Chapter 6. Searching Your Computer with Google Desktop

In This Chapter:

Search Your PC with Google Desktop

Browse Search Results

Use and Customize the Sidebar

Browse and Search with the Timeline

Search Outlook with Google Desktop

Set Indexing and Desktop Preferences

About Advanced Desktop Searching

If Google is good for searching the Web, why not use it to search your PC? After all, the information on your hard disk is probably just about as hard to find as information on the Web.

Why not indeed? In fact, you can do it, using Google Desktop, available for a free download at http://desktop.google.com.

After you install Google Desktop, it indexes the files on your computer. Although you can immediately start using it to search through your PC, it's better to wait until it finishes its indexing. If you search while it's still indexing, you only find results for those files that Google Desktop has already indexed.

How long Google Desktop takes to finish indexing varies according to how many files you have on your hard disk, the speed of your processor, and whether you use your PC while it's indexing. In most instances, indexing your hard disk for the first time can take several hours. After the initial index is created, indexing happens automatically as you use your computer.

After you install Google Desktop and it indexes your computer's hard disk, you are able to search through your computer's hard disk using the same Google technology you use to search the Web. The program has many extras as well, including its Sidebar that delivers news, email, and information straight to your desktop.