14 DAY TRIAL // With the gigantic sizes of the present HDDs finding the desired files in your own computer may turn into a serious challenge. Looking for a small TXT file storing some precious information can easily become a time consuming task. And yet there is a solution for this issue. It comes in the form of softwares specially designed to find any file stored on your computer. The operation will not even take long as the search results are displayed almost instantly.
The tools for performing such an activity are many and with the technology boost nowadays they are prepared for U3 smart drives as well. An old timer with regards to the subject is Copernic. The utility is not new and the benefits attracted by its use are well known by lots of users.
This application is absolutely free and the advantages of using it include fast indexing while your computer is idle, quick display of results and the preview window that will display the content of the file, be it a text document, an image, an audio file or a video.
The interface is as nifty as ever and the same quality of the design reigns over the looks of the application. The same ease of use governs the working with the application and the main application window is split in the same three panels: Search options panel in the left hand side, the results and the preview window beneath it.
Working with Copernic is simple. All you have to do is let it index all the files on your computer (and it will not take long) and then you can input your query in the search bar. You can set some parameters for the findings in order to get accurate results.
These are to be found in the Categories section (in the left side Search panel) and include emails, files, music, pictures, videos, contacts (from email clients), favorites and history. For the majority of these options you can set some search parameters in order to make the results more accurate.
Files for instance is designed to search among the text documents stored on your computer. Thus you can choose from HTML document, Adobe Acrobat document, Word document, RTF format, WP type, XLS, PPT or TXT. Size, date and location folder will also help you make the query results more precise.
In the results window the user benefits from bits of information like the number of results found, the location of the files on the computer, as well as the date and time of the last modification. You can also switch from standard view of the information on the data to detailed view. This also includes the size of the file. To let you know the contents of the file and allowing you to see if the selected file is what you were looking for, the file will be displayed in the preview window.
Searching is not limited to your computer and Copernic also covers the entire Internet. The Web button in toolbar lets you perform searches using Copernic web search engine. The query can be searched in News, Images and Health. These are the only three domains for your query, and though there aren't too many it is very handy sometimes.
However, testing Copernic on Vista was not flawless. It seems that running it in the latest Microsoft environment results in limiting a pretty important feature of the application and there are some integration issues as well. The only feature that does not work properly in Vista is the deskbar. In XP it is enabled by default and appears right near the system tray. This little tool allows you to enter your searches directly from your desktop, without launching Copernic interface.
Another problem with Copernic Desktop Search integrating in Vista is the context menu for the items in Results window. The truth is that there isn't one to be used properly. A vertical bar with multiple squares representing the options is the only device available. They are working just fine, but you will be blindly looking for the one you need.
Besides these two mischiefs, configuring the software is easy. You can clear the history of your searches, enable query completion and query correction, select the categories to be displayed in the main application window, choose the accounts of the your email client to be looked in, add folders to be indexed or set the indexing and performance parameters.
This last option allows you to include in the indexing operation only the new files and the modified ones. This way only the first indexing will take longer and the future operations will finish at rocket speeds. Also, for not hindering you while you work, the process can be set to take place at a user defined time after the computer enters the idle state. The best part is that when resuming your work the indexing will stop.
The Advanced options of the application let the user add new file types to be indexed, configure the software to start with Windows, perform the search as you type and set the maximum file size for content indexing.
The Good
Copernic Desktop Search performs beautifully and is very stable. Search speed is its main advantage, both on XP and Vista.
The interface is nice and modern and the low footprint when it stays in background will not slow down your computer one bit.
Very flexible, easy to configure and fast. The results are displayed almost instantly and the user can select the locations to be indexed.
The Bad
Integration with Windows Vista is the one aspect that needs to be worked on. Deskbar tool is definitely a handy instrument that makes your work easier.
The Truth
Despite the baddies available in Vista environment Copernic is still a reliable indexing tool that helps you find your files almost instantly.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
