll stick with 2.65 thanks.

Corbit reviewed v3.0 on Oct 25, 2006

Can no longer index mapped network drives. A step backward, IMO. Also, the help file hasn't been updated, and it still tells you how to index your mapped network drives. This makes the program less useful than its competitors.

id242 reviewed v3.0 on Oct 25, 2006

I was previously using version 2.0 of this software and only had one complaint with it - the lack of being able to rename files from within the search results.

Since installing version 3.0, I now have another complaint. Unlink version 2, the ability to index network folders (such as a group "My Documents" setup) is no longer available.

I don't see why this option to index network locations (network drives) had been removed. This now makes the product less useful for small businesses.

Im headed back to version 2 of WDS.

mukerjee reviewed v3.0 on Oct 25, 2006

High Memory Usage ? No personal attack but I don't think I see any high memory usage at all as Floodland is pointing out and I am using it from the Beta2 days. Precisely, this is one of the lowest memory usage Desktop search system and incase you are beta testing Office 2007 at the moment, it works like a beauty, fully integrated .

ghammer reviewed v3.0 on Oct 25, 2006

Just to offset the likes of Floodland who has nothing useful or insightful to say, much less a review.

You could always use an OS other than MS if you dislike them so.

Floodland reviewed v3.0 on Oct 25, 2006

Just another memory/processor hog from Microsoft. It seems they never are going to learn.
Hey, you could improve locate32. Locate is the simplest and best desktop search engine I saw. Microsoft continue producing garbage. A shame.

atab0y reviewed v3.0 on Oct 24, 2006

if one uses more than one outlook profile and needs to bounce between them. wds is the only desktop search that handles this properly. with "all" the other deesktop search programs one has to manually end task on outlook.exe to switch profiles.

guitardave78 reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 25, 2006

Has potential but the UI and settings look like a primative version of copernic.
One to keep an eye on though i think.

al532k reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 23, 2006

I had the same problem with slow searching after I installed this. But then I uninstalled it, rebooted and installed again - after that it did "search as I type" very fast.

WDS 3 Beta 1 didn't have a UI but version 3 beta 2 does have a UI.

Eeyan reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 23, 2006

Primitive when compared to Copernic Desktop Search.

belthurgp reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 23, 2006

For people not following, WDS 3.0 is only the search engine for now. There is no UI. For the UI, you need to go and get 2.6.5.

I had GDS before I switched to WDS and I never had any performance problem at all. It's working excellently. One note of caution though, if you change the index folder, be sure not to include the changed index folder for indexing. If you leave the default folder as is, it works with no problems.

For all those who had problems with GDS, I guess they didn't install it properly or mucked up the settings.

Anjin771 reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 23, 2006

X1 is the best a business Windows user can have.
I user GDS, Copernic (including 2.0 beta) and even tried the MS attempt.
X1 is the best there is today.

terminalx reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 22, 2006

looks like I am the loner here...I did not give this a five because if you uninstall the app it does not restore the original search and you are left with nothing...so I put the beta 1 back on and it was very slow, bloated and eating up memory this update has dropped the memory usage dramatically and runs smoother then previous versions...not sure why I had an improvement yet everyone else had problems...

dejavu reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 22, 2006

This Microsoft software crash my Outlook 2000 (the bug happens in Outlook 2003 too). I had no problems with all others "Desktop Search software"!

Joe Dirt reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 22, 2006

It's gotten worse with every incarnation. Bloated, slow, memory hog. How craptastic. Microsoft is really going town the crapper these days.

Just use Locate instead (available below).
http://fileforum.betanew...ail/Locate/1044509669/1

Locate is a perfect example of how search should work. No goofy BS. Just a search that works.

ZenWarrior reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 22, 2006

Looking to give it a test drive and compare it to Copernic, Google, and Yahoo DSs, I downloaded and installed WDS. It promptly froze my system and made a complete mess of things. Fixing it was [almost] a nightmare.

The comparison? Use anything but WDS! Every one of the other desktop search apps have worked without a glitch. For the most part it's simply a preference of interface and scope of the indexing. Of them all, I prefer Copernic.

In fact, Microsoft's System Restore could not fix the mess WDS made. But, there very little real news there. Microsoft's own stuff has frequently *not worked* with other Microsoft products.

Thank goodness I've never trusted System Restore and have used ERUNT at least daily, in addition. However, after that fiasco I promptly turned off the service and put System Restore aside, too. (I would never have guessed System Restore could be so utterly useless in the very scenario for which it was supposedly designed.)

Haydgha reviewed v3.0 Beta on May 3, 2006

i like Yahoo Desktop search.it's light and does the job right.

guitardave78 reviewed v3.0 Beta on May 3, 2006

I have been using copernic for ages now, and it would take somthing pretty special for me to change. This isn't it.
I have a lot of files with asp or vb code in them, and quite often I want to find a snippet and a desktop search is very usful for that. Or for searching through 100s of emails very quickly.
I just dont like using IE as the interface, just like I dont like it in GDS.
Good effort, but just not my kind of GUI!!

trebor reviewed v3.0 Beta on May 3, 2006

This is in essence the www.LookOutSoft.com indexing application MSFT bought and been using about 2 years and will continue to use (v 1.30). If you have 10000+ emails and thousands of letters and spreadsheetdocuments you can type a combination or exclusion of words and get a list in fractions of seconds....i.e. Go get LookOutSoft's original!!!!!

bigsexy022870 reviewed v3.0 Beta on May 2, 2006

I don't understand why anyone needs desktop search. Ok, well the disorganized people might. But I have always had every single items organized in it's own special place. Believe me when I say i got alot of stuff. 3 hard drives loaded to the max with everything you can imagine. But I know where it all is. I don't have to hunt for anything. And the basic windows search is perfect for the ocasional search for files saved in the temp internet folder. Not like that's something i need to do often. So why the big issue with search. If not for the disorganized I just don't see why it's even needed.

dejavu reviewed v3.0 Beta on May 2, 2006

Copernic still do a better job!

belthurgp reviewed v2.6.5 on Apr 20, 2006

Works beautifully. I am indexing even some network drives as well . This scores over GDS because the depth it can search in a file and it's doesn't open up a port like GDS to retrieve the results.

Howell reviewed v2.6.5 on Apr 18, 2006

Last version works ok and does a very good job on one of my computer but cannot be launched on another.

What makes me mad is that you have to uninstall prior to upgrade and the indexes are lost !

So I will wait for a "not beta" version...

mfarmilo reviewed v2.6.5 on Apr 15, 2006

Tried this twice actually, at different times. Both times it lasted around 1-2 days. Slowed my system to a crawl, and wasn't really helpful at all.

Google Desktop was better, but still seemed to be always indexing. Currently using Copernic, which does an excellent indexing job, with minimum impact on the system.

rcutnik reviewed v2.6.5 on Apr 14, 2006

I tried it and... what is different from using the current search tools?

Is it because MS couldn't help people use the current tools that we have a boom on "search tools"?

So... the only difference I found was higher resources used when loaded. :\

lettsbs@yahoo.com reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 11, 2006

Slows down the system to a virtual halt. Had to remove from Windows XP system.

pjosephson reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 11, 2006

Problem, crashes on one of my systems quite a bit when shutting down. Works well on another. I know it is a beta. As it stands today, I still prefer Copernic Deskop Search over this one. But, hey I am keeping my eyes open for the future.

Another problem, it does not seem to allow itself to be deleted from the Add or Remove Programs dialog. Actually, it is even in the list (at least I don't see it) I removed it from being active on start by manually taking it out of the startup menu, but without an uninstall option it still resides on my system (bad micrsoft, bad bad bad Microsoft :) )

niti reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 11, 2006

Always crashes...

ecvogel reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 10, 2006

I really enjoy it. It plays well with the Google Toolbar for me (the new beta one). Also I noticed in the toolbar http://toolbar.live.com I could put another search engine in there for web searchs. This alone may make me remove google toolbar since the only thing it is used for is searchs and the MSN/Live! I use for the rest.

wellsjs reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 9, 2006

Before installing I would like to know:

1) Will it install and run with Google Desktop loaded without messing either up?

2) How does it compare to Google Desktop?

Thanks

BK553 reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 9, 2006

Surprisingly not bad for a Microsoft Beta. Did they aquire this from another company or was it built in-house? I agree it should be able to search in ANY folder, but maybe not be default. Anyway, integration is good, resources aren't too bad, and it works.

Kramy reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 9, 2006

...fix the built-in windows search?

If it can't find files stuck under a hidden folder like 'Profile\Local Settings\Application Data', then what good is it for finding stuff that people misplace? If they didn't misplace it, they can probably find it by more traditional means, like the subfolder its under or running a simple filename search.

Email searching without opening the program is always a plus though.

mikedallos reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 9, 2006

I'm lovin' it!

shagger1 reviewed v2.6.5 Beta on Mar 9, 2006

Sounds good but you need at least 1024x769 screen resolution to use it-no thanks and besides I can search for files fairly easy with XP's included tools....