Locate Missing Files and Folders in Windows 7

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Have you ever “lost” a file or folder on your Windows PC? If so, you know how long it can take to locate those files and folders. Even if you have the hide files and folders option turned off, some files may not show up. So you try and use the windows search features. It finds a ton of files and folders, but not the ones you are looking for.

Even though you know those files and folders are somewhere on your machine, you can’t seem to locate them. So what are you to do? Image Source: Mirar

How to Find Missing Files and Folders on a Windows PC

Using the Windows search tool is a great tool for finding files, but sometimes it isn’t enough. When that happens you need a tool that is designed to search out and find any file or folder on a system.

I do not know why Windows can’t find everything on a system, but I have seen this many times and when this happens, I use a tool called “Everything” to find those missing files.

What is “Everything”?

“Everything” tool that locates files and folders by filename instantly for Windows. What’s different about this search tool is, “Everything” indexes every file and folder on your system and updates whenever you make changes to the system. Once it finds every file, all you have to do is enter a keyword and it will filter out all the non related files and folders.

What Does “Everything” cost?

The best part is, “Everything” is Free!

Why I like the “Everything” Tool

Although, I have only been using “Everything” for a short while, but I found it to be an important of my tool box when removing viruses and left over files after good or bad uninstalls. In the past I always used the Windows default search tool, but while working on a client system to restore a broken Windows Office installation. When the uninstall and reinstall process failed, I had to find the missing files so I could reinstall office.

Of course, I couldn’t find all the files, so I used Windows search to find all the missing files. But Windows did not find any missing files. So I turned to “Everything” and it found a handful of files that were left over after the uninstall process.

Once I found those files, I was able to delete those files and fix the client’s system. If it wasn’t for “Everything” I might of spend more time on that system and do a complete system restore and data recovery.