Windows 7 Greetings! I just upgraded from WinXP to Windows 7. I have a folder with a lot of files that have e

[westies]

Greetings!

I just upgraded from WinXP to Windows 7. I have a folder with a lot of files that have either plus or minus/dashes ("-") in the file name, sometimes more than one. For example, some filenames might be:

Matterhorn +++.wmv
Space Mountain ++-.avi
Star Tours +.mp3
Star Tours (second day) ++++.mp3

I used this for my own filing system methods and sorting.

In WinXP, searching for all files with "+++" with the Search box was no problem, but in Windows 7 the search box returns the plus ("+") sign as a global/metacharacter, such as "*", and expands the character to match a global value. As such, the listing I get for the above search gives me all files with three chars in a row, as substituted by the "+" signs. This is obviously incorrect.

I tried quoting and backslashing in many different combinations, to no avail:

\+
/+
"+"
"\+"

Is there any way to escape the metachar value so that I get the literal value in my search? or, is there a "classic XP" search style available?

Any help appreciated, as always!!!

Thanks!!!!!!

....k

 

[stpbby]

Re: Greetings! I just upgraded from WinXP to Windows 7. I have a folder with a lot of files that have either plus or minus/dashes ("-") in the file name, sometimes more

You may want to look at the search options. In control panel -> folder options, check out the search tab. There are a few options there that may help you.

 

[Mike]

Re: Greetings! I just upgraded from WinXP to Windows 7. I have a folder with a lot of files that have either plus or minus/dashes ("-") in the file name, sometimes more

Try using Natural Language search in Folder Options. This may cut you off from the Boolean search features used in Windows Vista and Windows 7. + - * etc, are all operator characters now for looking up and excluding different types of content in the search.