Windows Search 4.0 is an updated component of the Windows Search platform that enables you to perform instant quick fast searching on your computer.
Using Microsoft Windows Search 4.0 is the fastest way possible for searching various types of file on your Windows system, including documents, images, videos and music. It can also search Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express items, such as your e-mail messages, contacts, and appointments. Microsoft included Windows Search 4.0, in its automatic updates and made it a default update for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 as well as Windows Home Server.
Windows Search 4.0 comes bundled with the Deskbar search box which appears on the Windows taskbar next to the notification area after installation and it’s a very handy searching tool to search for typed queries on your desktop, your computer as well as on the WorldWideWeb.
The desktop search results for your query are presented in a flyout pane, whereas the web search results open in your default browser using Google as its search engine.
The wonderful tech feature supported by the deskbar search box is the capability of creating deskbar shortcuts (or application aliases) to start programs. All you have to do is type the shortcutname in the search box » hit enter and boom, you started the application. The default aliases that work straight away after the installation are !word, !calc and !outlook which as their names suggest open Microsoft Word, The Microsoft Windows calculator and Microsoft Outlook respectively.
To create a shortcut for opening your favorite application (say Windows Packager), Enter @shortcutname,=packager.exe in the Deskbar search box and hit enter. Now whenever you want to access Windows Packager just type the shortucutname (say pack as in image above) in the deskbar search box and hit enter.
To know more about shortcuts, access the Windows Search Results flyout pane and under My Deskbar Shortucts click the option that says – click here to learn more about shortcuts.
How Windows Search 4.0 Gives Faster Search Results
As soon as the installation is complete, Windows Search (and Windows Desktop Search) by default, creates full index of files on the users computer along with each file’s contents that include keywords, comments and also the metadata the file is tagged with.
This full-text indexing of files prior to actual searching process that is initiated helps windows search to produce search results more rapidly.
Windows Search 4.0 is powered with some more advanced features like:
- Support to IFilters which enable scanning of files discarding irrelevant search words such as “the” and “an” etc.
- Word-Wheeled Search that shows search results as you start typing which helps in finding the required files well before full search query is typed.
- Inclusion of handlers for common filetypes.
- Remote Query Support that allows users running Windows Search 4.0 to search the index of networked systems which are also running on a Windows Search 4.0 supported operation system.
So, if you’re still using the age old search companion with lazy animated characters, know that it’s time to stop using it and switch on to Windows Search 4.0 for experiencing the power of speed search and easy accessibility.