14 DAY TRIAL // An important aspect of managing computer files is rapidly locating documents and folders. When the built-in search that Windows comes with is not enough, a blazing fast solution is Quick Search.
Finding the files you need to work with, or uncovering a specific photo among the hundreds, even thousands of images stored onto your PC should be an effortless thing to do using the search function of Windows. Many users, however, know by now just how slow it can be at times and performing a complete lookup that covers all the folders on your computer will take quite a long time. This is mainly because this OS feature constantly needs to index locations, especially newly created ones, to have them included in future searches.
An alternative is to use file managers that have search capabilities, but even a simpler solution is to enlist the help of a dedicated search tool you can use right from your desktop. A program built solely for this purpose is Quick Search, whose name pretty much sums it all up: it will find everything and will do it promptly.
This utility comes free of cost to help you instantly locate files and directories by key words. The installation is a breeze and the same is true for the ease of use. The interface is user-friendly and consists of two all-important components: the search box that is displayed at program startup and the display screen that shows the results in real-time.
To make things easier for all users, once started, the software can be hidden or, just as well, summoned by tapping the 'Control' (Ctrl) key twice. Unfortunately the hotkey cannot be changed, only activated or deactivated, but still it is a nice addition especially for those more accustomed to using the keyboard more than the mouse.
The great thing about this application is that it will present you with noteworthy answers to your query in a flash. The speed at which it goes through your system looking for the shortcuts, documents, photos, videos, music or anything else you can think of is amazing. When going after its prey, this tool leaves no stone unturned and reports back each and every speck that matches the search criteria. As most users would expect it, the software offers the possibility to export the results to a text (.TXT) file.
When running the program, you'll be presented with the search box only, but clicking the button near the magnifying glass icon will reveal the main menu that enables you to use the full mode and have the menus at hand, as well as the results screen, all included in a well-structured GUI. There are some file management commands to be found in the 'Edit' section that are meant to help you copy, cut, paste and select all the items from the list.
Something that can be useful to power users, but not too much for the average computer person is the fact that hidden and system files are displayed by default. However, there is no option to exclude them from the lookup and such a feature would be more than welcomed to help narrow down the scope of the search.
In fact, the query customization and refining of the results are two aspects that need improvement for this application. There is no way to search by size or date created and it would be nice to integrate regular expressions as an alternative means of search. The later function will prove its convenience only for searching inside the files, but this is not one of the purposes for which Quick Search was designed so it should be regarded as merely an entry on a power user's wish list.
It is also worth mentioning here that you won't be able to conduct a search in a specific location, drive, partition or folder. Nonetheless, thanks to the sheer speed of the app, this doesn't feel like a drawback. You can always order the results by path and the problem is solved.
Among the goodies of this tool is a feature that allows you to include the file path as a search parameter. To do so, you need to activate 'Match Path' in the 'Edit' menu. Now, the keywords you enter in the lookup field will show up on the list not only if they are part of a document or a directory name, but also for the corresponding paths.
Another nifty trick is the embedded web search capability. To use it, you will only have to click the 'Search' button from the main window and the term(s) you've written in the query box will instantly be sought-after online. Of course, you'll need a working internet connection to use this supplemental function.
If you think that the categories and file types included by default are not sufficient, you can always extend their numbers from the 'Options' menu. Some other customization that can be performed from the same settings area is the activation of the web search using the 'Enter' key. You should note that this particular characteristic is turned off by default.
Insofar as the system usage, this application is not too demanding. The only resource that is a bit more 'stressed' is the physical memory. Nonetheless, the 51 MB of RAM put to work represent a very small price to pay for the lightning speed at which this utility runs. To get a better idea about that, consider these facts: for a simple query on all the areas of the computer that should yield five results, this application gave the correct answer literally in an instant,whereas the Windows search function took minutes and required a whole drive to be indexed.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
The Good
The Bad
The Truth
This article is also available in Spanish: El buscador rápido
