Search external hard drive using Windows 8

Hi Major Geeks,

I am trying to search my external hard drive using Windows 8, and it is coming back with 0 results. I know these things are there, so I must be missing something. Can someone provide a guide as to how I can use the search features to find individual files that are stored on my ehd.

I am accustomed to Windows XP, and it was as easy as me typing in a word, and choosing all files and folders, and search/scout would bring up everything that matched. That's what I want now.

Thank you!

 

I use this program : http://www.voidtools.com/

All you have to do is enter the file name ( or even part of it) and it will locate it on your comp.
You can set it to scan your whole comp or any hdd you prefer.

Tools> options> volumes and you can select the drive you want to scan.

The download page doesn't show Windows 8, but other forums says it will work with 8.

Give it a try.

 

If the external drive is plugged into the computer via USB, it should be showing up in My Computer as a drive with a letter. If not, try it on another computer and see if it shows up or not. If not, most likely the drive is show or the cable.

 

I thought the OP said he just couldn't find a specific file, not that the drive doesn't show up.

 

Exactly, I am seeing the ehd, but I can't find particular docs. When I used XP in the past it always pulled them up for me, but win8 is showing no results. I don't know where they are on the drive and I don't want to go thru each file individually.

 

Thanks for your reply! When I looked into this it said it doesn't search file contents. That is what I am looking for.

 

You can try this program: http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

It will show what is in each file you select.

 

Well thanks again. I listened to my intuition and tried the void tools, it worked great and did provide the contents. Now I just need to set ownership of ehd to have access to the files. I just finished reinstalling the operating system and getting my main comp set just the way I like it and it died. I have been so frustrated trying to figure out Win 8 quickly.

 

Glad it worked for you!:-D

 

You should always have an image of your C drive and if your drive dies again, you can get you OS and all contents, updates, etc back in a matter of minutes.

If you purchase a Seagate, WD or Maxtor, you can get the Acronis Trueimage software (free) and make an image of your OS and

put it on your external hdd. ( or my choice is another internal HDD)

If you need to recover your OS ( including programs, updates, etc) you can do it with a few clicks.

You can also use Easeus for free and any hdd will work.

Seagate - http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/discwizard/

WD - http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&wdc_lang=en

Easeus - http://www.filehorse.com/download-easeus-todo-backup/

 

Thanks, I have that on my WD, but I am using a different comp that uses Win8, which is fine, it's just new, so I am learning.