SearchInform Desktop Free for Windows

Building the index takes longer than we'd like, but the results are worth the wait. For quick searches, just input keywords into the program's search box and hit Enter. Advanced search options let you find similar words, specify a range of relevancy, and look for files containing a particular phrase. A standout feature, the Stop Words Manager, blocks searches on a preloaded but alterable list of common words in English, French, and Russian.

We also like the preview pane, which highlights the search term in the currently selected file. We ran into a bit of trouble with missing help files, but don't worry too much about setup time. If you have as many files as we do, you'll soon recoup it with interest.