14 DAY TRIAL // How fast do you find what you need on your computer? Well, if you are running Vista I bet you are fully using the indexing function appended. And why not? It allows you to quickly get your hands on the needed files.
If you find that tool too difficult to handle or inaccurate in the results displayed, there are myriads of solutions on the Internet. Some of them are in the form of commercial softwares while others are absolutely free to use with no strings attached.
Rafael Castro's Index Your Files - Home is a free solution to finding what you want on your computer. It is a file indexer that runs in all Windows environments and allows you to search through files or directories on local drives or on the network.
The interface is plain and simple so that any user can handle it without too much hassle and the explorer-like showing of the existent panels only adds to the ease of using the application. There are only two tabs present in the main application window, one for searching through your files and another for making indexing sessions. The plural I used easily announces that the software supports multiple indexes.
You can make as many of them as you want and customize each one for better results. During our testing we used three indexing sessions, each of them containing different directories and folders. The Index Manager situated in the left side of the application window shows the entire database you created while the next window shows the folders that are included in the database.
In the right side of the Index screen there is the Properties panel. It will give you all the information about the selected item in the database: name, number of total items contained, its size, the date and time of the last update performed, the duration of the update and the errors encountered.
The software is quite flexible and allows editing of the databases. This way you can change its name and the folders to be indexed. Some other similar softwares are really disappointing when it comes to this feature as the only way to edit an indexing session is to delete it and create a new one from scratch.
Going to the Search tab of the application window a series of criteria will help you identify the exact file you are looking for. File date and file size help you pinpoint the desired file faster as they will limit the search area.
The file will be displayed in the preview window so that you can know for sure if that is indeed what you are looking for. The four types of preview (auto, hex, binary and text) help you in better previewing the file content. In auto mode audio and video will be played and images will be displayed, so there is no reason to worry.
The lower bar of the window is filled with information on the file and the search process. Thus you will know the number of items matching your search query, the time to generate the list of items, number of selected items as well as their size.
Further options can be found in the right side panel which provides the necessary means to copy the selected files, move them, export the entire list to clipboard or to an Excel document.
The query results are those from the selected databases enabled in the right. For a more limited search you can enable only some of them.
Regarding the configuration of the application, there isn't much to be said, as the options are not many. The user can enable the application to display the file format's corresponding icon for the items in the search results, color the text and show grid lines for better delimitation of the elements.
As Index Your Files - Home is not equipped with an automatic indexing option, the developer provides the next best thing, meaning a schedule function. This way you can program the time and date as well as the frequency for the software to perform the indexing. This is about the only mischief of the program as the operation takes a bit of resources and this slows down your computer.
The Good
Having fast responses for search query, being easy to use once you get the hang of it and absolutely free, Index Your Files - Home is perfect for finding your files quickly and with no hassle.
The Help menu shows different methods to search for files in order to get the most of what the software has to offer.
The Bad
The indexing has to be scheduled, as the software will not start this process when the computer is idle. Beginners may feel working with the software is a bit difficult.
The Truth
Index Your Files - Home is perfect for finding the files on your computer, it is free and does not require special skills to handle it. Search Files section in Help menu comes in very handy when you want the most accurate results displayed.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
