Search files in a flash with SwiftSearch

Windows 8 has pretty decent file-search capabilities built in, especially if you learn a few tricks for smarter searches.

Of course, not everyone has (or wants) Windows 8, and even those who do may find Microsoft's search engine lacking.

Check out SwiftSearch, a free, portable search utility that's remarkably small and remarkably fast. With it you can find just about any file, on any drive, in about the time it takes to read this sentence. In fact, forget sentence; the time it takes to read this word!

SwiftSearch has nothing to install; it's a fully self-contained executable, which explains its "portable" nature: You can run it from your hard drive or keep it on a flash drive if you're looking to build out your portable toolset.

Either way, it loads in seconds. All you do is type your search parameters and then click Search. I'm not sure how the program returns results so quickly giving that it doesn't index your drive (which is how Windows Search operates), but it does.

SwiftSearch also supports a variety of expressions you can use to perform more exacting searches, though these will definitely take a bit of study if you're not accustomed to searching this way. Click Help, Regular expressions for a cheat-sheet of the expressions you can use.

Once you've got your results, you can right-click any item for a menu of options, including Open and Open Containing Folder.

Much as I'm loving SwiftSearch, the program isn't perfect. Although you can sort your search results by clicking any of the column headers (Name, Directory, etc.), there's no file-type option. I want that for grouping things like Word documents and JPEG images.

Also, it would be nice if you could focus searches on a specific folder, but SwiftSearch works only with entire drives.

That said, if you find that it's meeting your search needs, you could even consider turning off Windows' search indexing, which may make your PC run faster. See Chris Null's "Software Speed Boosts for Your PC" to find out how.

Contributing Editor Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PC hassles at hasslefree@pcworld.com. Sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter (which is included in the Power Tips newsletter) e-mailed to you each week.

For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow.
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Review: ZipItFree compresses files tightly, doesn't make you tighten your belt

Compression software ZipItFree doesn't just make files smaller, it makes its interface smaller. This handy freebie lets you roll up its interface into its top bar, so you can minimize the screen space it occupies without closing it entirely. When you need ZipItFree again, you just click the button and the interface drops down again, just like a set of window blinds. It's a small design touch that proves quite useful.

Unfortunately, the same thought didn't go into the software's default steel skin, which is not pleasing to the eye. Luckily, it's easy to change the design. I'd suggest either the Vista or Windows 7 design options, both of which make ZipItFree far easier on the eyes.

Aside from the one design horror, ZipItFree checks all the right boxes. It features strong encryption, support for 15 compression formats, and, like PeaZip, the ability to split up the file into multiple chunks of a set size for easier burning or emailing. For example, it can make an exact size to fit onto a 700MB CD disk or a 4GB DVD disk. You can also attach comments to an archive to remind yourself what's in it.

ZipItFree performed very fast on my 30MBtest  folder, coming close to its promised maximum 40 percent reduction and compressing the folder down to 20MB.

However, watch out for the extra software that ZipItFree tries to make you install. Just make sure to pay attention and uncheck the right boxes, and you'll be fine.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Expatriate Scotsman now living in Wurzburg, Germany, freelance writer, frustrated future bestselling author, obsessed bibliophile. Other interests include trying to understand The Architect in the Matrix movies, decrypting codes and ciphers, and trying to persuade my landlord and my wife to let me have a Highland Cow for a pet.
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Google blocks Chromecast app that streams local media files

You can stream a lot of content to a Chromecast dongle, but one thing you can’t do is stream your personal files from an Android device—and according to one developer, Google's actively working to keep it that way.

A beta version of an Android application called AllCast has lost the ability to stream content to Chromecast from Android apps such as the photo gallery, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

“Google's latest Chromecast update intentionally breaks AllCast,” said Android developer Koushik Dutta in a recent Google+ post. The company removed a developer option called “video_playback,” which as its name suggests, allowed any application to support video playback.

Dutta believes this is a sign that Google will not be friendly toward third-party developers of Chromecast apps compared to the relative openness Android developers enjoy on Google Play. “The Chromecast will probably not be indie developer friendly,” Dutta said in his post. “The Google TV team will likely only whitelist media companies.”

“We’re excited to bring more content to Chromecast and would like to support all types of apps, including those for local content,” Google said in a statement when we reached out to them for comment. “It’s still early days for the Google Cast SDK, which we just released in developer preview for early development and testing only. We expect that the SDK will continue to change before we launch out of developer preview, and want to provide a great experience for users and developers before making the SDK and additional apps more broadly available.”

Indeed, in its Chromecast developer documentation, Google says that all functionality is subject to change.

Regardless, Google certainly hasn’t made it easy for Chromecast users to stream their own video files to their TV—an obvious feature deficit. Competitors such as Apple TV already allow you to stream content from your PC or iOS device; however, Apple restricts video formats to h.264 and a specific type of MP4.

Many critics suspect that Google left out the ability to stream personal videos to make its new Web-meets-TV platform more attractive to movie and television studios concerned about piracy. Instead of buying approved content from Google Play or Amazon, the argument goes, users could just download a pirated copy of Sunday night’s Breaking Bad episode and send that to Chromecast.

If the speculation is accurate, it’s rather unfair to limit obvious functionality on Chromecast just to make sure Hollywood doesn’t get spooked, especially since Apple TV could broadcast pirated video to your TV right now. Plus, anyone with the technical know-how to download a pirated video (especially via torrents) likely figured out how to put that content on their TV long before Chromecast showed up.

If you’re absolutely dying to stream personal videos to your Chromecast, one workaround for now is to try casting from your PC. Our recent primer on seven Chromecast tips and tricks shows you how to easily access a PC’s file system from an open Chrome tab.

Updated at 11:23 a.m. PT with a comment from Google.

Ian is an independent writer based in Tel Aviv, Israel. His current focus is on all things tech including mobile devices, desktop and laptop computers, software, social networks, Web apps, tech-related legislation and corporate tech news.
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Review: Upload files to Dropbox via email with Send to Dropbox

If you’re looking for a simpler way to send content directly to Dropbox, Send to Dropbox has you covered. This free service generates an email address, and any attachments sent to that address are automatically saved to Dropbox.

The free version of Send to Dropbox doesn’t allow you to create a custom address.

Getting started with Send to Dropbox is a breeze: You just connect it to your Dropbox account and it instantly generates an email address for you. Remembering this may be a challenge, though. My address contained a short but random string of numbers and letters.

Upgrading to the $29-per-year Pro account gives you the option of customizing your email address, which is a nice feature for business users, especially those who may want to share the address with colleagues. The Pro account also lets you create multiple addresses, and an email whitelist, so you can control who can send files to your Dropbox.

By default, Send to Dropbox saves your files to a new folder it creates in your Dropbox called “Apps/Attachments.” You can change this filename and add subfolders that contain the name of the sender and the subject line, if you prefer. However, you can’t share this folder with other Dropbox users, as it is a special type of folder for Dropbox applications.

By default, Send to Dropbox saves files to a folder it creates, but you can create subfolders in there, if you’d like.

In my tests, all of the attachments sent to my Send to Dropbox address appeared in Dropbox almost instantly, and were organized in the folders I’d selected. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to send files to Dropbox, Send to Dropbox can’t be beat.

Liane Cassavoy is a veteran technology and business journalist. She contributes regularly to PCWorld and has written about business issues and products for Entrepreneur Magazine and other publications. She is the author of two business start-up guides published by Entrepreneur Press.
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How non-Dropbox users can send files to your Dropbox account

Smart fixes for your PC hassles

Dbinbox.

As any Dropbox user knows, it's pretty easy to share a cloud-stored file with someone; just click the share icon to get a link you can distribute as needed.

Ah, but what about the other way around? What if someone wants to send a file to you via Dropbox? Unless they have Dropbox accounts of their own, they can't.

Now they can. Browser-based Dbinbox enables Dropbox sharing in the other direction: It generates a custom link that others can use to send files to your Dropbox.

All you do is type in a desired user name, then click Link with your Dropbox. You'll have to give Dbinbox permission, of course, after which you'll find a newly added Dbinbox folder inside your Apps folder.

Now, just hand out your custom Dbinbox link. When someone uses it, he or she can drag and drop files right to the browser window or use a file selector. There's even an option to send a message (which gets delivered as a text file), a nice touch.

For a little added security, Dbinbox lets you create an access code you can require users to enter before sending files your way.

This is a great little service that overcomes one of Dropbox's hassles—few and far between as they are. There's no charge to use it, though the developer does accept Bitcoin donations.

Contributing Editor Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PC hassles at hasslefree@pcworld.com. Sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter e-mailed to you each week.

For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow.
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Print all the files, or a list of all the files, in a folder

Mikecool asked the  Printers forum how to print all of the files in a folder. I'm expanding the question to include printing a list of files.

To print all of the files in a folder, open that folder in Windows Explorer (File Explorer in Windows 8), press CTRL-a to select all of them, right-click any of the selected files, and select Print. Of course, you can also select a few specific files and print them the same way.

 [Email your tech questions to answer@pcworld.com.]

But this doesn't always work. Sometimes, you right-click the files and don't see a Print option.

Some file types just aren't printable. It's usually pretty easy to guess which ones they are--.exes, .mp3s, and .zips, for instance. These are files without paper-friendly content.

Another limitation: The Print option won't show up if the files are of different types--even if all types are printable. For instance, you can select and print multiple .jpgs and multiple .docxs, but not .jpgs and .docxs together. The workaround for this is to group the folder by type (right-click a blank spot in Windows Explorer and select Group>Type), and select and print one type at a time.

You can print a list of files by returning to the dark days of DOS. But don't worry; it's not as scary as it sounds.

in Windows (or File) Explorer, hold down the SHIFT key as you right-click the folder. Select Open command window here.

This opens the DOS-like command window. Type dir > printit.txt, then press ENTER.

Return to Windows Explorer, where you'll find a new file, printit.txt, in the folder. You can either double-click the file to load it into Notepad and print from there, or simply right-click the file and select Print.

You can change the look of that printed list by adding additional instructions to the dir command. For instance:

dir /b > printit.txt will print only the file names.dir /o:d > printit.txt will sort the files by date.dir *.png /o:d /s > printit.txt will list only *png files, sorted by date, and will include those found in the current folder's subfolders.

To find more such options, use the command dir /?.

Read the original forum discussion.

When he isn't bicycling, prowling used bookstores, or watching movies, PC World Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector writes about technology and cinema.
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