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No File Left Behind: Windows Desktop Search (WDS)

  • Artigo

A few weeks ago, I started diving into a fantastic free tool for your desktops.  The tool is called Windows Desktop Search (WDS).  WDS is a search engine allowing you to search across all the types of information on our systems.  From your email, documents, photos and music, WDS will help break down the silos of information on your systems.  The tool is also enterprise friendly, it is very easy to deploy (upcoming screen cast) and it has several GPO settings to centrally manage the server.  To show the power of the tool, I decided to record a quick screen cast to show you what the tool can do.  

 

Enjoy, and please comment and let me know what you think of WDS.

 

Click here for the screen cast: Windows Desktop Search Overview

Here are some great resources for WDS:

 

Download Windows Desktop Search

https://www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/enterprise/downloads.mspx  

Windows Desktop Search Home:

https://www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/default.mspx   

Windows Desktop Administrative Template:

https://g.microsoft.com/8SEURL/ENUWDSMSCOMDownloadURLWDSADM   

Advanced Query Reference:

https://search.msn.com/docs/toolbar.aspx?t=MSNTbar_PROC_CompleteSearchSyntax.htm

Comments

  • Anonymous
    May 17, 2006
    What is that thing and why do I care?
    My buddy Matt Hester has done a great tutorial on Windows Desktop...

  • Anonymous
    May 17, 2006
    Matt Hester wrote an article for TechNet Magazine on Windows Desktop Search (WDS).  The article...

  • Anonymous
    May 17, 2006
    Take a look at the excellent overview of Windows Desktop Search put together by Matt Hester over on his...

  • Anonymous
    May 17, 2006
    Way Cool! Thanks for the excellent and concise presentation, Matt. Great Job!

  • Anonymous
    May 18, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 18, 2006
    Wondering about Windows Desktop Search?
    Wonder no more!
    My friend and “cow-orker”** Matt...

  • Anonymous
    May 22, 2006
    Thank you for all the great comments!  I am glad everyone enjoyed the screencast.  I do know we do have some endeavors on getting 64 bit support down the road, I am still waiting to hear back from a guy in Redmond who is running the 64 bit WDS initiative.  But we are working on it.  I will post more when I can.

  • Anonymous
    May 22, 2006
    Well, the minute I said I was waiting.  What do you know I hear back from the product group.  Here is the official public news:

    64 bits will be available in WDS3.0 Beta2 in July.

  • Anonymous
    May 23, 2006
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 03, 2006
    Good Afternoon Searchers!  J
    Thank you for attending the web cast on Windows Desktop Search (WDS). ...

  • Anonymous
    July 10, 2006
    Good day My Exchange Performance Guru’s
    Thank you for attending the web cast on Exchange Performance...

  • Anonymous
    August 02, 2006
    Guess what!   It’s official!  I am now a published author!!     <Hold...

  • Anonymous
    January 18, 2007
    Take a look at the excellent overview of Windows Desktop Search put together by Matt Hester over on his

  • Anonymous
    May 08, 2007
    I really like the product, once it is installed. Unfortunately it is ridiculously difficult to install in an Enterprise.

  1. Microsoft does not provide an MSI file.
  2. When you try to wrap your own, it is extremely difficult even for experienced engineers. There are 5 pages of additional modifications that have to be made after you compile the MSI, and even then it's still flakey.
  3. Microsoft advertises that it is deployable via WSUS, but it's not. You may be able to upgrade an existing version of the product once it's already installed, but when you try to deploy it with SUS, it appears as either "Not Needed" on WSUS 2.0 or "Not Applicable on WSUS 3.0".
  4. Google has an MSI for their inferior Desktop Search product. Yanni.