Using the "A word or phrase in the file" search criterion may not work

Method 1

To resolve this problem for the following types, obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP or install the "Windows XP Application Compatibility Update, October 25, 2001" from the Windows Update Web site.

For more information about this update, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

309447 Content search does not search all file types for the specified string

For more information about how to obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

To resolve this problem for other file types, install a program that registers a filter for the file type that you want to search. If no program that provides a filter is available, you can use the plain text filter for a file type. To do this, add a PersistentHandler key under the file type key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and set its (Default) string value name to the following value:

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

For example, to use the text filter provider for .zzz files, the following registry setting should exist:

After you add this value to the registry, you must log off and then log back on to make the change take effect.

NOTES:

• The plain text filter may not work for all file types. If adding the plain text filter for the file type does not work, contact the vendor of the file type for availability of a filter for that file type.
• The HTML 3.0 filter (Nlhtml.dll) ignores text that is contained in comments in an HTML file (for example, a file with an .htm or .asp extension). To search for text that is contained in comments in HTML files, use the plain text filter or the method that is described in method 2.

Method 2

To configure Windows XP to search all files no matter what the file type, obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP and then turn on the Index file types with unknown extensions option.


If you use this method, Windows XP searches all file types for the text that you specify. This can affect the performance of the search functionality. To do this:

1. Click Start, and then click Search (or point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders).
2. Click Change preferences, and then click With Indexing Service (for faster local searches).
3. Click Change Indexing Service Settings (Advanced). Note that you do not have to turn on the Index service.
4. On the toolbar, click Show/Hide Console Tree.
5. In the left pane, right-click Indexing Service on Local Machine, and then click Properties.
6. On the Generation tab, click to select the Index files with unknown extensions check box, and then click OK.
7. Close the Indexing Service console.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Network administrators can configure this setting by modifying the registry. To do this, set the FilterFilesWithUnknownExtensions DWORD value to 1 in the following registry key:

For more information about how to obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack