Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Feature on Computer

Useful Results

When you do a Desktop search, you'll go to a page showing you the most relevant search results, each of which include the file name and a brief snippet with your search terms highlighted. You can filter for a particular type of item -- only files, for instance -- by using the links at the top of the page. You can now also preview your Desktop search results right inside the browser (no more waiting for an entire application to open just to verify that you've found the file you were looking for).

Quick Search Box

The fastest way to search the web, and your own computer, is to use the Quick Search Box in the center of your desktop (simply press the "Ctrl" button twice to call up the search box, and press "Ctrl" twice again to hide it). Just type a few letters or words into the search box and your top results pop up instantly. You can also use it to launch applications without having to surf the Start menu; for example, you can launch Microsoft Word by typing "wor" into the Quick Search Box and selecting "Microsoft Word" in the list of results that appears. Or, simply type in your search term and press "Enter" to search the web.

Smart Indexing

After you install it, Google Desktop starts indexing the email, files and web history stored on your computer. This one-time indexing occurs only when your computer is idle for more than 30 seconds, so it shouldn't slow down your machine's performance, but depending on the number of items, this process can take a total of several hours. Desktop also makes sure your index stays up to date by adding new email as you receive it, files as you update them and web pages as you view them.

Multiple File Types

Google Desktop automatically indexes, and allows you to search the full text over.

Finding Deleted Files

Google Desktop creates cached copies (snapshots) of your files and other items each time you view them, and stores these copies on your computer's hard drive. As a result, you can often use Desktop to find items you accidently deleted, instead of having to recreate them from scratch.

Advanced Search Form

Clicking "Advanced Search" next to the search box on the Desktop homepage brings up an advanced search form. You can easily specify the type(s) of search you want to do without having to remember specific search operators. You can also restrict what time period your results are from.


0 comments:

Post a Comment