I support the advice for locate32 too, even if the update process is very slow.

#47 - Your explanation was very useful, and I want to thank you for pointing this out to me.

Text search, and search and replace have been around forever. Windows has the find and findstr (supports Microsoft regular expressions) commands for text searching, which I think have been around since MS-DOS. Comparing MultiFind and grepWin, MultiFind lets you create tabs ("pages") which can retain folder, file-selection, search and replace strings, and options. grepWin has drive, folder, and single-file (not file group) context-menu integration, and has presets for remembering search and replace strings (both apps can perform search or search and replace). While MultiFind's $15 isn't much, grepWin is open-source, and uses the Microsoft Installer (as all Windows programs should, and for smaller apps generally indicates competent programmers). grepWin supports regular expressions for the replacement string, as well as for file (name) selection, both features being necessities in my opinion. Text file-selection strings in both apps support DOS/Windows wildcards, MultiFind allows the file mask to contain spaces because it uses a semicolon as a separator, but grepWin uses the space as a separator. grepWin has a standard interface, MultiFind has undocumented three-position buttons for some things. In other respects, they're pretty similar; MultiFind supports file date ranges and hex strings. AstroGrep only searches, but can list and print matching lines. Many editors also have multi-file regular expression search and replace.

Indexed file searches are much faster and support many file types which can't be conveniently searched by these grep-type text search apps. I've use indexed desktop search since the Alta Vista Personal Search days. There are many, many choices, both freeware and commercial. Windows Search has the most support for different file formats (via Ifilters), Google Desktop probably has the second most (via indexing plugins, one of which supports Ifilters). While I like Windows Search 4 features and Vista integration, it has by far the most complex and scattered configuration options (all quite needlessly), and some of the Microsoft Ifilters have been defective for years.

Couldn't decide on this. Totality of comments seemed to point in both directions. Freeware suggestions were to download both a file searcher and a search and replace tool. Looking for something since Vista search doesn't seemed to me to be dependable. Can't always find files I know are there. Couldn't find any freeware yet that has both features in one that looks any better than this. So finally decided to put this through it's midnight paces.

Unfortunate bug: It keeps getting hung up on a 220mb video file I rescued from a damaged, self recorded DVD. Why??? Did a date created search and it beat Vista badly, but hung up on that file. Did a search for files under 100k and MultiFind failed badly, getting hung up again on the video file. What does listed file size and date created have to do with actual file size? Is it searching inside the file for the same info.?

Both text searches (well, one I gave up on) are taking too long on my 64 gigs of data. So, I really can't judge on speed, for I don't know how long it should take, but this is obviously no miracle cure.

For a developer: sure, test it. You know how to run it and what to expect and look for. For a newbie, stay away. There's no help file. For a mid-range user like me, it depends. If you're up on file finding and/or search and replace, it's probably worth a try. For the rest us, it isn't. It certainly isn't worth paying for. I'm sure most of the shareware, including the ones recommended here, have help files. I imagine if I look long enough, I'll find better freeware. Since I've already downloaded this, I'll keep it until I do. But I can hardly recommend it.

The only help is to e-mail support. Unless I'm really up on this kind of software, I'm not going to e-mail on every thing I don't understand. It isn't worth it. Although some super users might disagree, my general rule is: no help file = cheap software that's rarely worth it. Unless it's purpose is much more simple and straightforward than this type of software's is.

Followed Vista instructions per #26 and installed fine on Vista 32 Home Premium. Thanks

Looked promising from the description. Search in Win errors out and has to close explore or stops responding 80% of the time I use it so worth trying anything else.

Also would like to find and remove tabs and format colors in text.

Installed just fine Win XP S2. Didn't ask where to install start up or create a desktop icon so necessary to click C:\, Program files -- which after several months at GAOTD is a long list.

Tried a search for "About" in c:\downloads as know have several documentation files with that name. Seconds were advancing but nothing showed on window. Took 141 secs to finish and found 14 files. Except the window listing had 53 files, or EVERYTHING in that directory.
Huh?????

While that was running, started up a second search page. "About" as a whole word, on 4 MB flash. Found 53 files in 1235 secs. Since most were JPGs, without the search word in the title ??????. Text files that I clicked to open didn't have anything high lighted so Multi Find was not a whole lot of help in finding.

Third try. "Gorilla". On that same USB 2.0 drive, took 950 seconds. This time noticed that bottom bar was showing the progress and what sub folders it was searching. Found two files with that name and the saved web page from PD Artist. ????.
Okay, doing a seperate find from that window did find someone with that name who had posted a comment.

Tabs would be better named 'Search 1, 2, 3... Instead of "New page" as really only can go a new search from the Pages menu.

Try 4, for a specific file name several subfolders down in a zip file did find them.

Gave it a thumbs down for lack of help file and poor ease of use.

No problems installing on XP & I got it Find different phrases in several files first. Then I replaced the phrases, then I replaced them back with no error. All without instruction. Very easy, no learning curve (for easy stuff).

Too slow - 1.2Tb drive with 870,000 filesystem objects - finding 217 folders whose names contain a given string took 334 seconds, XP Search took < 5secs (the drive is indexed), Locate32 took < 1 sec.

For bulk string find & replace Illl stick with Gnu Tools

Raja#32, Your comment was very witty. If anyone did not get it (including you, Mr #20, look up the difference between whose and who's). As for the program, if you frequently need to change the names or such of multiple files, it's a good program. I am not sure if an average user does that that much. So I ended up uninstalling the software.

Has anybody noticed how thier product description isn't even grammatically correct? Me thinkses something fishy.......

to # 50, Steve:

I disagree, I find some spelling mistakes to be assuring that the programmers focused on the task at hand, not petty spelling :-)

Jokes aside, I agree that it doesn't look professional, but, on the other side, it's just a typo. Your loss. (But in this instance, maybe not that much of a loss)

I appreciate all the comments made here, both negative and positive for any particular GAOTD, although like many I don't quite understand why people get upset if they can't use it or they don't think it is worth paying for (especially since these are free!) I'm not nearly as technically savvy as many of you seem to be, so for me, reading your comments is an education, especially when you recommend other programs that are free, tried and tested.

As far as Whiterabbit's game giveawas, I think it is great that he is thoughtful enough to offer them to those that want them, and I hope he continues to do so in spite of a few negative responses.

Not sure what I can use it for, but I always download GAOTD software so w/e.

Does anybody know of a search and replace program that works with Winword documents?
Thanks.

this is a very good tool for developers. I agree this this is not for the majority of people but thanks GOTD perfect for my needs

23. To answer your question, no, it works only with .txt and .html, that's it.

It doesn't get registered on Vista if UAC (User Account Control) is enabled. To make activation work UAC need to be turned off. Can be done with msconfig > tools > Disable UAC, reboot.

.


Once again, thanks to Fubar for telling many of us what we can't
figure out for ourselves.

And thanks also to those other "rare" ones who help us out with
good, solid, useful information.

As far as I'm concerned, you are each worth millions -- no, wait,
that's not worth anything any more -- OK, you are worth your
weight in gold.


Garfey


.

Activation does not work in Vista. I ran it as Administrator but the installed application says it is Unregistered.

No matter what I do, i always end up with the 21 dday trial version. I've run activate.exe as administrator and follwed all instructions, still 21 days trial.

Vista users having trouble installing this program, please use administrator mode not only to activate and install, but also to run it otherwise the program thinks it's a trial version. Check out comment 26 for the details of how to do it.

It looks basic but capable for those who need it. I suspect developers would have the biggest use for this. Home users unless they program for a hobby or maintain a web site will probably have little use for this.

I've done a couple of quick tests of the program, it seems pretty good but it should have help explaining which syntax of regular expressions it uses (there are quite a few variants, some are quite powerful), and a drop down list of file types would be handy (so html, All text files (*.doc;*.txt;*.me;*.html;*.htm; etc, image files). It is an improvement over the windows default find and I recommend it.

Just what I needed - I may have to replace a link string in hundreds of html files, this will do it in an instant AND generate backups. Thanks GAOTD, this is the fastest, lightest, easiest to use such programme I've seen AND it does the job perfectly.

Doesn't work on Windows XP Pro, SP 3. I get the following error:

"Trial expired"

I even activated it before as the readme file indicates. This is the first software that hasn't worked for me.

Installed fine on XP SP2.
Other than a long time to prepare (obviously scanning the enormous directory tree I specified), it works fast.

Thumbs down, though, because once found, you cannot open the Windows Explorer to the folder containing the found file. How lame is that?

Hopefully, the next revision will be better.

Looks decent.. but I just tested and it doesn't work as smoothly as my favorite tool.
If you just want a good 'search for text' tool, use Windows Grep (http://www.wingrep.com/). Right-click any folder, set the 'File Specifications' field to *.* and put your search string in. I use it all the time for programming.. looking for all instances of a phrase. Also handy when downloading a large php script/wordpress template and trying to find a specific phrase you're wanting to remove. And it's free! For text string searching, there's nothing better.

Could not activate on Vista HOme Premium 32-bit. I activated and ran setup as Administrator twice, and it shows that it is not registered. Have uninstalled again.

I'd love to see SEARCH GT again, I only got to try it one day and I had to reformat, but what I saw I LOVED. Thanks for another alternative to try!

Twice I downloaded this one thinking that i had gotten a bad copy but alas each time I activate and run setup as administrator I still get a 21 trial version only so i pass on this one thanks anyway

Come on people - this is a SEARCH and REPLACE tool, not a file finder like agentransack. If you need to change one item, say a date, or perhaps a few lines such as a name and address in multiple files and you want to do it quickly, then this is a useful tool for you. And yes, BKReplaceEm is a good free alternative.

#20 Lnk - "Can’t anyone hire a decent English translator?"

Sure they can, if they're willing to pay for the service. The going rate for a qualified and/or certified professional, experienced translator is about 0.10 euro per word -- for agencies. Direct clients are normally charged twice that. So a 400-word page would run about 40-80 euro. It can add up very quickly.

And sure, you can find cheaper translators and agencies, and some of them might even be quite good at it. But I've had to correct far too many of their horrors -- and, BTW, I seldom accept work for as little as the going rate... ;-)


#32 Raja - Loved your comment! LOL

- -
~ A Translator

@#46 - I got a hit on a DLL and a log file when I was searching for a routine/message when testing. This leads me to believe that any file that the program can see when recursing a directory for files will be searched for matching values.

This utility will come in very handy. I know there are others available that are free and perform very similar functions, but being a programmer/developer, I need to find things that Windows just can't find period. To me, it was worth the shot to give this program a try. I could write my own as I have done in the past but those have been for specific reasons and nothing as dynamic as this program.

I will keep it as a tool along with others. Some of the tests I have ran have proved to work very well so I am happy with it. Thanks GOTD!

http://desktop.google.com/

How about making a Google search on your computer? Fastest and easiest search I've ever tried - and it's always free.

#38 - Do you know how to use the 'scroll bar'? If you aren't interested in what a person has posted, use it.

I downloaded and installed this utility because my Search seems to be fouled. However, I uninstalled this product within 5 minutes because there's an icon with a description that says "case insensative". Once I see typographical errors or spelling mistakes in a program, I uninstall it. I feel that shows sloppiness on the outset and I do not trust the program logic at that point. Just my two cents.

There are two freeware programs in this category that I'm aware of that far exceed todays offer. The links & system requirements are posted below.

"Locate 32" can be downloaded here in either 32 or 64 bit versions:

http://locate32.net/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

It comes in several languages & you should find yours here:

http://locate32.net/content/section/5/39/

And, "Agent Ransack" can be downloaded here:

http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/

Help & Manual for "Agent Ransack" is available to, here:

http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/Page.aspx?page=links

It's called, WYSIWYG help authoring tool designed for novice users as well as for skilled authors.
I would advise all XP & Vista users especially, check these our before downloading todays give away. Neither of the afore mentioned two cost a cent & can be reinstalled anytime. Neither need to be installed or used in the "run as administrator" mode in Vista. Once again, this proves, a program, free here for one day, doesn't make it as good or better then freeware, provided you know where to locate such freeware!!

I just tried it real fast with just a couple of phrases in a doc and it found what it should have. I also have SearchGT installed, which is one of my fave giveaways, and it did not find anything. This proggy searched for word/words in a doc to where SearchGT only searches for the title of the doc. So bottom line is, I will keep this one and try it out some more since it does things that the other proggy doesn't do.
Thanks GOFT and Midlinesoft.

#38 - If you voted that someone's comment wasn't useful, and the counter didn't change, then someone else who saw that comment before you must have voted that it was useful. Do realise that the ratings shown before you vote are the ratings when you loaded the page, so they may have changed between you loading the page and actually voting.

GOTD's rating system is the same for everyone - the ratings for one person are just as honest and truthful as any other.

@#20. And how many languages do you speak?

I could REALLY use something like this so I will download it but I won't install it until someone can tell me what formats it supports. I often need to search for text strings. I use Agent Ransack for that because ONLY Agent Ransack searches 95% of my files, including all my information managers. Everything else I ever tried searched only text, html, and doc files and maybe a few other big name word processors which makes them just about useless for me. An application with Agent Ransack's search capabilities that could also replace text would put a big smile on my face.

SO-if anybody know just what file types this baby will search, I'd sure like to know.

I’m having an afternoon and evening without computers for a change, so thought I’d post Thursday’s game really early before I shut down

There are two games for Thursday, called Facewound a 2D shooter and Action Doom 2: Urban Brawl a 3D FPS game. Both have received excellent reviews on the net. i.e. for Facewound’s excellent ragdoll physics and the cartoon nature of the FPS environment in Urban Brawl. These games are definitely not for the children.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/4056#post-43531

All you people putting down this light search tool must have Vista. Because either you forgot about how crappy XP's search tool is, or you have like 10 files on your computer so searching for you is no problem. I prefer EFS (Effective File Search) which is very fast and efficient, but anyone who has XP and questions this tool needs to actually search for something or get a clue. Microsoft should be EXTREMELY ashamed. Up through Windows 98 MS's search tool was decent. Now it stinks. I think Vista's is much better, but since 2000 MS's search was the biggest joke in the industry.

Looks like a very useful tool, but I'm not sure if it'll beat what I currently use:

AstroGrep (file search): http://astrogrep.sourceforge.net/
TextRep (file search/replace): http://no-nonsense-software.com/freeware/

I'll stick with Ultra-editor or textpad. Much better tools in my opinion.

Have inspected the prog carefully and determined is for finding things on the machine.

Guess this is the best give-away for me since i visit this site.

Finds things fast& as far as i tested it did find everything as i expected.

Will be very helpful to find unwanted files or forgotten ones *g*

I have to disagree with your assessment of this offering, (german)werwölfchen. I did try the regular expression search and replace. One problem is, without documentation, knowing which flavor of regular expressions it supports. As near as I can tell, the replacement string is just treated as text, even if the search string is a regular expression. To me, that just puts this one notch above a "hello, world" program. As for Windows Search 4, I did rebuild my index, and the MHTML iFilter is defective. OK, Billy-boosters, tell me again how he's such a genius and the greatest programmer in the world.

A very quick search yielded grepWin, which supports search and replace regular expressions.

#26, doguru, it doesn't really matter for this particular offering, but on Vista you can set "Run as administrator" in the shortcut (Advanced...), which allows the program to run as an administrator if the program is launched by the user via a shortcut, but not if the program is called directly, as by another program. That's a little safer, but which method is more desirable depends upon the situation. You may want the program to have administrator privileges when it's called by other software, such as for automation.

#17 - I find your game comments totally inappropriate on this venue.

Also, of questionable MORAL CHARACTER, is your ability to NOT ALLOW USERS HERE to find your comments totally useless, as I do and as some other people do. (In all fairness, not everyone finds your posting inappropriate.)

What am I talking about? When I clickd "NO" on "Did you find this comment useful?", it did not raise the counter by one.

Is this honest?



Don

For rapidly finding files, I don't think Search GT has any rivals? Without any doubt whatsoever, Search GT has proven to be the most valuable program, that I've downloaded from GAOTD.

With regards to search/replace of text strings in multiple files, I'll most likely be holding firm to a decade's worth of faith in BK ReplaceEm. Bulk find/replace programs can be VERY POWERFUL tools indeed. It's wise to exercise caution, until their potential and how they work, is fully understood.

For me, BK ReplaceEm is a good example of the if it aint broke - don't fix it adage. I've been using BK for longer than I care to remember, and (as far as I'm aware) the current version 2.0 has not been updated in many years. Sadly, BK ReplaceEm now seems to have become yet another superb program, without a homepage. As best I recall, BK once had a great homepage, with lots of useful info, and tutorials. I might have missed finding a new hompage in my search?,...but BK can still be downloaded from sites such as SnapFiles here

I've got countless thousands of 3D related files, which sometimes require editing en masse. Most of these files make references to other files on my PC. On the most basic level, let's say I've moved the content that is referred to, from one partition to another. It's simplicity itself to use BK to replace all occurrences of (say) E:\ with F:\ in many thousands of diverse and often sizeable files simultaneously. I actually find it a bit frightening just how rapidly BK does it's stuff. But my years of experience with BK, have given birth to a trust, which allows me to set BK loose, without the need for any safe backups. The accuracy is always perfect, but (most crucially) I now understand how to communicate with BK to relate precisely what I am intending to do. For new users to software like this, I would certainly advise opting to keep backups, when working with crucial files.

As with MultiFind, BK ReplaceEm includes support for regular expressions. But there's probably only a very select few, who can claim to be well-versed in the usage of regular expressions. For most of us, the benefits of BK will most likely be found elsewhere. What I particularly like about BK is that it makes it so very easy to search and replace sizeable blocks of text (CTRL+C CTRL+V is used for most copying and pasting operations in BK, rather than right-clicking). BK has another very useful feature, that I've yet to see in any other program (?), which permits the search and replacement of ranges of text. A Range Replacement allows you to perform a replacement on text whose beginning and ending remains the same, but whose middle contents might change. It can be as powerful as regular expressions, but is simplicity itself to understand. I can't begin to tell you just how useful this one feature alone, has been to me over the years.

Sure, there's a learning curve with BK, but the rewards are well worth it.