Microsoft has made a lot of significant changes from the way things worked in Windows XP to how they work now in Windows Vista and Windows 7. One of the most frustrating changes in my opinion is Windows Search. I used the search function in XP on a regular basis to do everything from a basic search for a file to more advanced things like searching for certain text within a file. In the effort to make things "simpler" Microsoft has removed the interface that used to allow you to do that.

What Microsoft did was replaced the GUI (graphical user interface) that worked well along with simple commands that we all knew like using the asterisk (*) in searches to find things, with a set of commands that are totally different and not easily found. Here are a few examples of common searches in the old XP style and the new commands that need to be entered in to the Search box on Windows 7:

These are just a few common examples of how to use the new Windows Search Advanced Query Syntax. Here are some other tips on how to make Windows Search a little more useful:

1. Go to the Start Orb -> Computer then right click on your system drive (usually C:) and choose properties.
2. Make sure the box that says "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" is checked. Hit OK.
3. Go to Control Panel -> Indexing Options -> Modify and make sure that all locations you want included in your search index are selected. Hit OK.
4. In the Indexing Options window hit Advanced. In the Advanced Options window, hit the File Types tab. Select any of the file types that you want Windows to search the contents of and make sure that the radio button at the bottom of the window is set to Index Properties and Files Contents. Hit OK.
5. Hit Close.

After changing these options Windows will need to update the Search Index on your computer, this may take a while so be patient.