Copernic - Desktop Search Engine

[Winnow]

Sweet Jesus this app rocks. You may have heard about Google Desktop which indexes your files and allows you to search for your local files using the Google interface. Copernic is another free desktop search engine which I think is better.

I recently bought a TeraStation (1 terabyte stand alone file server connected to my network via gigabit lan w/jumbo frames) and while transferring most of my files onto their new storage home, I realized that even with nice directory structures, it's still a pain to use file explorer to find stuff.

At first I thought of Google Desktop and looked into that but while researching that, I found Copernic. This is an app that you won't be able to live without once you've used it.

I have a shit-ton of files of all types. It took about an hour for Copernic to index all of my files. That's amazing considering it indexes the bodies of all your text files including emails, word docs, txt, pdf, etc. As an example, I have several years of Winnow logs files, some which are as large as 80mb of pure text, and this thing blew through them like nobody's business.

I originally wanted something better than Window's search engine to find my scanned comics. I have over 6,000 of them and although well organized, the dirctories go pretty deep sometimes. Coperic is speedy. I type in "Mystique" and all my Mystique comics are there fast including mini series, etc. So nice.

I tried out the search feature by looking for a few key words that I knew would be in one of my EQ log files. Fast fast fast, it found every file that contained the word and if you enter multiple words (doesn't even have to be an exact string, just all the words have to be in the document) it narrows the search on the fly. It also tells you how many other non text files contain the words (movies, pictures, email, etc) I found the text I was looking for in seconds and additionally, the preview window has all the search words highlighted with the ability to search the document for each occurance. Soooo nice.

It contains a split screen preview window and of course, you can launch the files.

The integrated into the taskbar (optional) Desktop bar is very handy

Here's a list of the key features:

Copernic Desktop Search's key features:


Lets you perform sub-second searches of your PC's files and emails in a user-friendly interface.
Enables you to search from any application, anytime. The search bar conveniently integrates with the Windows taskbar.
Offers specific refining fields for each desktop search category.
Uses your computer resources intelligently when indexing documents so as not to impair your work by throttling back while you are using other software.
Displays and filters matching results as you type.
Quickly creates and updates the index in the background with no limitation concerning the number of documents to be indexed.
Delivers advanced fault tolerance and recovery architecture to ensure everlasting index integrity.
Automatically indexes on-the-fly new and updated files in the background (Windows NT/2000/XP required), including new emails sent or received with Microsoft Outlook
Supports advanced Boolean operators (AND/+, OR, NOT/-), quotes (exact phrase or whole word) and parentheses.
Lets you enter keywords directly into the search box located in the Windows taskbar using a keyboard shortcut from any application.
Lets you preview Web pages, text files, e-mails and pictures for selected results without needing to open any other application to analyze document’s relevancy or cut and paste a selection.
Scrolls document previews directly to the first word or phrase that you are looking for.
Offers specific sorting and grouping fields for each search category in order to ease result viewing.
Offers plenty of time-saving shortcuts to other applications via links and right-click menus available in search categories.
Offers many customizable options to configure various features and parameters.
Highlights search keywords with a different color for each keyword in result lists and previews of text files or documents.
Support Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla and Netscape 6x./7.x browsers.



Available desktop search categories:


Files: Office documents (Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel worksheets), WordPerfect documents, Adobe Acrobat documents, HTML pages, Text/RTF documents, and more
Emails: Outlook/Outlook Express emails and attachments
Music: MP3, WMA, WAV, etc.
Pictures: JPEG, GIF, etc.
Videos: MPEG, QuickTime, Windows Media, etc.
Favorites/Bookmarks: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla or Netscape 6x/7.x favorites
History: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla or Netscape 6x/7.x history
Contacts: Outlook Express/Outlook, Windows Address Book

I recommend getting the beta 1.5 instead of the 1.2 version as it supports additionally:

Mozilla Thunderbird email search
Indexing of emails, attachments and contacts from Thunderbird 1.0 or later
Eudora email search
Indexing of emails and attachments from Eudora 5.0 or later
Smart indexing of network drives
Full support for indexing network folders
Intelligent detection of network connection availability
Improved metadata indexing for pictures, music and videos
Search within JPEG picture comments (using EXIF metadata)
Search iTunes songs by artist, album, etc.
Metadata indexing for QuickTime movies and OGG audio files
New information pane listing additional categories with matching results
One-click access to related results from other categories
Display of match count per category
Buttons to instantly seek to highlighted search terms
New word-find buttons allowing to jump from one keyword occurrence to the other within document previews
Previewing of found pictures, music, videos and contacts
Filmstrip viewing mode for pictures
Embedded player for audio and video files
New preview pane for contacts
Improved usability
Added "Print" and "Delete" commands for Outlook emails
New filter to narrow picture searches by size (small, medium, large)
Improved option tab for managing custom file extensions to index
Customizable colors for search term highlighting
Numerous user interface improvements (redesigned preview panes, redesigned Web search toolbar, new keyboard shortcuts, etc.)
API for adding custom file indexers
New COM API allowing third-party developers to create plug-ins enabling new file type indexing (view PDF documentation)
Other Improvements/Changes:

20 file types have been added to the default list of types to index
Wildcards can now be used to add custom file extensions to index

You can get 1.5 and more information here:

http://www.copernic.com/en/products/des ... nload.html

I love this app. I have no idea how I lived without it. Microsoft sucks for having not included this in WindowsXP. This is going to save me unbelievable amounts of time when adding up all the searching for files and within files I'll continue to do. A++ 100/100.

You can also add filetypes. I added .cbr and .cbz and indexed them just by file name so I could search my comics.

Get it, you'll love it. You may not even think you need it and that you are god's gift to organization but this is king. You don't need a shitload of files for it to be useful either but for those that do have mass quantities of MP3's etc, this is awesome. It even searched the info within the MP3 tags so, for example, I searched for "Different Stages" I would find the song by Rush Called "Limelight" even though "Limelight" is the only text in the actual filename. Sweeeet. You can play the song, see pictues, watch preview movies all from within Copernic preview window. I'm all about ease of use and this is it.

Anyone using Copernic already that didn't post here about its greatness is a bastard! : )

Here's some review and blog comments about it:

http://www.copernic.com/en/products/des ... uotes.html

http://www.copernic.com/en/products/des ... users.html

[Winnow]

Played around some more with Copernic.

I did a file search for "ElfQuest" as I wanted to read one of my scanned issues. I have 128 various ElfQuest files (comics) and all showed up. What I really like about this is under the search window it also lists/links:

Emails (1)
Files (128)
Pictures (8 )
History (8 )
Favorites (1)

Now that's cool. In one fast search I have access to what I was looking for plus can see that I have pics, an email, 8 cached websites with ElfQuest I can access on my computer along with the Favorites Web link to ElfQuest with lists I can display with a single click.

It appears this is an excellent way to search your web cache as well. Best free app evah!

[Voronwë]

In 500 years, aliens will land on earth and study the library of Winnow and know that this man, wisest amongst us ruled the peoples with benevolence wisdom, and comic books.

[Winnow]

In 500 years, aliens will land on earth and study the library of Winnow and know that this man, wisest amongst us ruled the peoples with benevolence wisdom, and comic books.

My TeraStation will be like the lost library of Alexandria to some future civilization! Either that or it will corrupt and bring down a future civilization after it's discovery introduces pr0n, violent games, and general couch potatoism entertainment to an otherwise productive society.

[Winnow]

This app is dead sexy! It's a must have that you won't realise you must have until later! It will change your life!

Get this thing now. It's well written, stable and runs in the background the first time it indexes your stuff and then you're in fat city can start keeping track of all the time you're saving!

[Janx]

Wow...ElfQuest..now THATS something I havent read in a looooooooooooooooooooooong time. Think those belong in Comics ;) get crackin.

[Boogahz]

http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... hp?t=13623

[Winnow]

I did post ElfQuest there! The first color graphic novel at least : ) (first 5 issues)

http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... hp?t=13623

Edit: Boogahz beat me to it.

[Winnow]

PCWeek's head to head comparison of Google Desktop and Copernic:

A Head-to-Head Comparison

So how good is Google on the desktop? To find out, I took both GDS and Copernic's well-regarded Desktop Search (CDS) tools out for a spin.

GDS downloads and installs in no time. Although I had to free up some space to finish the install (GDS forces you to have 1GB of free space on your C: drive, even if you have another drive installed with ample room, as I did), the application immediately sets out building a central index of your entire electronic existence--but only on the C: drive.

It took a little more than an hour to index about 20G of data--not including Adobe PDF files, which the beta version does not index. The indexing takes place in the background, however, so you can continue to work while it does.

When finished, GDS adds a small, colorful icon to your computer's start menu, which launches the software with a double-click. GDS has the look and feel of Google's familiar Internet search engine.

Users will discover that they can go to Google.com on the Internet and find a "desktop" tab waiting for them there as well. This allows users to easily switch between searching the Internet and searching their desktop, or even to integrate the two into a single search of both their PC and the Web.

However, a search produces an uncategorized list of hits ranked by either relevance or date, just as a Google-only search does. As with search engines in general, a highly specific search with GDS will yield on-target results. But if your request is more general, you might have to wade through long lists of Web pages, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and instant messaging texts when all you're searching for is an e-mail message.


Copernic Gets It Right

In contrast, CDS offers a user interface that assists you in sorting and finding data. CDS works as fast as you can type, and your results are sorted according to file type and date. Unlike GDS, Copernic's tool can find PDF files, and will automatically detect external hard drives connected to your PC and index them as well.

But one thing that Copernic's free desktop search engine doesn't do is include secure Web pages in its index. And that's a good thing, since secure Web pages (those whose URL starts with "https") include things like online banking statements and e-commerce sites where your credit card information resides.

With Google's tool, unless you indicate otherwise either at installation or later, all such information is included, even though such pages are supposed to be secure and accessible only if you have entered the correct user names and passwords for your protection. GDS does, however, let you easily select the types of files you want indexed via its Preferences page.


Other Features

GDS doesn't offer much else in the way of features or customization. Users can restrict the program from indexing portions of their hard drive or other sensitive information. For example, the GDS Preferences page allows the user to enter files into a "Don't Search These Items" box. However, the user must understand exactly where that data is stored and how the Windows file structure works.

GDS even indexes and caches hard drive data protected with an encryption program like Pretty Good Privacy. How? It's simple: GDS adds all viewed documents and pages to its cache--after you've gone through the security handshakes. (Go to Preference to turn off this capability if you miss it during installation. Note that any secure pages GDS already has in its index remain there, but they are hidden from search results unless you choose to include them once again.) I couldn't find any way to stop GDS from caching PGP files or drives--it's similar to the problem this tool poses with the secure Web pages.

And GDS stores its painfully complete index in one "convenient" location on your hard drive, with no encryption or password protection--a hacker's and worm writer's dream come true.

Copernic, in contrast, enables users to select exactly what they want to index using a simple and familiar graphical dialog box that shows the file-tree structure. And they can restrict indexing to a particular hard drive partition or to specific mail folders within Outlook. Users can also decide to index all contacts in their global Exchange address book, or only personal contacts in Outlook.

Copernic users also enjoy greater control over their searches. For example, they can set the application's advanced Preferences so that it skips photo files that are smaller than 16 by 16 pixels, or music files that are less than 10 seconds long. And if extremely large files are a concern, users can manually set (in General Preferences) a size limit for files to be indexed. Those files will always be excluded from searches.

Desktop search is a wonderful concept. Using either of these products can save you time. However, Copernic's tool offers certain protections, thanks to the way its software is structured. With Google's tool, you might do better to wait until its security flaws are addressed.

[Hoarmurath]

I have a shit-ton of files of all types.

Is this much different than the metric fuck-ton?

[Boogahz]

yeah, and it's less than a fuck ton

assload < metric ton < shit ton < fuck ton

[Winnow]

Not to get sidetracked from the greatness of Copernic, but if you still haven't tried the Google Beta Online websearch that tries to predict what you're searching for as you type, go to this link and try it out.

http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en

It's great for when you're not really sure what you're looking for and all these choices start popping up as you type. It's nice for any web search as it narrows your choices faster with less typing.

[Winnow]

It's been awhile. Here's another nice article covering Copernic's capabilities. Enjoy!

The main knock these guys seem to have is that it doesn't search the web but the Copernic Taskbar Agent does and that's what you use to initiate your searches anyway. What assclowns!

Copernic Desktop Search: Copernic's Search Technology Finds the Desktop

Joseph Moran

The amount of accumulated information on even the most well-worn PC can't begin to compare with the vast and seemingly endless repository of information we call the World Wide Web. But knowing that usually doesn't make the job of finding a particular file or scrap of information on your hard drive any less daunting or difficult.

Copernic Desktop Search shows at a glance how many other categories your search term was found in, but offers limited preview capabilities. To help with the task, myriad vendors have developed desktop search utilities that put Windows built-in tools to shame and that can make searching the bowels of your computer considerably more efficient and fruitful. No less a who's who list of Web search companies than Ask Jeeves, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! have contributed utilities to the category.

Copernic, another company well-versed in the science of search, offers its own tool for the task that combines many of the best features of its competitors along with some unique and useful features of its own. Adding to its appeal is an excellent interface that manages to be user-friendly without being overly Spartan.

Copernic Desktop Search runs on any version of Windows from 98 up through XP. We reviewed version 1.5 (beta) of the utility, which like its predecessors is available as a free download at http://www.copernic.com.

Installation CDS is quick and easy, and upon completion the utility immediately sets about the task of indexing the hard drive contents. A nit to pick is that the utility offers no time frame for when initial indexing will be done — it doesn't even display the percentage of indexing completed. If you're willing to walk away from your computer for a long while after installation you won't mind, however.

CDS indexes data on the fly, but by default halts the process any time the computer is in use. On our test system (a 1.2 GHz Pentium M notebook with 640 MB of RAM), it took 94 minutes for CDS to distill a bit less than 10,000 documents into about 75 MB of indexing data containing over 172,000 keywords.

File Support

The types of files CDS can index are varied and extensive, making it one of the more versatile of the various desktop search tools currently available. Obvious candidates include Microsoft Office files such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents as well as both e-mail and contacts from Outlook and Outlook Express. HTML, XML, PDF, and even documents from most versions of WordPerfect (remember that app?) files can be indexed as well.

CDS can also index browser histories and favorites, and not just for Internet Explorer — Firefox, Mozilla, and Netscape (v6 or later) are all searchable as well. Similarly, Microsoft's e-mail applications are not the only ones CDS will index. If you use the ever-more-popular Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client, CDS will let you search messages and contacts from that application, too. (Of note, Google recently added support for non-Microsoft browser and e-mail clients to its own tool as well.)

Support for image and multimedia formats is equally broad. Digital media formats indexed include iTunes, QuickTime, and Real Media files in addition to MP3, WMA, MPEG, and so on.

Unique to CDS (at least among the free desktop search tools) is the ability to search mapped network folders as well as local hard drives.

Interface

One of the best aspects of CDS is its top-notch user interface. Some desktop search tools, while powerful, blunt their usability with busy and sometimes confusing interfaces. The CDS interface, on the other hand, is so clean and well laid-out that it's hard to believe the software is free. You can launch it from an icon in the system tray or use the "Deskbar" (embedded in the Windows Taskbar) to save time.

In the CDS application itself, large and easy-to-read icons along the top let you select the broad category you want to search through (i.e. e-mail, files, pictures, etc). Each offers an area to refine your search with added parameters that are relevant to the category, including file size or date, From: or To: fields, subject line, and so forth. If a keyword search alone is sufficient, these advanced options can be hidden from view.

Copernic Desktop Search displays located multimedia content in the inline preview window.
After you pick a search category and CDS has found information based on your search term (which seemingly occurs in the blink of an eye), the search tool displays links to other categories that had results (as well as how many) so that you can easily view those additional results. Items matching the search term are listed directly above a preview pane, which highlights each occurrence of the term.

Although the preview pane (which can be resized or removed) comes in handy, it does have a significant drawback. Specifically, it doesn't display content in its native, WYSIWYG format, so while a Word document viewed in the preview pane will retain basic text formatting like bold or italics, other characteristics of the document (graphic elements, for example) are not displayed. Similarly, previews of PowerPoint documents show the slide text but not the slide backgrounds.

Another weakness is that unlike most other utilities, CDS doesn't integrate desktop search with Web searching capabilities. This probably isn't all that surprising since Copernic doesn't offer a Web search engine of its own (although it does offer the popular standalone Web search tool Copernic Agent, which has to be used separately from Copernic Desktop Search). The end result is that if you want to also check for your search term on the Web you need to separately utilize of Copernic Agent or click the CDS Web button, which brings up an integrated browser pointing to Overture's AlltheWeb search page.

CDS offers indexing-on-the-fly as well as according to a
customizable schedule.
Unfortunately, doing so doesn't fill in the field with the term you were just looking for. You also can't access recently-used search terms on the Web search screen as you can in the other areas. Ultimately, the Web searching capability doesn't give you any real incentive to use it over a Google, Yahoo! or MSN, so many CDS users will likely prefer to conduct their Web searches separately.

Customization

A strong point of CDS is that it offers you a considerable amount of control over how the application looks and behaves. For starters, you can tweak exactly what data gets indexed and from where. You can specify in detail which data folders get indexed and the file types that will be included in the search results, and if you don't need (or want) to index a certain type of information, you can turn it off and even remove the related button from the menu.

To help users find their personal happy medium between comprehensive indexing and system performance, CDS indexes on the fly on Windows 2000/XP machines, and for Outlook users will even index incoming and outgoing e-mail as it's created. Otherwise, you can schedule indexing tasks to occur after a specified number of minutes, hours, or days.

The Bottom Line

Users seeking a desktop search utility have an ever-growing number of products to choose from, and Copernic Desktop Search should be on almost everyone's short list. If you like to search the Web concurrently with your desktop, than CDS likely won't be the best choice given the alternatives now available, but CDS's speed, broad file support, excellent interface, and ability to search networked data will make it an excellent choice for many.

Pros: Extremely well-designed interface, easy to use, support for non-IE browsers and mail clients (Firefox, Netscape, Thunderbird, Eudora), capably searches network drives, extensive list of file types supported (including PDF support), freeware tool

[Winnow]

This is still the most badass app that probably nobody uses.

It's been almost two months and it's been flawless with no crashes or problems caused to my system.

Microsoft just came out with their own desktop search thingy that was announced today. Copernic is still king.

[Fash]

i'll check it out for my PC... i just got to try out the Spotlight desktop search in Mac OSX Tiger today, it's pretty sweet too..

[Winnow]

Copernic!

After reinstalling Windows XP, I felt naked without Copernic. I felt like a kid in a candy store with no tastebuds and my arms and legs cut off so I couldn't get to anything anyway even if I could taste it. (analyze that!)

Copernic kicks ass.

Here's an example of why Copernic is so great. A simple search, for a particular comic title in this instance, resulted in a nice, quick (much faster than the built in crap search engine Windows has) results after finding all comics for that name over all of my hard drives, networked drives included. It may have taken a few hours to get this back with Microsoft's searching my drives.

I haven't sorted my comics in over a year. Every few weeks, I create a new folder and dump all the comics I've downloaded into it. It would take me a long time to gather up every issue of an ongoing series and I'd probably miss the mini series and crossovers. Nerd alert! (think of it in terms of finding penis pump manuals if you are insecure with your geekiness) It's all nicely displayed and sorted in folders by preference. I can then launch, move or manipulate the files the same as any other file explorer. You can see on the left that I refined the search by tying .cb in order to eliminate anything other than comics in this case.



Here's a better example of the coolness of Copernic. When I perform a search for rain with music selected, it finds and diplays all the important info for any audio file with rain attached to the meta file but also tells me how many other Files, Pictures, Videos, etc I have on the left hand side and I can easily refine the search in multiple ways specific to the file types being searched for. It finds folders as well as files and highlights the search words for you which I like.



Music isn't my specialty and when I download mp3's it's usually mass collections of them in the 100's or 1000's...top 100's top 1000's etc. Those folders are scattered and there's no chance of me organizing them but if I want everything by a certain artists, I'll find it speedy-like and can load them all up into Winamp.

Keeping this geeky, I'll stick to a comic example and while I do a search for Fantastic Four, I find all the comics, but I also have the movie, sound track, and images associated with "Fantastic Four" quicly available.

Final example is images, keeping the same "rain" search term, I have all the images with that word associated with them quickly available...and I have hundreds of thousands of images. A bunch full CD type collections and other art collections of images stored on HDs. I'll never take the time to browse through all of that but it's nice to be able to gather up images scattered all over the place in about a second or two for a particular search string.



I don't care how well you organize your folder trees, you won't find stuff this fast and conveniently. I'm calling you out on your organizational skills! My comics, besides the new ones, are well organized but as cliche as it is to say, time is precious and it all adds up.

I know this may not be something most of you care about because of your girlie-man hard drives and small collection of files, but even with a smaller amount, you'll find searches like this useful right away. It only took Copernic a few hours to index my files and that's a bunch (it only needs to do this major indexing one time). Your micro storage devices would be done within an hour for sure and Copernic keeps everything up to date on the fly for you in the background. At some point, with storage so cheap, you may start to keeps things on HDs instead of burn to DVDs or CDs which take a long time to retrieve, search and load as opposed to having everything at your fingertips, networked to all of your computers of course, and available from work via remote connection!

Version 1.6 has been out and I've never had a stability issue of any sort going on a year.

Google, Yahoo and the other web browser based desktop search engines suck compared to Copernic although you can find that out for yourself.

Try it out! It's free! No spyware, no advertising.

Here's a couple tips. For the comic collectors out there, be sure to add the extensions .cbr and .cbz so Copernic indexes those files. For the ebook collectors out there, consider moving your mass of text and pdf files to a folder and choose not to index that folder. (unless you really do want every one of your ebooks indexed which I did the first time around but found I really didnt want my searches cluttered with every single word found in a novel)

Be sure to activate the taskbar search for Copernic after installing it for easiest method of quick searches:

[Bubba Grizz]

I guess I am not understanding what exactly this is used for. This makes it easier for you to find files and folders on your computer?

[Animalor]

It makes finding content on your computer a LOT faster if you are a data packrat.

I have Google Desktop Search installed on my work computer.

*edit* The Google offering isn't as pretty on the eyes as the Copernic one. MSN and Copernic are definate choices if you're into the eye candy.

The MSN, although I personally like, comes bundled with a shitton of other stuff that I don't particularly want. (Then again, Google bundled it's sidebar with the most recent Desktop search as well, so I might give this Copernic thing a try.)

[Winnow]

The MSN, although I personally like, comes bundled with a shitton of other stuff that I don't particularly want. (Then again, Google bundled it's sidebar with the most recent Desktop search as well, so I might give this Copernic thing a try.)

Give it a try. I'd like some Copernic feedback from a person that's used Google for awhile.

It's small with no extra crap to install along with it.

[Animalor]

I actually like the Google sidebar actually. Have setup my RSS feeds to update through there and gives me some information that is nice to have at the fingertips.

Vista also will have a sidebar as a default option for the OS so I want to get used to using one earlier than later.

I was planning on upgrading the Google desktop search however cause the version I was running had a security vulnerability that had been discovered so In between versions I'll hapily try Copernic. I've got it installed already and it's indexing my stuff now.

[Animalor]

I'm trying it now.

It's a pretty good peogram overall up till now.

One thing I don't like about it is there isn't an option right off the bat to search results from all data sources regardless of if it's an e-mail or a file or whatever. You have to explicitly search for files or e-mail or video, then click on other results to see the rest.

Otherwise, search speed is great and results are pretty accurate.

*edit* I love the granularity that it offer you as to which data you want to index.

With the MS or Google offering, it just indexes everything and you have to setup the exclusions.

[Winnow]

One thing I don't like about it is there isn't an option right off the bat to search results from all data sources regardless of if it's an e-mail or a file or whatever. You have to explicitly search for files or e-mail or video, then click on other results to see the rest.

Otherwise, search speed is great and results are pretty accurate.

*edit* I love the granularity that it offer you as to which data you want to index.

With the MS or Google offering, it just indexes everything and you have to setup the exclusions.

Thanks for the feedback Animalor.

I don't have a problem with Copernic keeping music files, video files and images, email, etc separate from other files because the handy links on the left side let me quickly switch formats. I prefer that. Seems a bit more organized that way. For me at least, I usually begin a typical search with a particular file type in mind.

The ElfQuest search from above is a good example:

Emails (1)
Files (128)
Pictures (8 )
History (8 )
Favorites (1)

I don't want to see the emails I mentioned ElfQuest, Favorite Bookmarks, etc included in my search results for ElfQuest images for example, but those files are just one click away if I do need them.

If google and ms index everything before you can exclude, that seems like a bad approach with the huge pdf and ebook libraries some people may not wish to index (personal diaries, pr0n, large pdf files etc). I like how Copernic gives you the option right off the bat to choose what and what not to index, maximum and minimum sizes of files to index and also lets you change parameters on the fly.

Copernic support is nice for a free product. I emailed them with a suggestion and they got back to me in less than a day. My suggestion was to allow the user to identify specific folders that only file names should be indexed instead of entire text bodies of pdf and ebooks. Hopefully they'll add that option next release.

Most of all, I like the stability of Copernic. It does its job in the background and is there when you need it without bogging down your system.

[Winnow]

Holy fucking Christ I miss Copernic.

Unfortunately, Copernic isn't working atm with Vista. They need an update.

I tried out a few other desktop search engines yesterday to see if anything could replace it's usefulness.

Vista's built in Search:

Nice. It's light years ahead of the search XP uses. The major problem with Vista's search indexing is that it won't index networked drives so any search on those takes a long time. That pretty much fucks me. If you don't have networked storage (becoming more popular these days), you may be able to get by with Vista's search as long as you tweak it a bit. Visually, it looks nice and is fast (for searches located on your PC)

X1 http://www.x1.com/products/

This will get the job done but the UI sucks in many ways...

-searches aren't remembered or transfered between categories
-the visual presentation of results doesn't look nice
-it seems focused on mail searching so there's a bunch of email search tabs
-you must jump through hoops to index a network drive (see below)
-live indexing only takes place on local drives..networked are only updated on a set schedule and then the entire drives are reindexed
-memory hog. I notices 48% of my memory was being used and then saw X1, idle, taking up 131mb.

X1 is actively developed so a Vista compatible version was released recently.

X1's local search is free but in order to get it to see networked drives you need to download the enterprise free trial, create a customized install of the client which allows network drives, uninstall original client, and then reinstall the customized exe you just created...works but is a pain.

Google, hotbot, and any other browser based desktop searches are for newbs.

Copernic is soooo nice. The only thing that X1 does better is allow for greater individual folder search customization. I was able to set X1 to index my folders with 10's of thousands of ebooks by name and size only instead of indexing the body of all those books. With copernic, I have to set those folders not to be indexed instead of still being able to search for titles without getting a bazillion unwanted text search results from all of the text in ebooks. With both Copernic and X1, I needed to add .cbr and .cbz extensions to be indexed. (don't forget to do that)

Copernic is the best. Non network peeps are going to like Vista's search...at least those that figure out how to add partitions beyond the OS to the index group.

Directory Opus, if you take advantage of it's extreme customization, is still king of the file managers even with Vista's release.

[Winnow]

I still miss Copernic in Vista : (

I did find a solution to adding networked drives to Vista's built in search engine though. You need to install a little add-on from Microsoft in order to allow Vista to index network drives found here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918996

After you install that, you can add network drives and select which folders to be indexed on each networked drive as you would with a local drive.

Vista's search engine is pretty powerful once you get used to it and get familiar with its features.

This is mostly for the comic readers out there but here's some examples of search results and windows explorer views.

First, a normal search. Everything is adjustable including the preview pane to the right and the info panel on the bottom.



Vista is able to read inside of .cbr and .cbz files and display the first image as the thumbmail which is extremely cool. There must be some comic geeks working for Microsoft! I still had to add .cbr and .cbz for indexing extention purposes.

First image shows the sliding scale available for thumb/list/details. It's dynamic. You can resize thumbs to any size in between the main settings. Vista remembers the settings for each folder.



Next is a blown up view of a folder with scanned comics:



Even cooler is Vista's ability to display the a couple cbr/cbz images on a folder icon which is great for comics:



The scalable thumbview is nice depending on what you're searching for. Typically I'd use detail for search results but for pdf type searches for documents, etc, it's nice to see the front page. With a large info panel, you really don't need the preview panel unless previewing text.



Overall, not bad at all. The comic thumbnail view may keep me from going back to Copernic even after it's been updated for Vista although that's a function of the Vista File Manager as well as the Search Engine so I could still use Copernic and then open results into the Vista File Manger!

[Ashur]

Well, I installed CDS 2.02 last night. Google had an annoying web-interface (not elegant for desktop searching IMO). Microsoft's offering was buggy. X1 was clunky and was difficult to search the way I wanted leading to crappy results.

So for I haven't been able to use it because it refuses to do any indexing while I'm using the PC. The other applications all seemed to get around that, but maybe it will be done when I get home.

So far, even though it's buggy I liked the Microsoft one best. The Vista one looks sweet, but I won't be running Vista until I get a new computer. By then Microsoft may have another OS out...

EDIT: To be clear, what I like a desktop serach app to do is allow me to search for all keywords in all indexed files (usually PDF files). Email is nice, but I agree with Winnow, X1 focused on email and it gave me really crappy results in what I wanted.

[Winnow]

So for I haven't been able to use it because it refuses to do any indexing while I'm using the PC. The other applications all seemed to get around that, but maybe it will be done when I get home.

Copernic not indexing while you're using the computer is actually a good thing. The first time you're away form your computer for an hour or two, it should index everything. After that, it will update the index as things change so it doesn't have to do any major indexing from then on.

[Ashur]

We shall see tonight. It gets a test drive after Prison Break/24.

[Winnow]

We shall see tonight. It gets a test drive after Prison Break/24.

Skip those. HEROES is on tonight!

[Ashur]

...

Of course now I need to find that in addition to last night's Rome.

T-12 days until DVR

[Funkmasterr]

I have been using this because I have so much crap to keep track of at work, and for some reason Google Desktop was causing issues with computers crashing here.

I like it a lot and have no complaints so far.

[Ashur]

Two thumbs up.

[Winnow]

yipee!

Today is one of the greatest days in the PC era. Copernic for Vista has been released!

Jump for joy! Call in sick tomorrow and do random searches all day with the greatest search app of all time!

http://www.copernic.com/en/products/des ... gelog.html

And the Winner is... Copernic Desktop Search, a PC World Best Product of 2005.
- Steve Bass, PC World

“Kudos to Copernic for continuing to improve an already top-notch product.”
- Gary Price, SearchEngineWatch

“The best desktop search program right now, in my humble opinion is Copernic”
- David Einstein, San Francisco Chronicle

“I found Copernic to be a bit faster and more user-friendly than its competitors.”
- The PC Guy, NorthJersey.com
“Of the myriad desktop search utilities that have hit the market over the past couple of years, Copernic Desktop Search is generally regarded as the most powerful — and arguably the best — among them.”
- Joseph Moran, Technology Writer, WinPlanet, August 2006

“If a prize could be awarded for the most attractive program then Copernic would win easily. It not only looks fantastic but also does a reasonable job of finding files.”
- Roland Waddilove, Technology Writer, Webuser (UK), June 2006

“Is your computer filled with articles, e-mails, music and photographs? Is it organized so you can find any of your data in an instant? I didn't think so. That's why you'll want a top-notch desktop search utility. Copernic (copernic.com) scans your drive and sorts it all so that all you need do is type the first letters of the subject or file you're looking for, and it'll serve up an instant list of hits”
- The PC Guy, Technology Writer, NorthJersey.com, June 2006

“For any of you wondering which product I use, my choice has been the free Copernic Desktop Search. I’ve used all of the tools I listed a couple of paragraphs ago [Google Desktop Search, MSN Search Toolbar/Windows Desktop Search, Yahoo Desktop Search] and Copernic came out on top in my testing.”
- Scott Lowe MCSE, Technology Specialist, TechRepublic, June 2006

“The desktop search engine, Copernic, does for the PC what Google does for the web, and with the same astonishing speed. No matter how big the hard drive, just type in a keyword or two and you can track down pretty much anything, even ancient emails. Copernic works by creating an index of everything on the hard drive. This index is created and updated whenever the computer is idle, and so has no effect on the machine's performance. The result is a lightning-fast search engine that needs few clues to track down the most vaguely remembered document or an old email address. There are other desktop search engines, but Copernic is the one hoovering up the plaudits and industry awards. That is not unrelated to how much it costs: absolutely nothing.”
- Robert Matthews, Technology Writer, The First Post (UK), March 2006

“If you install only one software program this year, it should be a desktop search tool that can let you find e-mails, documents and photos on your hard drive in a flash. Free programs are available from Google, MSN and Yahoo, but the best one, IMO (that's Internet for "in my opinion") is Copernic Desktop Search, which you can get for free at http://www.copernic.com. It's really fast and focused.”
- David Einstein, Technology Writer, San Francisco Chronicle, March 2006

“Q: I want to install a desktop search program, but I can't decide whether to choose MSN, Yahoo or Google. Is there one that stands out? A: Yes, but it's none of the above. The best desktop search program right now, IMHO (that's Internet for in my humble opinion) is Copernic, which you can download for free at copernic.com for Windows-based computers. It's lightning fast and can search just about anything…It can even search network drives, so it's great for the office… In addition to listing search results, Copernic [Desktop Search] lets you view files in a preview window -- and you can click directly to your search terms within the file.”
- David Einstein, Technology Writer, San Francisco Chronicle, November 2005

“I recently tested a leading search engine, Copernic Desktop Search, a sound solution for anyone who has huge volumes of data and poor housekeeping skills… There are other strong desktop search engines such as Google's Desktop Search bar and Yahoo Desktop Search, but I found Copernic to be a bit faster and more user-friendly than its competitors.”
- The PC Guy, Technology Writer, NorthJersey.com, October 2005

“When it comes to ease of use, this program wins hands down. It encourages you to search within its preset categories for the Internet (Web, Images, News, Shopping) or your computer (Emails, Files, Music, Pictures, and more). These categories make working with Copernic Desktop Search incredibly simple.”
- Scott Dunn, Technology Writer, PC World, October 2005

“Several desktop search products have been released over the past year to help you quickly locate nearly anything worth finding on your computer… Most of the major search engines have free versions of this tool — Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask Jeeves all offer similar products. Of these, the Google (http://desktop.google.com/) and Yahoo! […] products have received the most positive comments. But I prefer the free Copernic Desktop Search […]. Like the other products, it indexes all the files on your computer and makes them available literally “as fast as you type.” Just begin typing in the letters of your search, and results begin to appear immediately. If you’re willing to pay for your desktop searching, check out X1 (http://www.x1.com), which will set you back $74.95. It’s an excellent product, but Copernic is still the better choice.”
- Tom Mighell, Technology Writer, The Texas Bar Journal, September 2005

“And the Winner is... Copernic Desktop Search, a PC World Best Product of 2005. I've been using Copernic for a few weeks--and so far, I'm very impressed… The results pop on screen almost instantly… Copernic's interface is intuitive and just plain easy to use.”
- Steve Bass, Technology Writer, PC World, August 2005

“Last week, Google announced an upgrade to its Desktop Search service… While the search service promises to scour your own computer with the same efficiency as it does the web, the reality is a little different — it does an excellent job of finding a keyword in your e-mail archive, documents and files, but then inelegantly lumps all the results onto a single page, making it hard to distinguish files. […] Try instead the free Copernic Desktop Search (http://www.copernic.com), which sensibly breaks down searches into different categories, has a cleaner look and feel, and makes a much better job of searching for music, video and digital photo files.”
- Barry Collins, Technology Writer, Times Online (UK), August 2005

“Copernic's years of experience shine through with this Desktop search client. Offering both standalone and deskbar access, Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) doesn't follow the pack with an all-encompassing search. Instead, you must specify a category first. This is less long-winded than it sounds… The benefit of this prefiltering approach is that initial results are more accurate. Searches can be refined further too, depending on file type… Copernic remains our Desktop search client of choice.”
- Davey Winder, Technology Writer, PC Pro, August 2005

“Is Google the best desktop search tool? Not exactly. We still like Copernic Desktop Search better.”
- Jeff Bertolucci, Technology Writer, CNET.com, July 2005

“One of the first to be released was the excellent Copernic Desktop Search… This remains the desktop search tool of choice for many of the wide range of files it can catalogue – not least for Windows 98 users, who have been left out in the cold by most other products.”
- Susan Pederson-Bradbury, Technology Writer, PC World Australia, July 2005

“The ultimate buyers guide, World Class Awards set the standard for excellence in the high-tech and consumer electronics industries. From desktop publishers to travel routers to satellite radio and video instant messenger services, the editors reward the finest products and most outstanding performers in this annual award program. Congratulations to Copernic Desktop Search.”
- Harry McCracken, Editor in chief, PC World, July 2005

“It's not often a Canadian-made product can clobber a competing product made by Microsoft, but Copernic Desktop Search has done just that. Today, the product was honoured by PC World with a 2005 World Class Award for Desktop Search Software... PC World is considered to be the most authoritative high-tech review magazine available. CDS has been given awards by a bunch of organizations, including CNET, Laptop Magazine and Pandia Search Central. The Boston Globe, Legal IT, Slate Magazine, the University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium, the American Library Association and others have named it their top software. And I myself consider CDS an indispensable piece of software — I've put it on every machine I own, and use it easily five or six times a day.”
- Jack Kapica, Technology Writer, The Globe and Mail, June 2005

“Top of the line - The best of them all right now is one that probably few people have ever heard of: Copernic [Desktop Search]. A stand-alone solution, Copernic [Desktop Search] is quick, thorough, and free—everything you look for in a good desktop app. The interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. Moreover, a few random searches for obscure phrases or words will assure you that the engine is doing its job well. And that’s just the free version.”
- Andrew K. Pace, Librarian & Columnist, American Libraries, May 2005

“Microsoft released the final version of Windows Desktop Search (previously called MSN Desktop Search), just in time for me to give it up. I wrote a while back that it beats Google Desktop, hands-down. It still does. Google thinks of your hard disk as if it's the Web, while Windows Desktop Search thinks of it as what it is, a hard disk, and so gives you many more searching options. But as an article in WindowsDevCenter by Jake Ludington shows, there's a search tool that beats Windows Desktop Search at its own game --- Copernic Desktop Search. […] The interface is much cleaner and easier to use than Windows Desktop Search. And the deciding factor, for me, is that unlike Windows Desktop Search, it's not a resource hog. You won't even notice it's there. […] So for now, at least, Copernic is the one I use.”
- Preston Gralla, Technology Writer & Editor, WindowsDevCenter, May 2005

“The Copernic desktop search is a slightly larger download and the name may not be as familiar to most users as the main players reviewed here, but I found it to be by far the best all-round solution. The interface is presented in a separate application, rather than the browser as favoured by most of the familiar names. It is simple to get to grips with and provides results as soon as you begin to type your query. The results returned are easily ordered… The most compelling reason to use Copernic is the preview pane, which leaps to the first instance of the query in the window and allows you to skip through to the next instance, all without having to open the document. […] I also found that this solution updates its index faster than the others. This is because Copernic will re-index documents as soon as they are saved.”
- John Field, Technology Writer, Legal IT, May 2005

““… several Web search companies, such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves, have released so-called desktop search programs. For several companies, this is their first foray into desktop search software, so the feature sets and user interfaces of their products are uneven. One company that's not a newcomer to the field is Copernic Technologies, which has been developing desktop search products since 1996. Longevity has served Copernic well. While the newer entrants are still figuring things out, Copernic understands what to offer users for a free desktop search product. Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) 1.5 doesn't try to do too much or too little. It offers just the right feature set to get the job done. […] That leaves Copernic in the sweet spot among free desktop search utilities. Just download, install, and go. It's fast. It doesn't interfere with your everyday computer usage. When Windows launches, CDS is minimized as a tray icon. It searches all the file types I need it to, many more than most other free desktop search tools. By virtue of its simplicity, raw power, performance, and value — Copernic Desktop Search 1.5 is a clear Scot's Newsletter Top Product!”
- Cyndy Bates Finnie, Editor, Scot’s Newsletter, May 2005

“… the big three Web search companies--Google, MSN, and Yahoo--are competing with Copernic to provide the best desktop search experience… […] Which is the best of the three? I'm biased toward Copernic because it is far more flexible than either Windows Desktop Search or Google Desktop Search.
- Jake Ludington, Technology Writer, WindowsDevCenter.com, May 2005

“While the search industry continues to evolve, an area that's received a great deal of focus has to do with creating a successful desktop search tool. This mentality has led to a proliferation of desktop search (DTS) tools. Because of this, knowing which one is better can be a best-guess/trial-and-error scenario… until now. In order to make choosing a desktop search utility easier for those concerned, the University of Wisconsin-Madison E-business Institute conducted a study titled: There's More to Search than Google & Yahoo! An Evaluation of 12 Leading Desktop Search Tools. […] While reading the findings, one thing immediately stood out: Copernic's tool ranked first in 4 of the 6 criterions, while finishing second in another. These results seem to indicate Copernic is indeed the best DTS tool available. […] Not only did the study anoint Copernic as the best desktop search utility, it also ranked the other tools that were tested. Surprisingly, Google didn't represent themselves as well as one might expected (fifth place finish). […] However, congratulations are due to Copernic for developing such a successful DTS tool. […] For those of us who happen to be "stuck" in the Windows environment, Copernic seems to be the logical choice for people wanting an effective DTS tool.”
- Chris Richardson, Search Engine Writer, WebProNews, May 2005

“In an effort to help understand the differences between the latest desktop search tools on the market, the UW [University of Wisconsin-Madison] E-Business Consortium recently conducted a benchmark study of 12 popular desktop search tools. The benchmark criteria that were used for the evaluation included usability, versatility, accuracy, efficiency, security, and enterprise readiness. […] Copernic [Desktop Search - CDS] is the most well-balanced desktop search tool among those evaluated. The tool is intuitive and easy to use. […] “Search as you type” and “dynamic indexing,” which detects new and modified files/e-mails on the fly, are useful features. Filtering, sorting and grouping search results are well refined. The application has a small technology footprint and provides detailed index controls.” CDS ranking: “The best overall desktop search tool.”
- Shawn Helwig & Tom Noda, Searchers, UW E-Business Consortium, April 2005

“The program [Copernic Desktop Search] is very straightforward, with toolbar buttons that let you search emails, pictures, videos, contacts or visited websites to find what you are looking for. Within these categories, you can perform a search based on keywords. Results are displayed in a list - click on an item to view its contents in the preview pane just below this, which will save you opening and shutting down files repeatedly.”
- Rob Hawkins, Technology Writer, Computeractive, April 2005

“Once you try Copernic [Desktop Search], you will never go back to searching with Windows Explorer again. It is faster, provides more features and is simple and straightforward to use. There is no need to wait for Longhorn to start enjoying the benefits of desktop search.”
- Mike Patterson, President of Somix Technologies, Enterprise Networks & Servers, April 2005

“Copernic [Desktop Search] has an excellent desktop search interface, and the Web searching is rock solid as well. If you don't mind browsing Web results from within the Copernic [Desktop Search] interface instead of your preferred browser, it has a lot of potential for a place on your desktop.”
- John Marrin, Technology Writer, InternetWeek, April 2005

“Google, MSN, Yahoo! and others all have versions of desktop search engines. […] Copernic Desktop Search (http://www.copernic.com) is a free desktop search tool that offers the best mix of being easy to use and flexibility.”
- Steve Simpson, Technology Writer, The Des Moines Register, April 2005

“… Copernic has been a quiet contender when it comes to search for quite some time now. Copernic Agent is a powerful tool for conducting web searches. The company's foray into the desktop search market is incredibly polished and satisfying to use. Copernic Desktop Search mostly lives in the system tray, though it also includes a deskbar for people who like instant access to searches. […] Dividing searches into multiple categories doesn't give it the charm of Google's approach, but the results are vastly superior. Usually you know the file type (divided by e-mails, files, music, pictures, videos, contacts, favorites, and web history) of the content you want to find. By making this specification, you can make more refined searches based on metadata.” Ratings: MSN Desktop Search: 9, Copernic Desktop Search: 9, Google Desktop Search: 8, Yahoo Desktop Search: 7, Ask Jeeves Desktop Search: 5
- Adam Baratz, Technology Writer, Ars Technica, March 2005

“Windows Toolbox: Look Farther and Wider With Copernic Desktop Search –The MSN Toolbar Suite isn't the only indexed searching game in town. Copernic Desktop Search provides many of the same features […] Copernic also lets you conduct searches using either an application window or a taskbar toolbar, choose the folders you want to have indexed, set indexing to occur in the background, and use Boolean operators to refine your search, just as you can with the MSN toolbars. But Copernic Desktop Search also lets you filter search results based on such attributes as file size and date; and it gives you a preview pane for seeing a file's contents without launching a separate application to open it.”
- Scott Dunn, Technology Writer, PC World, April 2005

“Copernic Desktop Search […] is in many ways, even better than Google’s tool.”
- Kevin Savetz, Technology Writer, PC Today, April 2005

“Users seeking a desktop search utility have an ever-growing number of products to choose from, and Copernic Desktop Search should be on almost everyone's short list. […] CDS's speed, broad file support, excellent interface, and ability to search networked data will make it an excellent choice for many.”
- Joseph Moran, Technology Writer, WinPlanet, March 2005

Desktop Search Engines (Editors’ Choice: Copernic) – “When you get right down to it, Copernic […] is hands-down the best desktop search engine out there. It feels the most like a full-fledged program, from the incredibly search preferences and display preferences… No one else really [Ask Jeeves Desktop Search, Google Desktop Search, MSN Search and Yahoo! Desktop Search] comes close.”
- Brian L. Clark, Technology Writer, LAPTOP Magazine, March 2005

“A powerful and flexible desktop search tool. CDS 1.5's search-as-you-type gets fast results, with search refinement available for content-specific data fields. It's an excellent choice and the very best choice for those using Windows 98 or Me, or e-mailing with Thunderbird or Eudora.” Rating: Very Good
- Neil J. Rubenking, Technology Writer, PC Magazine, March 2005

“Copernic Desktop Search: Windows' search engine is pathetic. […] Copernic Desktop Search […] does search the contents of your files--so fast that you'll miss it if you blink.”
- Lincoln Spector, Technology Writer, PC World, March 2005

“Shareware Pick of the Week: Copernic Desktop Search – “Believe it or not, Google is not the only choice when it comes to search tools. To find a variety of files quickly on your PC, check out Copernic Desktop Search.”
- Kim Komando, Editor, The Kim Komando Show Newsletter, March 2005

“Since shipping its beta tool, Google has seen a host of competition arise. […] and some, like those from Microsoft and Copernic, offer advanced functionality not found in the Google product.”
- Paul Thurrott, Technology Writer, Windows IT Pro, March 2005

“Copernic Desktop Search – A new brainchild signed Copernic. […] Powerful, very easy to use, fast as lightening, this free software is — I dare to say because it deserves to be said — a veritable little marvel that no one should do without. […] CDS swallows it all without wavering and indexes all queries in real time. Copernic is not alone in this “intra computer” search niche market. Big players like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo also intend to grab a slice of the pie. Unfortunately for them, however, Copernic seems to have put together an unbeatable product: a review of fifty articles published around the world in recent weeks on the subject shows Copernic to be clearly at the top!”
- François Huot, Technology Writer, Magazine PME, March 2005

“I have concluded that Copernic Desktop Search is the best of the freeware products out there for searching your hard disk.”
- Gary North, Editor, Reality Check, March 2005

“By far - and I mean, literally, miles ahead - the best local engine in this category is Copernic Desktop Search (free, copernic.com). Let me put it to you this way: within five minutes of use, I was installing it on every system in my home network. It provides an uncluttered, straightforward, robust experience without need for tweaking. Even so, it could be further customized to my liking - moreso than any of the others I mentioned in this article. It's perfect for expert users and novices alike.”
- Chris Pirillo, Publisher of LockerGnome.com, Computer Power User, March 2005

“Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) 1.5 offers several new features and indexing options that enhance an already robust product. If you've never tried this feature filled, easy to use/modify, and free desktop search tool (Windows only), it's more than worthy of your attention. […] it's not only become a tool that I use all of the time but one many others have found to be a valuable addition to their search arsenal. Copernic has received high marks in head-to-head comparisons of desktop search tools and from many tech pundits. Just this week, Pandia named Copernic Desktop Search the winner of its Best Desktop Search tool award. […] The other new feature that I think is worthy of extra attention is that CDS 1.5 will now (if selected) index shared network drive folders. […] Kudos to Copernic for continuing to improve an already top-notch product.”
- Gary Price, Librarian, Information Research Consultant and Writer, SearchEngineWatch, February 2005

The Pandia Search Engine Awards 2004: Best desktop search tool – “Copernic gets the award: However, this years winner is not one of the search engine giants, but Copernic, which in our opinion has delivered the best Windows tool for finding files and emails on your own computer.”
- Per and Susanne Koch, Editors, Pandia, February 2005

“I’ve always liked Copernic, and it’s good to see they’re really going for it in what is now a crowded marketplace. As their press release puts it, once again, Copernic, a small business, is beating the big powerhouses - Google, Microsoft - to the punch with this newest version of CDS.[…] There has been talk that Google has plans to announce support for Mozilla Thunderbird very soon, but this newest version of CDS makes Copernic the first vendor to support both Firefox and Thunderbird.”
- Jeremy Wagstaff, Technology Writer, Loosewire, February 2005

“Desktop searching has recently become all the rage, and this latest version of Copernic Desktop Search offers many more features than Google Desktop and others. […] Unlike other desktop search tools, Copernic has a pretty wide file support. […] Another neat feature is the preview pane, which lets you preview documents from within Copernic. An embedded player lets you preview audio and video files, and it also has an integrated web browser/search facility.” Verdict: ***** (5 out of 5)
- Paul Rowlingson, Technology Writer, PC Magazine (UK), February 2005

“I got generally good results from both the Google and Yahoo! desktop search engines, but I was most impressed with […] Copernic Desktop Search…”
- Larry Magid, Editor, CBS News.com, February 2005

Five search engines for your PC [Copernic Desktop Search, Yahoo! Desktop Search, Google Desktop Search, MSN Toolbar Suite, Ask Jeeves Desktop Search]. “Copernic Desktop Search – the best of the bloodhounds. If a choice must be made, Copernic Desktop Search is the tool with the most pertinent search functions packaged in a very user-friendly interface.”
- Coralie Cathelinais, Technology Writer, Micro Hebdo, February 2005

“Do you ever go shopping and happen upon something that just yesterday you never knew existed, and today you can't live without? That's the effect Copernic Desktop Search had on us.”
- Adam Gogolski, Technology Writer, Element K Journals, February 2005

“The most comprehensive and powerful desktop search tool comes from Copernic Technologies Inc., a Canadian firm with US headquarters in Newton. Copernic Desktop Search is even faster than Microsoft's, and with extra features that allow for ultra-granular searches. Say you want to search old e-mails by subject line and date. Now you can, but not with Google or Microsoft desktop search tools -- only with Copernic.”
- Hiawatha Bray, Technology Writer, Boston Globe, Jan. 2005

“Three “must have” tools for the digitally-inclined in 2005 – […] For finding information on my cluttered desktop, including contacts, emails and the depths of countless presentations and PDFs, Copernic gets the nod. Their Copernic Desktop Search is he most accurate and user-friendly solution I've tried.”
- Eric Peterson, Analyst, Jupiter Research, Jan. 2005

”AOL goes a-searching. – [… ] Other partnerships include best-of-bread Copernic for desktop search (I love how quick, light, yet powerful Copernic is)…”
- Charlene Li, Analyst, Forrester Research, Jan. 2005

“AOL plans to integrate Copernic's desktop search functions with AOL Search, which will allow users to search for information from one application, whether on the Web or on one's own computer. […] This is a real coup for AOL… If you look at all the desktop search engines — Google, Microsoft, Yahoo — you'll see they're at least twice the size of Copernic, with fewer features, a sure sign of hurried programming. […] That's because Copernic […] was not rushed into releasing the software, which it did last August, so it took its time polishing it. The extra effort shows. AOL's 30 million users in the United States and Europe will be lucky.”
- Jack Kapica, Technology Writer, The Globe and Mail, Jan. 2005

“… AOL says it will add a desktop search feature to the next version of its Web browser. Other players include […] the Canadian firm Copernic Technologies Inc., which those who are intimately familiar with desktop search say offers the best tool available.”
- David Sheets, Reporter, Post-Dispatch, Jan. 2005

“You can add extra file types and folders to the index without any of the other programs' restrictions. […] Much of the index can be updated in real time as files are changed and new messages arrive, rather than at scheduled intervals. … Still, Copernic finds more than any other desktop search and gives you control over how it indexes your computer.” Awarded Grades: Ask Jeeves Desktop Search (D), HotBot Desktop (C), Google Desktop Search (C+), MSN Toolbar Suite (B), Copernic Desktop Search (A).
- Paul Boutin, Technology Writer, Slate Magazine, Dec. 2004

“With Yahoo's announced partnership with X1 to also provide desktop search utilities and AOL's partnership many have commented on the outlook of the search engine off-shot. Andy Bealbelieves that AOL's offering was the wiser of the two. "While Yahoo has announced a deal with X1, AOL's pact with Copernic is a smarter move. X1 is processor-heavy and RAM intensive, which means that Yahoo will have to trim it down a lot, in order to make a free download feasible. Meanwhile, Copernic is more efficient and less draining." Andy also believes the Copernic/AOL partnership makes this search utility a more attractive download "
- Chris Richardson, Search Engine Writer, WebProNews, Dec. 2004

“We have grown fond of the Copernic desktop tool…”
- Per and Susanne Koch , Editors, Pandia, Dec. 2004

“Copernic beats the Google & Microsoft goliaths!”
- Giles Donovan, Director, NetRegistry, Dec. 2004

“Copernic Desktop Search […] is altogether more straightforward software from a company that has long been involved in the search business… Get the hang of this and CDS becomes a lightning-fast search option, instantly available whatever application you are running. […] It’s fast, too.”
- David Hewson, Sunday Times (London), Dec. 2004

“I believe Copernic Desktop will find its way onto a lot of computers in the next few months. That is partly because the others are _ how can I say this delicately? _ not at all good.”
- Wanda Sloan, Technology Writer, Bangkok Post, Dec. 2004

“Now you can delve deep into the `inner space' — the hard disk of your own personal computer… Compared to the "search" tool that comes with the Windows system, Copernic is awesomely fast.”
- Anand Parthasarathy, Technology Writer, The Hindu, Dec. 2004

“I've had a bit of a play with Google Desktop Search and it's nothing special. An impressive piece of software called Copernic does the job better. […] Copernic opens an unobtrusive search window on the tool bar. I use it several times a day and it's fabulous. It also looks good - Google Desktop is cumbersome and unattractive. Searching your hard disk is different to searching the internet, and Google tries to pretend they are the same.”
- Graeme Philipson, Technology Writer, The Sidney Morning Herald, Nov. 2004

“Copernic Technologies Inc. this week released an updated version of its free desktop software, which lets people search their computers for an assortment of files, including music and photos. The toolbar it installs also lets you search the Web. I found its searching menu as easy and simple as Google's. I especially liked its preview feature, which shows the content of any file without requiring you to open the document or launch the associated program. Copernic did a superb job helping me sift through my massive photo collection.”
- Leslie Walker, Technology Writer, Washington Post, Oct. 2004

“Lord Copernic - If you want a search product that exploits years of proven expertise in the desktop and enterprise knowledge-management business, then Copernic is well worth investigating. […] Another feature that currently lifts it above the fledgling competition is that when you look at the results in the files section, for example, your keywords are highlighted within both the filename and the body text, using a different colour for each keyword. Small tricks like that can make all the difference. Another example is the intelligent way it indexes new data on-the-fly while taking into account CPU usage so as not to impact too much upon your other usage of the host PC. […] For a free product it leaves me stunned, and until the big boys show us their weapons, Copernic gets my vote.”
- Davey Winder, Technology Writer, PC Pro, Oct. 2004

“Google's desktop search is nothing new… But the software for Google to beat is […] Copernic Desktop Search… In August, Copernic released its desktop search engine, and it knocks Google into a cocked hat in every way except one: It does not default to Google's vaunted main website search…”
- Jack Kapica, Technology Writer, The Globe and Mail, Oct. 2004

“Copernic's interface is the best of the desktop search engines. A left-side search column allows simple keyword queries or more refined sleuthing based on file size, date, type, or folder. A row of easy-to-read icons at the top of the screen allows you to limit searches by category: stored HTML pages, e-mail, pictures, videos, and so on… We also liked the Copernic Deskbar, a search window that integrates with the Windows Taskbar and is handy for quick queries.” CNET Editors’ Choice
- Jeff Bertolucci, Technology Writer, CNET Reviews, Oct. 2004

“Copernic Desktop Wins CNET Award, Beats Out Google - Just when everyone was willing to end the search engine desktop race early and declare Google the winner, veteran Copernic ruins the party with its Lee Corso-esque declaration, "Not so fast!" […]We're a big fan of CDS (and were before they became a SEL sponsor) and this award is truly well-deserved.”
- Andy Beal, Vice-President of Search Marketing, WebSourced and KeywordRanking.com, Oct. 2004

“I am absolutely blown away by Copernic Desktop Search software, an extraordinary search engine that searches your hard drive, not the Web, with speed and incredible pertinence. In a nutshell, this software is equivalent to the integrated Desktop Search function of Windows... in a version a thousand times more practical and efficient.”
- Ivan Roux, Technology Writer, Micro Hebdo, October 2004

“The Copernic Desktop Search tool remains a very useful product and offers several features not found with the GDS (Google Desktop Search).”
- Gary Price, Librarian, Information Research Consultant and Writer, ResourceShelve, Oct. 2004

“Copernic Desktop Search 1.0 used little system resources and I found it very convenient to search various files and mail attachments. Being a freeware utility gives it the bonus points… Overall, highly recommended software for any PC user.”
- R. Mohan, Technology Writer, Techtree, Sept. 2004

“Copernic has a simple and easy to understand interface. By using pull-down menus you can actually build quite advance search queries.”
- Per and Susanne Koch, Editors, Pandia, Sept. 2004

“CDS uses indexing technology and an integrated user experience to bring instant desktop search to the PC today… I'm still testing CDS, but my initial results are so favorable, I thought I'd recommend it now.”
- Paul Thurrott, Technology Writer, Windows IT Pro, Sept. 2004

“While the software only runs on Windows, testers have found that it operates at blazing speeds compared to some of their more sluggish competition. This can be accredited to how it uses less memory and occupies less disk space… With the impending arrival of Goliath in this field, here's a David you can lend your slingshot to.”
- Techworthy.com, Sept. 2004

“I've been using CDS for the past few weeks and I'm very impressed with its ease of use and overall effectiveness finding material on my computer quickly and easily. Copernic has done a good job of developing a product that PC users new to desktop search can benefit from, while not forgetting the 'power searcher'… Even if you have a desktop search product that you like, Copernic has created an impressive product that you'll want to take for a spin.”
- Gary Price, Analyst, SearchEngineWatch.com, Aug. 2004

“CDS solves the problem of remembering where you have stored files in your file hierarchy… By integrating desktop, e-mail and Web search, Copernic integrates the user's access to all kinds of information. That's useful.”
- Susan Feldman, IDC's VP for Content Technologies, Aug. 2004

“The great little application has been sitting in my taskbar for a number of weeks and has often helped me find that elusive file on my hard drive.”
- Andy Beal, Vice-President of Search Marketing, WebSourced and KeywordRanking.com, Aug. 2004

“I tried out a beta version a few weeks back and was impressed.”
- Jeremy Wagstaff, Technology Writer, Loosewire, Aug. 2004

[Aslanna]

But I don't use Vista!

[Winnow]

It works in XP too! ...just not as pretty!

Close to hyperventilating with excitement, I watched as Copernic indexed my terabytes of data! It only took a few hours to complete the entire indexing.

Here's some tips for first timers.

Although Copernic is setup well "out of the box", there are some things you can do to make it better.

First, if you're a comic book fan, add .cbr and .cbz extensions so your comics will be indexed:



Second, Copernic will index the contents of txt, doc, pdf, etc files. If you have a lot of ebooks like I do, you might want to have Copernic not index that particular folder. I don't see the point of indexing 20K fantasy/sci-fi novels although Copernic certainly will do that if you want. You also might want to not index your pr0n folders, etc:



You can easily add or remove individual folders, HDs, etc. You may also tell Copernic what to index in individual folders/HDs, etc. (musics, videos, images, files, etc)

Copernic has a cool mini window that pops out while using the toolbar search. You can expand the window into the full Copernic Desktop Window if needed:



You can use the "All" search and display everything on one page. I usually disable the preview pane (customizable to below or left of search) but have it up for the example. Below each category there is a number that will tell you how many hits each one has for the current search.



I prefer searching by category but it's still nice to see how many hits the other categories have at the top of the window just in case. Here's a Beatles search. 562 Beatles songs is a bunch but having Copernic sort the results into folders makes it a little easier to find stuff even with a bunch of results. You can have it sort any way you want though and each category lets you sort a little differently. While searching music, you may sort by artist, title genre, album, year date, etc. If searching images, it would be size, type, etc.




You may also refine your search. Each category has it's own special refining filters.

I know media monkey and iTunes have their own searches but this is quicker for me when I'm thinking of a song, especially with the mini search window that pops up off the taskbar search. I find it with copernic, double click it and it's playing. I find it quicker than media monkey or iTunes. Of course, once I have media monkey open, I'll use it's search features. (MM is faster than iTunes, FYI iTunes fans)

Ive also got a shit-ton of images. (99% not pr0n...ok maybe 98%!) A lot of it is artwork fantasy, sci-fi, comics, etc.

If I want to see a dog fucking a cow while being spanked by a moose...5 seconds tops and I'm seeing it! How many of you can say the same? (kyoukan and her "view recent items off the start menu" excluded)

Best of all, I have 3-4,000 comics I still need to sort that are all sitting in one folders, and 1,000 more in weekly download folders so the last year's worth of issues for any particular series is scattered all over the place but Copernic makes it easy to find and combine them all together quickly where I can either leave them there and read what I want or copy/paste or drag the files from the Copernic search results over to Directory Opus to reorganize them.

Right clicking on file results gives you full access to your normal file manager right click menu (for me that would be winrar for zipping shit up quick to post, etc, secure erase) so you can open up the folder into your default file manage if needed.

It's such a useful app! and hella fast! ..and free! and indexes your network drives! and better than anything else tenfold!

[Truant]

Having your songs in alphabetical order completely ruins the flow of the album for me. Particularly with an album like Abbey Road, where the last half of the album has no breaks, and one song goes right into the next.

[Winnow]

Having your songs in alphabetical order completely ruins the flow of the album for me. Particularly with an album like Abbey Road, where the last half of the album has no breaks, and one song goes right into the next.

That's just for finding them. I either randomize or use an m3u playlist. The actual filenames of these are numbered and would play correctly even without a playlist though. Copernic is using the id3 data to display the names.

[Aslanna]

So for I haven't been able to use it because it refuses to do any indexing while I'm using the PC. The other applications all seemed to get around that, but maybe it will be done when I get home.

Not sure about the older versions but that's settable in the 2.1 version.

Anyway... Honestly at home I'm pretty organized and I thought it took me longer to find things using this than just going to where I knew it was. Especially if I had to set some filter options due to receiving too many results that weren't exactly relevant to what I was searching for.

I'll try it at work and see how it goes. I'm a bit less organized there and have stuff scattered about.

[Winnow]

I don't have anything to add atm but I bookmarked this topic. (option at bottom of thread page)

What did that do for me? And why does every thread show that I've subscribed to it?

[Sylvus]

you have a bookmarks tab in your UCP. go there, click it, and you have links there to any threads you want to pay attention to.

[Neost]

Winnow, you need to let me download all your comics.

help a brother out....

[Winnow]

That's like 90GB now. (and I'm sure others have more as I don't grab everything I see)

Best way to grab comics is on DC++ comic hubs. When I'm logged into DC++, so are all of my comics ...same with all the other people logged into the Hub...so you just need to get 5-10GB of comics to start so you have something to share and then go for broke.

I'm not logged in that much anymore as I get most stuff off the newsgroups and only select stuff I can't find off the hubs though.

Next best way is keeping an eye on the comic newsgroups as entire series get posted there along with all the new issues each week. If you use giganews/newsleecher which I think you do, you're set!

alt.binaries.comics.dcp (this is the newsgroup that posts almost every new comic released every week) nicely sortable by the date in the title of the topics. *remember to filter "cb" after downloading the headers to get rid of all the crap (pars, etc) and filter out a nice set of cbr/cbz files

alt.binaries.pictures.comics.reposts (is a ~million post newsgroup if you have the 100 day retention with giganews)

you'll find comic flood after comic flood in that group.

[Neost]

Thanks.

You are right, I use newsleecher and giganews w/like 140 day retention or some such. Recently switched over to encrypted connections.

Not much of one for P2P, don't even have a torrent client installed.

[Winnow]

Copernic has been through a few updates since I last posted!

2.3 is out. It now lets you replace Vista's default search with Copernic. Nice!

http://www.copernic.com/en/products/des ... index.html

Here's some of the updates recently:

Version 2.3 - Build 18 – February 21, 2008

Changes & improvements

Added default desktop search integration options for Windows Vista SP1
New “Search Everywhere” shortcut in Windows Start Menu
New shortcuts in Windows Explorer
Windows Key+F integration
More info
Fixes

Fixed email address issue with Global Address List contacts
Fixed fax number display in contact preview
Fixed issues with .DWG files
Search box now cleared when minimizing to tray
Other stability tweaks


Version 2.2 - Build 32 - November 12, 2007

Changes & improvements

Enhanced Office 2007 indexing
Enhanced Favorites and History indexing
Improved “Clear index and reindex all” feature
Files without extension now indexed when adding “*.*” in the file extension list
Fixes

Fixed installation and updating issues under Vista
Fixed issues with Outlook Express actions
Multiple Deskbar tweaks
Other stability and performance tweaks


Version 2.1.1 - Build 3011 - July 25, 2007

Changes & improvements

Added multiple deployment options for system administrators (through GPO)
Fixes

Fixed ZIP archive indexing issues
Fixed issues with dual monitor setups
Other stability and performance tweaks


Version 2.1 - Build 2569 - May 23, 2007

Changes & improvements

Full compatibility with Windows Vista
Support for Windows Mail (Windows Vista's email program)
Support for Microsoft Office 2007 documents (requires Office 2007 to be installed)