Google Desktop includes the Vista-esque Google sidebar.
Windows Desktop Search sits neatly in the Windows taskbar.
Copernic Desktop Search has a neat preview feature.
Hard-disk real estate is so plentiful and cheap now, finding what we really want or need among the gigabytes of detritus is becoming an issue. We look at some popular programs to banish your file finding nightmares.
Last week, in an article about optimising hard drives, we admitted that we're digital pack rats. So, we're continually bumping up against our hard-disk size and burning files off to DVD.
So, armed with our three easy steps, maintaining our hard-disk in tip-top condition is simple, but finding the files we need among 120GB-plus of images, songs, movies, Web pages, Word docs, and other personal data can be a challenge, especially when we need something ASAP.
The big boys of online search (Google, Yahoo, and MSN) all offer desktop apps that work reasonably well. Despite accusations of bloat and recent security issues, Google Desktop is the king so far -- most likely because of its domination of online search. It features, amongst other things, a very Vista-esque sidebar and the Google toolbar for Internet Explorer.
Yahoo tried to compete with a free Yahoo Desktop Search product but stopped development to partner with X1, perhaps most famous for its e-mail search. Yahoo's new desktop search app is now simply X1 Professional Client, which offers a 30-day trial for its US$50 software.
Don't worry, if you prefer to keep third-party products to a minimum, Microsoft still wants to own your desktop search too. Its free client, Windows Desktop Search, adds a simple search box to your Windows taskbar and is widely used, free, and integrated well with the Microsoft Office Software suite.
Among the small guys, one of the user favorites at CNET is Copernic Desktop Search. It's free and has some nice features, like a customisable preview pane.
A new program (still in beta) is tag2find, which incorporates the popular practice of adding "tags" or keywords to your files. You're probably familiar with ID3 tags for your MP3 music files; tag2find uses the same concept, but with all of your files.
What do you use to keep the files on your hard drive organised? Tell us about it in the comments.
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