Hi,

I would like an advanced search engine tool for email filing, so that
I can search by one or multiple keywords that I optionally create.

I have emails that span across different subjects, and at the moment I
am "copying" each email and having to put it into each folder.

I have tried many add-ons from Microsoft, as well as the Google
Desktop - but I find them too generic as sometimes I don't want to
include an email from someone who mentions a certain phrase like
"Costa Rica".

Preferably I would like an add-on to Microsoft Outlook that will also
search through word docs, excel spreadsheets and pdf's attached to
emails, but haven't found anything to date. If not, email HTMP/plain
text file searches would be great.

For example, I may get an email back from you and not decide to
"categorise" it, because I find the information of no benefit. On the
other hand, I may receive a response that helps me and I can use in
the future. I would then opt-in to create my own keywords such as
"Search tools", "Google help", "search Outlook", "Word find".


Any help would be appreciated.

---

Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 30 Oct 2004 16:23 PDT

sparklegirl-ga:

Just wondering, when you tried out the Google Desktop Search
application, did you make full use of the advanced search capabilities
to fine-tune your search? The current version does not feature an
"advanced search" page, but the search-field can make use of many of
the same advanced search capabilities as Google Web Search. For
example, if you wanted to find all e-mails that refer to travel
agents, except those that also refer to Costa Rica, then in Google
Desktop Search you can type:

   "travel agents" -"Costa Rica"

to search for any e-mail, Word document, Excel spreadsheet, Powerpoint
file, or text file on your hard drive that contains the phrase "travel
agents", excluding those that also contain the phrase "Costa Rica".

The power of an index driven search tool like Google Desktop Search is
that it saves you the trouble of having to categorize messages and
files at the time of receipt, only to want to find something that does
not correspond to a specific category later on.

In its current version, Desktop Search does not do EVERYTHING that you
are looking for (for example, you want to search within attachments,
and also within PDF files... these capabilities are not available yet
in the current beta version). However, for the price (FREE) and given
the speed with which it works, I'd encourage you to try it again to
see if it already suits your purposes.

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

PS: As an independent contractor for the Google Answers service, I
have no relation to Google or the Google Desktop Search tool... my
endorsement above is purely my own opinion, offered in the hopes that
it is of help to you.

---

Request for Question Clarification by theta-ga on 30 Oct 2004 18:07 PDT

Hi sparklegirl,
 You mentioned that you had tried out many addins from Microsoft, but
were not satisfied with any of them. I was just wondering whether you
had tried out the MSN Lookout addin for Outlook since it seems to fit
all your requirements. You can find it online at:
     - LookOut email search for Outlook
       (http://www.lookoutsoft.com/Lookout/)
       Price: Free

From the website:
"You can use Lookout to search your: 
- Email messages
- Contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, etc.
- Data from exchange, POP, IMAP, PST files, Public Folders
- Files on your computer or other computers"

The LookOut addin provides extremely fast searches, and sports
extensive wildcards and search tailoring capabilities. It even
searches through attachments (Word/excel/powerpoint/text and html, not
sure about pdf's).Best of all, you can save the search query you have
constructed and reuse it later.

Check it out, and if it meets your need, I will post it as the
official answer with more details on how you could customize your
searches.
Regards,
Theta-ga

---

Clarification of Question by sparklegirl-ga on 31 Oct 2004 20:53 PST

Hi aht-ga,

Google desktop unfortunately gives me too many results, and filtering
does not help. I have thousands of emails - let alone word docs and
excel files. As mentioned, I want to send or receive an email and have
the option for indexing or non-indexing. Not that any email I decide
to keep, I file after I reply to, so I keep my Inbox up to date.

I have just downloaded the latest version of Lookout and will let you
know how I go.

Thank you for your help and I will get back to you.

Sparkle Girl

---

Clarification of Question by sparklegirl-ga on 31 Oct 2004 21:12 PST

Hi,

one other thing, does Google Desktop or Lookout support searching from zip files?

Also, cost is not the issue for me as I need functionality.

Let me give you another example. I may send an email that I would like
indexed. It would have the following keywords: Costa Rica, Dominica,
Panama, Estonia.
However I only want to index on Costa Rica and Dominica. 

If you know of any paid program that does this, let me know. If not
your replies have been excellent and I look forward to hearing back
from you on the zipped files.

---

Request for Question Clarification by theta-ga on 31 Oct 2004 23:06 PST

Hi sparklegirl-ga,
 I assume that you are referring to searching within zip files sent as
attachments to emails. While LookOut does not support this
functionality out of the box, you can add it very easily from the
Options dialog. Just click on the Options button on the toolbar,
switch to the Advanced tab, abd add 'zip' to the File types to index
text box at the bottom. You will have to rebuild the index from
scratch for it to take effect.
Once you have rebuilt the index, you can search for file names inside
the zip file. Searching the contents of the files inside the zip
archives will however not be possible.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Theta-ga
:)

---

Clarification of Question by sparklegirl-ga on 31 Oct 2004 23:25 PST

No,

I am looking to search for and index zip files that I have already
zipped and filed (i.e. old *.pst, word and excel files).

I have a number of zipped files dating back many years (*.pst, etc),
that I would like to access.

Anyway, I would like to accept and pay you for the work you have
completed for me. I have taken up far too much of your time already,
and your advice has been very valuable.

Please advise next step.

Hi sparklegirl-ga,
   Since you indicated your satisfaction with my suggested solution to
the question, I am posting it as the official answer.
 --------------------------------------------
 - LookOut email search for Outlook
       (http://www.lookoutsoft.com/Lookout/)
       Price: Free

From the website:
"You can use Lookout to search your: 
- Email messages
- Contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, etc.
- Data from exchange, POP, IMAP, PST files, Public Folders
- Files on your computer or other computers"

The LookOut addin provides extremely fast searches, and sports
extensive wildcards and search tailoring capabilities. It even
searches through attachments (Word/excel/powerpoint/text and html,with
an option to add other extensions).Best of all, you can save the
search query you have constructed and reuse it later.
 --------------------------------------------

As for searching through zip files you have stored away in separate
folders, LookOut allows to to index the contents of folders also. You
can add any folder to LookOut's index by going to the Options screen
and clicking the "Add Files..." button.
This will allow you to search on the names of the files inside the zip
archive, but not on the contents of those files.

-------------------------------------------------

Hope this helps.
If you need any clarifications, just ask!

Regards,
Theta-ga
:)


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Google Search Terms Used:
  Lookout email search