Locate32 3.1.11.7100

Winner Best software in 2014 - Search.

Overview

If you are the type of person who keeps forgetting the location of important files/folders in your computer, then searching the entire system for them can become an irksome job. Although Windows search service is somewhat helpful but then its search speed is quite slow and does not provide any advanced features which many other search applications offer. Locate32 is a lightweight application that lets you search for files/folders very quickly and easily, plus offers some beneficial features. It basically saves the names of all the files on your hard disk to its database and later finds these files based on their names from this database, thus speeding up the search operation.

Installation

Installation procedure is not required for Locate32. You simply need to extract its downloaded file and then run ‘locate32.exe’ file, the application interface will open up. In order to make it working, open File menu and select ‘Update Databases’ option, it will start scanning your hard disk and then create the database from where the searches will take place. This is a portable application, so it can be kept in a USB flash drive and run on any other computer. It is supported by following operating systems: Windows 98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/Vista/7.

Interface

Locate32 uses a Windows Explorer type dialog-box which has a plain, simple and instinctive interface. In fact, it is designed in a way that it can be used effortlessly by beginners and advanced users alike. The search fields are grouped into three categories and displayed under different tabs namely – Name & Location, Size and Date, and Advanced. The search results are listed in the expanded area of the dialog box, below all the fields. More advanced options can be selected from the main menu options such as ‘Tools’ to view/edit settings, do settings of backup tool or to delete private data. Buttons to handle directory searches are shown on the right side of dialog-box, which are- Find Now, Stop, New Search and Presets.

Pros

Search your files and directories easily with much more speed than provided by Windows Search Service by various methods. The reason why Locate32 performs quick search is due to the fact that it creates databases which store names and information about all the files on your hard disk. Later on, it uses these databases to search for the file(s) that you are trying to find and after the file’s indexing has been done, the results are displayed in the application’s search form.

The first type of category to search your files and folders is by entering their name, extensions, or location. Another way to filter out your required files is by entering their Size and Date details such as – Minimum file size, Maximum file size, Files newer than, and Files older than. You can search your files and folders or either of them with the help of some more advanced options like match with whole file name, Match Case, use entire path, and file containing text entered in the edit box.
With the search operation buttons, you can start the search process, stop it immediately, refresh the search fields, and preset some searches (it saves results for a particular search).

There are plenty of settings that you can make in order to enhance the way Locate32 works. For instance, settings can be made to always or never underline file names in the result list, minimize the tool to system tray, sort results in ascending or descending order, define the maximum number of results to be displayed in the list, change Text color, and much more.
It even lets you edit, delete, import, enable or disable the default database; moreover, you can even create a completely new Database. Apply automated updates for this tool which can be scheduled on daily, weekly, hourly or monthly basis and their Start time can also be pre-defined.
Furthermore, it supports keyboard shortcuts to perform basic operations of the tool like closing the dialog box, show help, execute item, activate search, and so on. It does not restrict you to use these default hotkeys only as you can assign new hotkeys for any operation.

Cons

Help file does not work as on clicking any help topic link, blank screen is shown.

Alternatives

Everything is an administrative tool that can quickly find files/folders by their names and takes a few seconds to build its database. Agent Ransack is a free file-search utility which can speedily and efficiently find information on your hard drive. FileSearchy is also a very useful tool to find files on your systems with simple searches by name or advanced searched by file contents, date and size.

Conclusion

All the searches carried out by Locate32 were accurate and fast; using this tool was also absolutely easy and fun. At first you might get the impression that there is nothing much to do with it except few types of search operations but you will be surprised to see the abundant options under ‘Settings’ that it has to offer. This free application is very helpful, so it is highly recommended to all the users.

Winner Best software in 2014 - Search.