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Desktop search is the name for the field of search tools which search the contents of a user's own computer files, rather than searching the Internet. These tools are designed to find information on the user's PC, including web browser histories, e-mail archives, text documents, sound files, images and video.

One of the main advantages of desktop search programs is that search results come up in a few seconds, much faster than was possible with previous tools such as Windows XP's search companions. A variety of desktop search programs are available; see this list for examples.

Desktop search is emerging as a concern for large firms for two main reasons: untapped productivity and security. A commonly cited statistic states that 80% of a company's data is locked up inside unstructured data — the information stored on an end user's PC, the files and directories they've created on a network, documents stored in repositories such as corporate intranets and a multitude of other locations. ^[1] Moreover, many companies have structured or unstructured information stored in older file formats to which they don't have ready access.

Companies doing business in the United States are frequently required under regulatory mandates like Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and FERPA to make sure that access to sensitive information is 100% controlled. This creates a challenge for IT organizations, which may not have a desktop search standard, or lack strict central control over end users downloading tools from the Internet. Some consumer-oriented desktop search tools make it possible to generate indexes outside the corporate firewall and share those indexes with unauthorized users. In some cases, end users are able to index — but not preview — items they should not even know exist.

Contents 1 Technologies 2 See also 3 References 4 External links 4.1 Comparisons

Desktop search engines build and maintain an index database to achieve reasonable performance when searching several gigabytes of data. Indexing usually takes place when the computer is idle and most search applications can be set to suspend it if a portable computer is running on batteries, in order to save power. When indexing the files, desktop search tools collect three types of information about files:

• file and directory names
• metadata, such as titles, authors, comments in file types such as MP3, PDF and JPEG
• content of supported documents.

To search within documents, the tools need to be able to parse many different types of documents. This is achieved by using filters that interpret selected file formats. For example, a Microsoft Office Filter might be used to search inside Microsoft Office documents.

Long-term goals for desktop search include the ability to search the contents of image files, sound files and video by context^{[2] [3]}.

The sector has attracted considerable attention from the emerging struggle between Microsoft and Google. According to market analysts, both companies are attempting to leverage their monopolies (of web browsers and search engines, respectively) to strengthen their dominance. This may bring back memories of the browser wars of the 1990's.^{[citation needed]}

• List of desktop search engines
• Intra-desktop search

1. ^ "Security special report: Who sees your data?", Computer Weekly
2. ^ "The current state of video search", by Niall Kennedy
3. ^ "The current state of audio search", by Niall Kennedy

• Keeper Finders, by Paul Boutin, Slate, December 31, 2004 — A comparison of Google, Ask Jeeves, HotBot, MSN and Copernic desktop search tools.
• GoebelGroup.com's desktop search tools comparison chart - Date of last update: 15 January 2007.
• A detailed comparison of desktop search tools - dated 2004.
• Enterprise Desktop Search Resource Center hosted by X1, but with a non-partisan bent