Best desktop search engine for windows xp

You can enable WDS to index a new proprietary file type if you provide an implementation of the IFilter interface for that file type.

A non-file system store, like a database, requires a protocol handler to enable WDS to navigate through and index data within the data store. For example, if you have a mail client that stores its list of received email in its own file such as PST files in Outlook , you can provide a protocol handler to index and search each individual email by providing a protocol handler.

If the data store is hierarchical, you will also need to implement an IFilter interface to enumerate the items in the store. For a better user experience, you can implement a Shell Extension to provide context menus and icons from within the results view. If you already have filters installed for proprietary file types, WDS can use the existing filter interfaces to index this data.

WDS provides applications with customized result sets of data from the index based on any of the schema values available. Results are returned as ADO record sets. There are four ways to incorporate WDS queries into an application, each offering various levels of customization and robustness. Users can use Advanced Query Syntax to query the catalog more powerfully by controlling the scope of searches and combining search parameters with Boolean operators.

For example, a user could search for an attachment in an email from John that includes either "project schedule" or "project plan" with a query like the following: from:John isattachment:true "project schedule" OR "project plan".

WDS 2. WDS is a separate download available from Microsoft for free for personal and business use. It must be installed and in use for indexing the user account before applications built for WDS 2. Extending the Index Overview. Skip to main content. This browser is no longer supported. Search engines have made our life easier, not only on the internet but also in different spheres of life.

But, is the desktop search tool, which comes with Windows or Linux, efficient enough! Yes, it is. But you cannot search for files with a lot of criteria, other than the common ones, which include, search filter with size, file type, file location, and ultimately the filename.

Moreover, the default Windows search tool can also be slow at times but is improving though. Though there can be a few more search filters, but in many cases, they are not always enough. That being said, you can even download a number of desktop search software , which are more efficient than the default search tool, which is provided as a gifted add-on, on your Windows operating system. From time to time, users might need to search within files, or want to search things with some kind of relevance, and in such cases, the search tool, which comes with Windows, is not efficient enough, and the third party desktop search tools can come to the rescue.

But, how many desktop search Windows 10, Windows 8 or for Windows 7 is available! There are many, and to make your task simpler, I have brought the top desktop search engines, ignoring the not so efficient ones, to make your digital life easier, if you want to do a lot of searches on your desktop. The user interface is quite simple, and you can start using it, without the need of investing a lot of time learning how to use it.

Yes, the Everything search latest version is as simple as that. With the help of Everything search administrator privileges, you can search the complete system, which is quite handy, as well. The search Everything bit version is very tiny, and will hardly take up any space on your hard drive, and RAM, after being installed. After you download Everything search, it will index your complete system to give you the most relevant results for your search, and that too at the minimum possible time.

If you are a Linux user, you must know the grep command on Linux, which offers a well-organized way of searching for things on it. The grepWin is a searching tool, which can offer you a number of options to narrow down your search results, once you search for a particular thing.

From searching for files to searching for something within contents, you can do almost everything with grepWin. You can even replace the contents of any text-based file, with something new, which is another great feature of grepWin, and that is something not available for most other desktop search tools, which is available for Windows.

Copernic is one of the most popular names when it comes to the list of most popular desktop search engines. The Copernic Desktop Search 7 is the latest version of the software, and it offers a beautiful user interface that is quite handy for novice users. Though, there are numerous Copernic desktop search alternatives but not perfect like it. Moreover, if you are looking for the best Google desktop alternative or in , Copernic search engine for desktop is the solution.

The Copernic Desktop Search can also search for things on the web, apart from searching on your local hard drive. You can even do the Copernic desktop search free download, if you do not want to use it professionally, or do not want to use it for commercial purposes. Google Desktop Search, is yet another great desktop search tool, which can give you the same experience of searching for files on your hard drive, as it is on the Google desktop website.

Though the Desktop Search Google is no longer being developed, but it used to be one of the best search tools for a standalone system in the last decade. Though dumped, you can still grab the installer to install Google Desktop, to search things on your hard drive, like a pro.

All these features and more are available to all old Windows PCs and modern versions such as Windows 8, 8. Besides Opera 36 mentioned above, Maxthon Browser is the second most popular browser on this list and a great option if you want something with a large user base.

It is the product of the Chinese company Maxthon, and it has been around since Although it has been subject to data privacy scandals since its initial release, it remains popular thanks to several features and compatibility with multiple devices. Despite its Chromium engine, Maxthon is a lightweight web browser. Not only does that make it suitable for an XP computer, but it can also run on Windows Also, the web browser comes with an in-built ad blocker, which makes pages load faster and reduces RAM consumption.

It also has screen capture, multi-tab manager, autofill, smart address bar, and multi-search. The latter allows users to input keywords in the search bar and receive results from multiple search engines simultaneously. Furthermore, Maxthon Browser has robust cloud synchronization and data backup. So you can easily sync and access data such as passwords, browsing history, bookmarks, and more from other devices on your Windows XP computer, and vice versa.

Also, because of its Chromium engine, Windows XP users can enjoy the full functionality of modern browsers by installing plugins. The web browser supports the Chrome add-ons library. So you can install themes or extensions to pimp out the browser to your preference. Interesting Comparison : Brave vs Opera. Open source projects are often a form of protest against their commercial counterpart. Otter Browser, one of the best browsers you can install on Windows XP in , is no different.

Reportedly, in pursuit of quarterly profits, Opera Software switched from the Presto layout engine to Webkit and Blink engine. It has been around since , receiving support and updates from a dedicated developer community and user base. The browser is built to resemble early versions of Opera while making everything else modern and fully integrated with desktop environments.

Besides the fact it is not tied to a corporate entity, Otter Browser maintains its presence thanks to its modular model. This enables users to replace components with their preferred designs. If this sounds like Otter Browser is for advanced users, that is because it is.

But that is not to say it cannot do a good job for anyone with an old Windows XP they want to bring back to life. The browser comes with features for regular users like a password manager, URL completion, speed dial. There is also an addon manager, spell check, customizable GUI, and bookmarks.

Otter Browser is also very committed to privacy. It uses DuckDuckGo as its default search engine and has in-built content blocking tools that prevent ads and cookie tracking. Overall, if you want a taste of old-school Opera with modern capabilities and improved privacy and security features, Otter is worth considering.

Also Read : Opera vs Vivaldi. Slimjet Browser might just be what you are looking for. Built by FlashPeak Inc, an Austin, Texas company, it is a tabbed multiple-site web browser that offers practically everything you need from a browser. The company built the browser on the popular and fast Blink engine. Despite the low specs of your old computer, the browser offers a shorter loading time, quick browser startup, and a responsive UI.

Its impressive speed also extends to its in-built download manager. The feature uses multiple parallel connections, allowing you to download files up to 12x faster than the average rate.

It also enables you to pause and resume downloads between sessions without starting all over again. Speaking of downloads, the browser also has an in-built YouTube video downloader.

You can download any YouTube video to your hard drive in any resolution or format and extract mp3 files from the downloaded video file. Other media-related features include an online video recorder and Photo Salon. The former allows you to record any dynamic content on a web page and save it on your local drive. The latter supports photo editing, including filter effects and frames. Beyond that, the Slimjet browser comes with its own adblocker. It also offers social media integration for Facebook — a nice feature to use if you are bringing that old computer to life for use by an older loved one.

These are on top of standard browser features like plugin and extension store, language translation, auto form filler, and customizable toolbar. The Basilisk browser is another excellent alternative for your old Windows computer.

Unlike Pale Moon, which is well into its development, Basilisk is still a project in development, aka in beta mode. For something more stable, you can check any other option on this list.

The developers built Basilisk using the Goanna engine and thus, bears a close resemblance to Mozilla Firefox. The similarities are not just in code only. They also share a similar interface, making it easy for anyone new to the web browser to use.

Expectedly, it is a lightweight web browser with an installation file size of 45MB.