Most users are better off using free desktop search tools, but power users will appreciate the enormous control offered by dtSearch.

dtSearch installs in just seconds, but before you can use the software, it needs to create an index of your computer's files. This proved to be a fairly complicated process for us. During our initial installation, the software crashed. We submitted an online error report to the company and received a response within 24 hours telling us that a new release, 7.01 was available that could solve the problem and speed up the indexing process. Even after installing the new version, the software required multiple attempts to index our 105GB of data. The entire process took nearly 10 hours.

This isn't totally out of line with other hard drive search utilities. The Copernic Search engine indexed the same drive in five hours, but Copernic doesn't offer the same granularity in setting search terms.

The interface for dtSearch remains bare-bones in version 7.0 and lacks wizards to walk you through the process. Be prepared to use the manual to understand how to set up your indexes and conduct searches. This is a search tool for search professionals, not casual users.

dtSearch Desktop offers an incredible number of tools for searching your files, including stemmed, fuzzy, synonym, phonic, phrase, thesaurus and 'near' searches. The software also displays your results with highlighted keyword hits. Version 7.01 includes a new index format that enables you to store more than a terabyte of data in a single index.

Once you create your indexes, searches are nearly instantaneous. We used the software to locate and collect several years' worth of invoices that were scattered through the hard drive in just seconds. The dtSearch indexer automatically recognises and supports all popular file formats, including Word, Excel, Access or Outlook files (including email attachments), as well as common formats such as RTF and PDF. The software never alters original files, but shows you a list of potential hits and allows you to launch them in the application with which they were created.

We tested dtSearch on two different Windows XP test systems and had stability issues with both. The software repeatedly crashed during the indexing process. There is a free, built-in error reporting system that creates a log of your files and sends them to the company for analysis. We took advantage of this and were pleasantly surprised at the speed of the response: less than 24 hours. dtSearch also offers a searchable FAQ online that can be useful in navigating the software's complex options. Still, dtSearch strikes us as software that needs another point release or two before we can recommend it to everyone.

For the average user, buying dtSearch is overkill, considering the abundance of free desktop search agents out there. Still, for small-business owners and corporate clients who want to find data throughout their network, dtSearch could be a useful time-saving tool.

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