Overview
This lecture covers different methods for searching for words in files using Windows GUI tools, Notepad++, and PowerShell, emphasizing how to enable content searching and basic command-line search techniques.
Searching in Text Editors
- Use Ctrl+F in most text editors to search for words within a single document.
- Notepad++ allows searching in multiple files via Ctrl+Shift+F for the Find in Files dialog.
- You can limit Notepad++ searches to specific directories or file extensions and optionally replace text.
Windows Search Service
- The Windows Search Service indexes files and their properties for faster search results.
- By default, it indexes file names, paths, modification dates, and sizes, not file contents.
- To enable content searching: open Indexing Options, select Users, click Advanced, go to the File Types tab, and choose 'Index properties and file contents'.
- Rebuilding the index may take time, depending on the number and size of files.
- Once enabled, you can search for specific words within files directly in Windows Explorer.
Command Line Searching with PowerShell
- Use PowerShell's
select-string (sls) command to search for words or patterns in files.
select-string supports searching by word, phrase, or pattern (including regular expressions).- The command returns the file name and line number of any match.
- Use wildcard characters (like asterisk ) to search multiple files at once.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Indexing — The process of scanning files and recording their properties/content for faster search results.
- Regular Expression — A pattern matching language for finding complex text patterns.
- select-string (sls) — A PowerShell command to find specified text in one or more files.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Practice enabling content indexing in Windows Search Service using the steps described.
- Try searching for a word in multiple files using Notepad++ and PowerShell's
select-string.