Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, Second Edition

Start→Search

The humble Search command looks no more special than anything else on the Start menu. In Windows XP, however, it’s a newly revised powerhouse that’s far more complex to navigate. Microsoft has even given it a new name—Search Companion. You’ll probably use it often.

The Search function can quickly find all kinds of computer-ish things: file and folder icons, computers on your network, Web sites, email addresses, and phone numbers.

Finding Files and Folders

If you save your files exclusively into the My Documents folder (Section 1.16), you’ll have little need to use the Search function to locate your files. You’ll always know where they are: right there in that folder.

Every now and then, however, you won’t remember where you filed something, or you’ll download something from the Internet and not be able to find it again, or you’ll install something and not know where to look for it. In those situations, the Search command is just what you need (Figure 1-11). It lets you look for a particular file or folder based on its description—by its name, size, date stamp, and so on.

NOSTALGIA CORNERWho Let the Dog Out?

Microsoft is at it again, adding cutesy cartoon characters to its software. Fortunately, the Search program works just as well without the dog as with it.

If you’d just as soon not have little Rover eyeing you with his little anthropomorphic 3-D eyes while you do your searching, it’s easy enough to get rid of him. Either click “Turn off animated character” on the current ...