Fixing the Search Tool in Windows Me and Windows 2000
by David A. Karp03/21/2001
Many of us rely on the Windows Search tool on a daily basis to find and organize files in Explorer. However, a new design in Windows Me and Windows 2000 merges the Search tool with Explorer in a way that can be very inconvenient.
Instead of the separate Find window found in previous versions of Windows, the new Search tool (more specifically, the Search... For Files or Folders tool) is displayed in the left pane of an Explorer window. On the surface, this has little effect, other than the Search window taking up a little more space on the screen and the search options arranged in a somewhat different manner.
The problem becomes obvious when the Search tool is invoked from within an open Explorer window: the left pane containing the folder tree simply disappears! The contents of the currently selected folder remain visible but vanish as soon as a search is performed. The fact that the current window is reused for the search tool has no apparent benefit, yet it inconveniently and frustratingly invalidates whatever was displayed in the current window.
The only way to return to the previous view at this point is to select Explorer Bar and then Folders from Explorer's View menu. Unfortunately, there's no keyboard shortcut, so this procedure is especially cumbersome. When the tree view is reinstated, a new item, Search Results, appears at the bottom. However, if you select another folder and then return to Search Results, neither the search criteria nor the search results from your last search are retained. In other words, there's absolutely no point to this design.
The solution is to find a way to activate the Search tool so this doesn't happen. The following two methods will cause the problem described above, converting the current Explorer window into a Search window:
Press Ctrl-F, Ctrl-E, or F3 in any single folder or Explorer window.
Select Explorer Bar and then Search from Explorer's View menu, or click the Search button on the Explorer toolbar.
On the other hand, there are at least three methods for opening a new Search window, leaving any open Explorer windows intact. Note that each of these results in a different default folder in which the search is performed:
Select Search and then For Files or Folders from the Start Menu. Local Hard Drives will be automatically selected in the Look in list.
Click on the Desktop and then press F3. The Desktop will automatically be selected in the Look in list.
Right-click on any folder icon on the desktop or in an Explorer window, or any drive icon in My Computer or Explorer, and select Search. Said folder or drive will automatically be selected in the Look in list.
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There's also another way to open a Search window without disrupting an Explorer window. This solution has the added benefit of allowing you to choose the default search location:
Open a Search window using any method, and select whatever search location you want to be the default. The Local Hard Drives entry is probably the most useful, but you can choose the My Documents folder or any other place you wish.
Leave the rest of the search criteria blank, and click Search Now.
When the search is complete, select Save Search from the File menu. When prompted, save the All Files.fnd file on the Desktop. (Choose a different name and location if you like.)
Double-click on the All Files.fnd file at any time to open a new Search window.
If you want to assign a keyboard shortcut to this new Search icon, start by moving the All Files.fnd file to a safe, out-of-the-way location. Create a shortcut to the file and place it in the same folder, in your Start Menu, or anywhere else that is convenient. Right-click on the new shortcut, click on Properties, click on the Shortcut key field, and press the desired keystroke combination. Unfortunately, Windows won't let you choose a shortcut key combination with only the Ctrl key, so you can't redefine Ctrl-F for this window. (Believe me, this is the first thing I tried.) However, Ctrl-Shift-F is almost as convenient, and may serve as a suitable compromise. Click OK when you're done, and try it out!
In addition to the above work-arounds, Creative Element Power Tools (available at www.creativelement.com by April, 2001) comes with a feature that fixes the Search tool, forcing a new Search window to be opened regardless of the method used.
David A. Karp, a specialist in user-interface design and software engineering, is the author of the best-selling book, Windows 98 Annoyances and the newly released Windows Me Annoyances. David is the creator of Annoyances.org, repeatedly cited as among the best technical resources on the Web. Noted recognition has come from such sources as PC Computing, Windows Magazine, the San Francisco Examiner, and the New York Times.
Read more about David Karp in Don't Just Get Annoyed: Change It, our 1998 interview with him about Windows 98 Annoyances.
O'Reilly & Associates will soon release (March 2001) Windows Me Annoyances.
Sample Chapter 2, Basic Explorer Coping Skills, is available free online.
You can also look at the Table of Contents, the Index, and the Full Description of the book.
For more information, or to order the book, click here.
