Windows 10: search engine worthless or how do i use it

i keep loosing files while moving them and i cant find them with the search engine ive just lost several thousand photos and dont know what to do

:)

 

Disable Cortana

How, oh how, please tell me how, to disable the worst excuse ever in the history of computing, lousy, worthless, memory eating, cpu using, little witch of a search engine called Cortana?!?

I have tried all the ways to turn her off but she keeps coming back and every time I open my Task Manager, there she is eating my CPU and Memory!

Microsoft you really buggered that one up bad! I WILL use my Firefox or Chrome browsers and I WILL use my Google search engine and I WILL use my paltry old fashioned explorer search in the very rare case I need to look for something on my computer. I WILL
NOT USE THAT MONSTROSITY that you have tried to ram down my throat.

So, one last time, HOW DO I KILL THE WITCH?

 

How do I change my default search engine?

I prefer a search engine other than Bing. It doesn't appear that I can change it.

If I can change it, how do I do that? If I can't, why not?

 

*.jpg should show you where all the "Picures.jpg" are located!! if they are another extension just use that extension like *.gif, *.png etc. etc.
Now then I have found it lots safer to copy files to the new location the delete the ones from the old location just incase something goes wrong.
You should have all your data backed up so just restore to the new location
If you don't have them backed up, you now know why you should have.

if you need more help you'll have to give us more information how you were trying to move them from where to where, copy paste or just highlighted and dragged and dropped if drag and drop look in folder close to the folder you intended to drop them in? if you deleted them by mistake look for them in your Recycle Bin.

 

Hello James, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

In addition, double check to make sure that you have the location you moved them to included in the index.

*Arrow Add or Remove Search Index Locations in Windows 10 Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

It may take a while before the index automatically updates itself to include the changes you made to your files. However, you can manually rebuild the index as needed to force it to update.

*Arrow Rebuild Search Index in Windows 10 Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

 

i was attempting to drag them from one place to the other and since i had just uploaded them to the computer i was trying to put them on my other .hard drive i dont know what you mean by back them up but i sure wish i had too. one thing for sure is the windows 10 search bar is worthless to find anything or i dont know how to make it work right my last operating system could find stuff this one cant even find stuff right on my desk top

 

the directions to change the search wont work because im not getting a icon to change them in control panel

 

i dont know how to open the control panel in icons view where is that option

 

The tutorial below linked in step 1 of the tutorial I posted above can help show you how to open the Control Panel in icons view. *Smile

Open Control Panel in Windows 10 Windows 10 General Tips Tutorials

 

If you find configuring Windows search complicated then try one of the popular free 3rd party tools that finds things on all your internal disks and partitions instantly (find as you type). (See below). These are much easier to use.

First considering Windows search, and why you may not be finding things:
Note:
1. Cortana search of files and folders is basically limited to what is indexed by Windows search - and by design will not find any executable file or dll.
2. If you open file explorer, there is a search field there.
This is more flexible, and will find indexed and non-indexed items below the point in the file hierarchy at which you have the window open. However, if some folders are not indexed nd some are, search can still be painfully slow.
3. If you move files or create files, the index is not updated until your PC is more or less idle.

A search syntax can be used:
Advanced Query Syntax
- but is hard to remember if only used occasionally.

Second: Some 3rd party tools: (free)
Ultrasearch, Everything by void tools, Locate32 (which I have used for some years).

These index all file and folder names quickly, and update that index periodically.
The search parameters are all GUI based, so you can readily select what you are looking for (unlike Cortana or file explorer search).

 

1 way - Cortana search:




Actually you need Indexing Options to configure Windows search:




Click that to see: