There are many extensive searches that can be done to help you locate files. You can search by using the tab on the start menu. Then you can pick whether you want to search by file name, type of file, date of the file, by keywords within the file, or by the size of the file. There are numerous ways to find a specific document or file you need.

Some symbols can help you search easier. Use the wildcard symbols * and ? To help specify what you need. The * also ca be used to look for certain types of files. If you want all wma files, then search for *.wma. ? replaces any character in the file name. For example, if you are searching for files on Zimbabwe, but are unsure of how to spell it, you could type in Zimbab??.

You can use expressions to help you locate information. You could use "File 1" and "File 2" to search for different files. Type in "File 1" "File 2" to look for 1 or 2. If you type in "File 1"-"File2", you will search for File 1 and not File 2.

Local hard drives are defined as all the hard drives found on the machine. Using X:/ simply tell which drive to look on for search. For a specific folder, click on Browse and choose which folder you want.

Searching by date can mean many different ways to find files. You can find your files by when they were created, when you last modified them, or when they were last accessed. You can set parameters between two different dates or within the previous day, week, or month.

Size criteria can be helpful if it is a particularly small or large file. You can say larger than X or smaller than X using bytes or kilobytes.

Text in documents is easiest to use if you know what specific document you need. When using the case sensitive option, you must remember that ANIMAL, Animal, and animal are not recognized as the same word. Whole words will only help if you use the whole word and not just a part of it. If you use "Ani", you may get hits for Animal or Animation or just words that have "Ani" in them.

Use the Unicode option to search for text strings in documents such as Microsoft Office.

RegEx in the search string is used for Regular Expressions.

Local Search Operators are used in finding multiple text files. Using AND will help you find two different files. OR makes any of the search come up. XOR will reverse the operation. NOT omits that specific information. Search for File 1 and File 2, NOT File 3.

Regular Expressions can be quite helpful when performing advanced searches. * after a string represents any last character repetitions. A period . represents any character. $ is used at the end of a file. ^ is used at the start of the file.

Go to your help manual and find out what other icons can be used in searching for files or documents.