neoSearch for Windows

Searching is one area where Windows leaves room for improvement; indexing is another. KoshyJohn's NeoSearch can help with that. Its unique algorithms index (and re-index) your system very quickly, and it searches much more quickly than you can type, returning results immediately. It supports wildcards and indexes and searches network shares as well as your regular and removable drives, as you specify. As with any search tool worth its bytes, it arranges and sorts results in various ways. Its Super Navigation feature quickly accesses found items at the source.

The first time we opened NeoSearch, the program's Read Me file also opened, but it's more of a quick start guide, actually. It explains NeoSearch's three basic functions: Indexing, Searching, and Super Navigation. With several indexing options, NeoSearch can include and exclude directories and file types to make your searches either faster or more specific. NeoSearch indexed our system very quickly, and we could re-index it at any time from the menu bar; a helpful option for people who like to store data on external drives. The actual search tool is a square dialog with rounded edges, a menu bar with Index, Options, and Help, and a search field. We started by typing in a variety of searches. NeoSearch started returning results right away. The first six entries are dynamic results, meaning NeoSearch starts searching as soon as you start typing and returns increasingly specific results as you type. Dynamic searching saves keystrokes since you'll often see what you want long before you've finished typing, and it has the added advantage of finding results that might have alternate (or incorrect) spelling or similar meanings. Results appeared in the program's main window; clicking an item opened it in Explorer or its default program. Options provide for Basic settings, as well as Include and Exclude lists and indexing and re-indexing options.

We've tried many search tools that do a better job than the built-in Windows tool, but NeoSearch does a better job than most of those, too. This fast, free search tool offers a definite improvement, and it's definitely worth a look.