Classic Shell: Forum

I'm old. Forgive me if I've done something wrong.

A long standing pet peeve for me is Microsoft Windows' failure to provide stickiness and history in the search box.
I constantly have to re-enter a search because the first hit wasn't the right one.
And I want a history so I can fetch an old search.

If youse could enhance search I'd be delirious.

The search box in the Start Menu does not have any history feature however:

1. You can use the Run dialog instead (Win key+R) which has History.
2. You can use a search replacement like the free FileLocator Lite (https://www.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorlite) which has history.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Neither of these replies is responsive:

The RUN command is all about apps and utilities and, yes, files, but not generalized searches.


The alternative "File Finders" find files. The search box finds MUCH more.

The search box is unique. I know of no other equivalent search.
It includes a great number of system internals ("partition" gets you to the device management screen that allows both partitioning and formatting).
It includes files (as do many other searches: I like "file finder" in Avon's Powerdesk Utility group).
It'll reach out to the Internet.
It'll get you to the right place to set auto-play options.
And on and on. It's more like Google (but not enough) than a file search utility.
There's nothing else like that that I know of.

But it has no history! Nor stickiness (default to "last search").
Nor Boolean/regular-expressions.

But nonetheless I very much appreciate your replies.

- Greg

ps: or am I just being ignorant? Gawd knows I have been before.

I understand what you are asking, and I will add it to my backlog, but I can't make any promises. There are multiple problems:
The search starts as soon as you begin typing. If there is autocomplete of some sort, how will that fit into the ongoing search?
The arrow keys already go up/down the search results. The history will have to use some other navigation method.
Showing the history is tricky, because it has to fit within the style of the current skin.

Basically at the moment I don't see a way to do it without sacrificing the usability of the current search.

The other thing is, the search remembers the result you selected. So it takes only a few characters to initiate a search, and your favorite result will be at the top. You don't have to type a complete sentence or command.

That's a very reasonable and informative response.

Thank you for even considering it.

For now, I would like it if it would just populate the box with the last search entry, highlight it as selected and place the cursor at the end of it.
Then one click/keystroke would clear the box (because it's selected), and backspace could shorten the search term so it was less specific.

As for "instant search" based on the characters-as-you-type, I'd give that up. But I'm sure others would not.

Thank you so much for listening.
I LOVE your utility.

- greg