Copernic Desktop Search 8.3.2 Build 17010

Overview

Copernic Desktop Search Home is a modern desktop search software with many features. It is versatile and can provide search results instantly, while managing efficiently CPU and RAM usage. You can search for anything in your computer: music, videos, photos, documents or even emails. For more specific searches you have the ability to define filters such as file extensions or advanced search keywords. With CDS you can also search the Web in the same manner.

Installation

Installation is a little different than normal but you won’t have any problem completing it at all. In the first screen that will appear when you run the installer you will be asked the intended use for CDS. There are 5 options: Home, Business, Government agency, Non-profit organization and Academic institution. If you pick anything other than Home, in the next step you will be prompted to buy a different edition of CDS, intended for professional use. So you can only choose Home to proceed with the installation. After a couple of steps you will be asked what type of installation you want to make, Typical or Custom. In Typical all settings will be set to default, whilst in Custom you get to configure indexing settings and search integration. Note that in Typical installation, Copernic Desktop Search deskbar will be installed.

Supported operating systems are Windows XP (SP3), Vista and 7.

Interface

If you installed CDS deskbar, then a small search box will appear next to the system tray that lets you search for files faster. To access the main program you can right click on CDS tray icon and click “Open Copernic Desktop Search”.

The main window is very elegant. It has a search box at the top left side in which you enter the desired keywords. In the main area you can choose what you want to look for, like emails, contacts, favorites, history, music, videos, pictures, organizer or files. If you want to search for multiple types of files there’s an “All” category for choosing the desired types. The first tab (“Web”) will open Copernic’s search page. Depending on the category you chose, below the search box you will have different search options.

At the bottom of the main screen is an area where ads about other Copernic products are displayed.

Pros

CDS deskbar saves you a lot of time by giving you the ability to search from the taskbar. You don’t have to open the program to search for a file; the deskbar will do the exact same job.

Whenever the computer is idle, CDS is indexing all the files and folders for faster and more accurate results. It stops once activity picks up again, so you won’t experience any slow-downs due to indexing.

For every type of file there are appropriate filters for more specific searches. For instance, if you want to search for music files you will have the option to filter results by adding a title, artist, album genre, date and a checkbox with option to ignore files shorter than 10 seconds will be available. For videos you can choose size and duration, and for pictures you can define the dimensions.

Cons

The ads at the bottom take up much space in the window and there is no way to remove them. In addition, search as you type function is not available.

Alternatives

Agent Ransack is a tool designed to help you search and find any file located in your hard drive. You can define advanced filters for more accurate results. You can then browse them without having to separately open each file. SearchMyFiles is another free alternative, which is portable and does the same job, although it doesn’t index files, unlike CDS.

Conclusion

Copernic Desktop Search Home has some very useful features with a nice interface that is easy to handle. For more professional use, CDS Professional is more suitable but for home use it is one of the best desktop search software there are.