OK, I give up. I'm trying to search for a particular string like 'xyz' in a bunch of *.txt files located in various locations in a tree - all the folders and files I want to search in are rooted under a particular folder. Usb Pc Camera Sn9c102p Driver- Download Special Version on this page.

Offers useful tips for office applications and operating systems. How to search exact string within a file in Windows 7? Is there a way to search for text strings within files with Windows 7 Explorer? Alternatively, is there another program that does the job? 4 related questions. Feb 02, 2016 How to Make Windows 7 Search File Contents. Trying to find a document that you can't remember the file name, but know the contents of?

It used to be that Windows Explorer had a feature 'Search files and folders' that had a check-box for 'search subfolders' was intuitive and just worked great. However, with the new improved search facility, I can't get it to search for a string in a tree of files. And the help does not help. I even went into advanced search, typed in '*.txt' for Name, and in the search string, I get 'xyz name:*.txt' and the string is not found even though I know it's located in at least one of the files in the tree of files under the 'Location' which is like C: apk Could somebody please point me at a description of how to do this, or else maybe a quick pointer as to what I'm doing wrong?

Hello Paul, The syntax for Windows Search is quite different now. For one thing, wild cards work differently and are rarely needed for common searches.

Try using the ext property instead: xyz ext:txt However, keep in mind that Windows Search is now word-based, not character-based. When searching file contents, if the string 'xyz' is in the middle of a word, it may not be found unless it is preceded by a space, an upper-case letter, or a punctuation character. So, you may need to search on a part of word that precedes the 'xyz' string.

There is good information on the new search syntax here: As for searching sub folders by default, on Vista that option is set in the Search tab of the Windows 'Folder Options' dialog. A couple of other tips: Be sure that the parent folder is set to be indexed in the Indexing Options dialogs. Be aware that the type of search you are doing is best done from Windows Explorer or the main search dialog, not from the Start menu.

The latter has its own options, which are often more restrictive than the other methods.