Google Desktop Search 1.0 Beta
R. Mohan, Oct 17, 2004 0000 hrs IST
If there is one IT company that has changed the way we surf the Internet, then it has to be Google.
Very fast search once indexed, Neat categorization
Advanced search options
If there is one IT company that has changed the way we surf the Internet, especially while searching for data online, then it has to be Google. Easily the best search engine in the business for quite some time now, Google has gone a long way to make life much more comfortable for the end-user.
Stunning the world with its Gmail service, Google is also introducing other services like a Web browser, SMS services and many more down the line. Being the best online search engine so far, Google has just gone one step ahead by releasing its Desktop Search utility. Still in the Beta stage, we shall take a quick look and see if this is a good move from the giant to search files the offline way.
Offline Indexing of the hard drive
The Google Desktop Search is a 446 KB download that works only with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. After installation, the utility resides in the system tray. Similar to Cathy and other file-search software, this one too does a complete index of the hard drive on your PC. The indexing process normally takes 5-7 hours. The software scans for the text files and office documents like Word, Excel, Powerpoint. It scans the mails in your Outlook/Outlook Express, files in the Web history and chat conversations from AOL Instant Messenger as well.
Once the indexing is done, files are searched in under a second, almost on par with Cathy. The top bar gives a clear indicator of files under the four categories, which include emails, files, chat and Web history. The results interface is exactly the same while surfing the Web. The opening page shows the number of files indexed. The 'Status' link below gives the number of files indexed under the four categories and the time indexed. You can sort the results again by relevance or by date.
While files are opened in the respective application, emails can be viewed with complete description like body of the message; subject line and other required fields as well as the entire threads. Searching for past conversations in AOL messenger is good enough compared to MSN's feature of saving the log of all conversations. The 'Preferences' window gives you an option to personalize your search for only specific categories.
The presence of the advanced search is also pretty useful, but not very impressive. You can specify not to index specific folders in the drive by just typing the entire path. The same theory is applicable even for Web sites. You can include search by phrase, which includes quotes and file types. What's more, you can integrate the Desktop search to be part of the Web search. Data is also picked up from the cache and shown if found. Thumbnails of images found are also a neat feature.
Conclusion
Indexing the entire hard drive might take some time depending on machine configuration. Although there are a few advanced search options, it is not that effective enough. Also, prior to installation, the software forced me to remove a couple of programs like NetLimiter because of some conflict. An entire list of programs which may conflict with this program is mentioned on their homepage. Overall, this tiny utility has been neatly designed and looks promising even if still in the Beta stage.
Homepage: http://www.desktop.google.com/
Download Link: Click Here
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I have windows vista ultimate edition with my PC but the tv tuner card of frontech is not supported by this OS it is asking for some additional files..............
renuka | Bangalore | 17/07/07 01:54 PM | Report abuse Reply
jil 7000 frontech i need sound driver for this sound card
fsone | ruwi | 29/11/06 02:08 PM | Report abuse Reply
Google desktop though very versatile, I often find myself uncomforatble when using its index utility. Consider that I want to build index. Now the problem is that Google will start building it when the system is free. Now say I am reading a textfile & I also know that I won't be doing a heavy task. In short I want that indexing service shouldn't pause and must continue in background. Moreover I must have controll over my software on my PC! I mean I should be able to switch on/off the indexing service apart from Google's Intelligence to judge that the system usage is minimum or zero & that the indexing should be done. Infact this is the very reason I uninstalled it and rather resorted to MSN Search Toolbar. It is far far user friendly than Google, Though not that impressive. [Comments invited. Please ignore the typos.]
Ankur | Ludhiana | 05/05/06 08:56 PM | Report abuse Reply
hey guys after reading all the comments am really confused should i download it or should i leave it???????
sarim | patna | 28/01/06 10:25 PM | Report abuse Reply
R. Mohan, read the comments. You suck!
Van Helsing | New Delhi | 18/10/04 01:59 PM | Report abuse Reply
I am so much more intelligent from reading this comment. Not.
Not New Delhi F | New Delhi ha ha | 30/09/05 05:03 PM | Report abuse
I am so much more intelligent from reading this comment. Not.
Not New Delhi F | New Delhi ha ha | 30/09/05 05:03 PM | Report abuse
Google Desktop Search doesn't only work with IE, but works fine with Firefox, Mozilla and Opera, but it doesn't index the histiry and cache, that's all.
Martin Cleaver | Amsterdam | 18/10/04 08:16 PM | Report abuse Reply
Do you know does Google desktop index Opera email? I can't seem to get it to recognize Opera's email files, and there don't seem to be plugs in for it yet. ???
Stewart Taggart | Sydney, Australia | 02/04/05 04:25 AM | Report abuse
Does it allow boolean (and / or) searches ?
Ravi | Bangalore | 19/02/05 10:44 AM | Report abuse Reply
I cannot uninstall Google desktop, because I have to be logged in as the user that originally installed it. The problem is that I have already deleted that user. I cant recreate the user because the domain that the user belonged to no longer exists. What do I do to uninstall?
Anton | Sydney | 06/12/04 07:16 AM | Report abuse Reply
check out the FAQs or go to the help section at: http://desktop.google.com/support
Anonymous | san francisco | 08/12/04 07:45 AM | Report abuse
I'm having same problem also; on new domain and the old user that installed google desktop doesn't exist anymore and I can't uninstall it! There are no answers in the FAQ or about pages on google.
Dan | Asheville | 20/01/05 07:18 PM | Report abuse
I enjoy this typing program very much
Della Crane | Dryden Ontario | 09/11/04 01:16 AM | Report abuse Reply
makes ur computer slow..and isnt that useful a utility..try searching something like .Vb or .Vbs ..u will agree , it sucks
Syed Faisal | Srinagar | 26/10/04 10:06 AM | Report abuse Reply
This article is written by a dimwit? The indexing is done "offline" (the author talked about "slow connection speed"). Also, it takes 5hours+ because it indexes only when the machine is idle...
Anand | Sunnyvale | 18/10/04 01:57 AM | Report abuse Reply
Thanks for clearing my doubt, Anand. I decided not to use it after reading that comment in the article. But was wondering later how the google tool manages to transfer the whole of my harddrive capacity to its website in under 5 hrs.
Mani | Lucknow | 18/10/04 11:42 AM | Report abuse
The tool does not transfer your hard drive to the Google website. Check out the faq's at http://www.desktop.google.com/about.html#privacy
Veeraj | Pune | 21/10/04 12:49 PM | Report abuse
This utility could have been good if for heavens it doesn't confilict with so many apps like IDM etc, the whole list is on it's website, it requires to uninstall them for it to function, weird i guess
Subiet | Living In Cyber Trance | 19/10/04 12:48 PM | Report abuse Reply
who says it doesnt support other browsers? Guys do ur homework before publishing anything. It works perfectly fine under Firefox. And it's working on my machine right now for those who want to know. I give this software 5 stars * * * * *
Rahul Jawale | Mumbai | 18/10/04 12:18 AM | Report abuse Reply
Rahul and Van, Please understand that when you do a search, the results include your past web cache also (All the websites you have browsed recently. This feature is available only from the internet explorer Cache. For example, if you are using Mozilla, your Mozilla's cache wont be searched.
Jaganath | Bangalore | 18/10/04 02:43 PM | Report abuse
I agree .It was a bit offensive. But then he should have mentioned it , isnt it?
Rahul Jawale | Mumbai | 18/10/04 11:41 PM | Report abuse
Google says it does not support other browsers. Just because it works in other browsers, does not mean those browsers are supported. There is a difference. If the software screws up in Opera then you cannot say it isnt working. But if it screws up in IE then you can take google to task. I agree though that the author should have mentioned that it does work in other browsers.
Varun | Atlanta | 19/10/04 10:51 AM | Report abuse
Onepoint, one questions. First off this isn't anything new Sun had Searchit over seven years ago. They were too early. Second when will there be a OS X client?
Bob Douglas | Broomfield, CO | 18/10/04 08:34 PM | Report abuse Reply
Oh really? I didnt know . Thanx. I should search for it. Is it still available? I agree there should have been other versions for different OSes. Especially for Linux.
Rahul Jawale | Mumbai | 18/10/04 11:43 PM | Report abuse
I agree neat app. only where did you find (for descktop) even limited advanced search
Tork | Antibes | 18/10/04 05:11 PM | Report abuse Reply
Well on my almost filled to brim 80gb drive it took less than 2hours for indexing.Rest of my machine is standard stuff:nforce2,2600+,512mb ram. And it works with both mozilla and opera,it only uses the default browser and if u r lame enough to use IE as default browser(R.Mohan apparently is) then god help ur soul. As for speed:100 times faster than windows search function and its still beta!!! Wait for the final product.
Siddharth Mish | Delhi | 18/10/04 03:53 PM | Report abuse Reply
You mentioned that Google Desktop Search is compatible only with Internet Explorer. Correction! Its works perfectly on my browser: Mozilla Firefox 1.00 PR.
Van Helsing | New Delhi | 18/10/04 01:56 PM | Report abuse Reply
this facility should be designed for ALL operating systems. Bit of a letdown really.
James Mills | Tonbridge, UK | 18/10/04 01:10 PM | Report abuse Reply
Sems to a very useful utility
Sharad Agrawal | India | 18/10/04 12:55 PM | Report abuse Reply
anyone compared it with copernicus? been using copernicus since it was highlighted on techtree. happy with its performance. anyone can offer any compelling reason to change apart from the google name?
Emil | Mumbai | 18/10/04 11:55 AM | Report abuse Reply