search term highlighting

Question

I just wanted to my vote to adding search term highlighting in the preview window.  I already made a similar comment in the WDS Help forum, but thought this would also be a good place to chime in.

 

I've seen comments from a couple years back that this feature would be included in the next version, but so far, nothing!  It really is the one feature that makes Windows Search 4 not worth my time.

 

I checked out WDS 3.01 some time back and was disappointed not to see search term highlighting in the preview pane.  Then I saw that Windows Search 4 would be coming out in a few months and I was very excited, having seen those notes about it being included in the next release.  But now that it's out and highlighting is still nowhere to be seen, I can't tell you how disappointed I am that I won't be able to recommend WS 4.

 

Please add this feature and make WS something worth using!

Answer 1

I have been using the highlight feature from MS tool bar to highlight the search string in the preview window.

Works great.

Answer 2

OK, where do I get "MS Toolbar?" So you hover over preview pane and then search from the toolbar?? Where is the toolbar located? Is it a plug-in to Windows Search??

Answer 3

OK, I installed Windows Live Toolbar but it only works on IE, not "Windows Search." Am I missing something??

Answer 4

I tried the same thing and it didn't work.

 

I'm waiting till they add the feature into Windows Search.

 

It would be great if there was a simple checkbox so that you could turn highlighting on and off in the preview window without having to reload the preview.  In some instances, when the search term appears a lot in the preview (Windows Help comes to mind), it can be difficult/distracting to actually read anything.  Also with some products, when you deselect search term highlighting, it reloads the preview window and returns the view to the beginning of the document, leaving you to scroll down and try to find your spot again.

 

I hope the Windows Search team doesn't decide that it isn't a useful feature or is too hard to implement.  The only way that I would forgive this is if highlighting is a feature that works in Vista but not XP.  Although I'm still using XP and would love to see this happen for it, I understand that resources are being shifted away from it.

 

Answer 5

I've been searching since 2005 for "highlight search term" function in Windows Search. They keep promising. . . and I stick with a rival product. So annoying. All the other new Windows products (esp. the Live Essentials) rock but this one gaping hole in Windows Search ruins the party.

 

Any hope?

Answer 6

Any progress? Keep waiting. Stuck with Copernic. It works like a desktop engine should but I'm loving Windows Live services and hating the "Windows Search" clunker.

 

Answer 7

Microsoft folks (any one there?):

I upgraded to Windows 7 and am really enjoying the experience but this WDS preview pane is really driving me nuts. I add ifilter (for Adobe, for example) but it only highlights the first search term in a "hit." Copernic lets you click on one of the search terms repeatedly to find instances. Is there a workaround? This can't be rocket science if a little company like Copernic has done it for years!

Make that one change and I'm completely sold on the whole Windows package, from MS Office to Windows Live and Windows 7!

However, I do a lot of searching through 100,000 documents of all types and this is a real pain (which means I use Copernic with its nag screen -- they want $50/computer!).

Answer 8

Come on Microsoft!

Let's add this one already!

Is there some kind of patent that others have that is forcing you not to add this feature?  This has got to one of the most important features that any search product can have.  You've already got it when searching inside Outlook, just add the feature to the rest of Windows and you'll be golden.

Get off your butts and get this done!

Answer 9

Can anyone from microsoft comment on this?  It's seriously sad...this one thing makes the product useless.  You put this in and it will  blow all of the others out of the park.  Staying with Copernic only for this reason.....

Answer 10

I would not hold my breath for this feature.  It has been a few years since Windows Desktop Search 4.0 is out and it does not look like Microsoft is interested in adding this or other features to it.

Answer 11

It's the same with the Clipboard -- one clip at a time rather than the splendid Clipboard extenders put out by Clipmagic or Clipcache.

 

Answer 12

Until today, I can't find any solution about "search term highlight" of Windows Search.

I don't understand and very disappointed about that.  It's seem a very easy thing if Microsoft want to do that.

We are ISV solution partner of Microsoft and we are waiting enough.

Maybe we should try Google's solution?  should We?