Classic Search Doesn't Work

[JayMan]

Ok, got a big problem. I think this might be a bug that MS never fixed - I hope I'm wrong.

 

In Win2K, when you do a search, it by default looks for system files and subfolders. If you have hidden files showing, it would also return files that are hidden.

 

In WinXP, if you use the "Classic" setting, it by default DOES NOT system files and subfolders. If you have hidden files showing, it WILL NOT return files that are hidden.

 

All over the internet I have found the following reg tweaks:

 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"SearchSystemDirs"=dword:00000001
"SearchHidden"=dword:00000001
"IncludeSubFolders"=dword:00000001
"CaseSensitive"=dword:00000000
"SearchSlowFiles"=dword:00000000

 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState]"FullPath"=dword:00000001"FullPathAddress"=dword:00000001"Use Search Asst"="no""Settings"=hex:0c,00,02,00,1b,01,e7,77,60,00,00,00[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant]"SocialUI"=dword:00000000"UseAdvancedSearchAlways"=dword:00000001

However, when doing a search, to get those new "defaults" to work, you need to click on the "advanced option" box. If you toggle "Use Search Asst" to "yes", its not longer in classic mode - but the default search behavor is correct.

 

So it appears that this is the current bug:

If you use Classic Search the "SearchSystemDirs, "SearchHidden", "IncludeSubFolders" values are ignored when the "advanced option" box is unchecked - where in Win2K the box doesn't need to be checked for the values in it to be effective. When in classic Search the value for "UseAdvancedSearchAlways" is also ignored.

 

So is there a fix for this?

 

Thanks in advance.

[bphlpt]

Just curious, but since the behavior of Search is not what you want, (unless a fix can be found), would you be just as happy with an alternative free search program that might be faster and more effective anyway?  I think there are several.

 

Cheers and Regards

[ZortMcGort11]

Not aware of any fix. But then I never use windows to search for files... I always open a DOS Command Prompt.

type in:

Dir *.* /ah /s /p

will display every hidden file, in every subdirectory, with a pause between screens

or use the Attrib command, by typing in:

Attrib | more

which will display all files, hidden or not, plus their attributes, and pause between screen fulls.

Edited January 23, 2015 by ZortMcGort11