A friend of mine is asking on how to search his local drive folders, files and specific "string" text. My quick answer is to use the built-in folder search via Windows Explorer.
And if this doesn't help out, then you might consider using
Windows Search or
Google Desktop for complete tools searching your files. When you install any of these tools, it will slow down your system because of indexing and other built-in features. So after you use this tool, I recommend to check the options feature and only allow what you need. And if you will not use it anymore, just un-install the program to free up you system.
I also found an article comparing Windows Search and Google Desktop, check it out.
"Windows Search gives you far more control over which files and folders you want to index. While Google Desktop says that "all fixed drives" are indexed by default, Windows will only index drives that you select. While this means Google Desktop is easier to setup, it also means that you wind up with a larger index file if you have hard drives and folders that you don't really need indexed.
On our test machine, Google Desktop indexed over 270,000 files, while Windows Search indexed 65,000. Google Desktop's index files took up about 1.7GB, while Windows Search used just 374MB. Advantage: Windows Search." (2009,
Downloadsquard.com)
I see one advantage of Windows Search, it is Enterprise Ready. Windows Search is easy to deploy and manage, with enterprise-class security that prevents unauthorized access to sensitive information. Robust Group Policy support gives IT professionals control over every aspect of search functionality-from the types of files to the locations that get indexed.
If you use Windows Search or Google Desktop, please share your thought here.