Have you ever misplaced a file you've been working on? Have you ever wanted to find a document covering a particular topic, but you don't know the name? Windows offers a very powerful tool to help you find just about anything.
In XP, click Start/Search/Find Files or Folders and in Vista click on the Windows Orb and start typing your search (no need to click on anything else or even hit "Enter"). If you know the exact name of the file, you can type in that name. However, most of us probably don't know the exact name, so this is where we can use the other features to track down that missing file.
Let's say last month you wrote up a document about the President. You can use the Containing Text box to type "President" and it will bring up a list of all files containing those words (Vista automatically catalogues all file contents, so there is no longer a need to check this box). You can also do a search based on a certain time period. If you want to find all the files created on March 15, you can enter that date under the Date tab and use that to narrow down your search. If you want to get even more in-depth, you can search based on file size or type under the Size or Advanced options. From the file menu you also have some more options like case sensitive searches.
Try a search for a file containing your own name and see what comes up! Make sure the C: drive (or whatever folder you want to search) is selected in the Look In field.
