Win Finding files

Windows makes it convenient to find program files and data files by name. You can look for a single file or groups of files by doing the following:

Windows Vista
1. Right click Start menu and select Explore.
2. Define scope of search in left pane.
To search the whole disk, select Local Disk (C:)
3. Type in the file names in Search box (top right).
To learn how to identify groups of files,
see wild cards.
4. If you only want files that contain certain
text, type in the words instead of the file name (see Vista indexing).

Windows XP
1. Right click Start menu and select Search.
2. Select All files and folders.
3. Define scope of search in "Look in."
4. Type in the file names in the box named
"All or part of the file name:"
and click Search. To learn how to
identify groups of files, see wild cards.
5. If you only want files that contain certain
text, fill in the box named
"A word or phrase in the file:"
otherwise, leave this field empty.

Windows 98
1. Right click Start menu and select Find.
2. Define scope of search in "Look in."
3. Type in the file names in the "Named"
box and click Find Now. To learn how to
identify groups of files, see wild cards.
4. If you only want files that contain certain
text, fill in "Containing text,"
otherwise, leave this field empty.

Windows 2000
1. Right click Start menu and select Search.
2. Define scope of search in "Look in."
3. Type in the file names in the "Search for
files and folders named" box and click
Search Now. To learn how to identify
groups of files, see wild cards.
4. If you only want files that contain certain
text, fill in "Containing text,"
otherwise, leave this field empty.

Windows 95/NT4
1. Right click Start menu and select Find.
2. Define scope of search in "Look in."
3. Type in the file names in the "Named"
box and click Find Now. To learn how to
identify groups of files, see wild cards.
4. If you only want files that contain certain
text, click the Advanced tab and fill in
"Containing text."

Find Dialog (Windows 95/98/NT4)

This example searches for all .DOC files that contain the text "Pat Harrington." To look for all .DOC files no matter what is in them, "Containing text" would be left empty. In Windows 95 and NT 4, "Containing text" is under the Advanced tab. To search the entire hard disk, be sure (c:) is all by itself in "Look in" without any folder names.

Search Dialog (Windows 2000)

This example searches for all .DOC files that contain the text "Pat Harrington." To look for all .DOC files no matter what is in them, "Containing text" would be left empty. To search the entire hard disk, be sure Local Harddrives (c:) is all by itself in "Look in" without any folder names.