Windows Search Bites - Locate and Agent Ransack Don't

Microsoft built a lot of new functionality into Windows Vista's search feature, but what about those of us that are still sticking with our trusty old XP installs? Our default search is a decrepit old fart of a program, and one that still resembles the version from a decade ago.

Well, it's time for a change. Two great freeware programs do the job much better, so why keep dealing with a slow, lackluster search?

Portable application buffs should check out Locate32. When you launch the app for the first time, you'll need to tell it to build a database file. After that, it'll take a seat in your system tray and run updates on your specified schedule. You can further tweak by specifying a maximum CPU usage before starting the job to ensure indexing doesn't bog down your system during busy periods.

Indexing took just a minute and a half on my notebook's 120GB hard drive, and subsequent searches displayed results in a flash. Searches you want to execute frequently can be added to the presets button.


Searching within text files is supported, and Locate32 also handles all the usual search provisos: file size, date, time, location. Choose to include or exclude subdirectories, get case specific, and limit results to a space-delimited list of file extensions. Customizable hotkey features are also built-in.

You can fully customize the information presented in your details pane, selecting from 31 fields, and it'll even create MD5 checksums for your files. There's even a filename case changing tool for the person who can't stand haphazardly capitalized files.


Agent Ransack is "a lite version" of the professional File Locator Pro, and requires installation. After performing a variety of searches with it, I found myself wondering who in their right mind would call Ransack "a lite version."

Ransack performs live searches on your files rather than using an index file, but it's still incredibly fast. You can save your criteria, though there's no handy "preset" button like Locate provides.

A regular expression wizard is included, which makes the most complex - and we're talking Rube Goldberg complex - searches easy to set up. It can get time consuming, but that's to be expected with such in-depth queries. Ransack can look at your files or for text inside them and it includes a multi-folder selection tool (Locate32 requires you to type them in).

Ransack is all about search, and doesn't include some of the display options and add-on features - like hotkeys, case changing, and MD5 gneration.

Which one is right for you? Take the for a test run and decide - or let us know what your favorite search app is!

Tags: desktop search, DesktopSearch, file search, FileSearch, freeware, indexing, search