Can’t find an important file any more? Don’t remember where you downloaded a file to or where you saved a document to? Tired of browsing through tens of folders to find that one missing file? Well, this tip is all about using Windows XP built in search utility to help locate and access that missing file.

1) Open up Windows Search by clicking on Start and then on Search (beside the magnifying glass).
2) Set the parameters for the search. You can choose between searching for Media files (music, pictures, or video), Documents, Computers or People (on network on in address book), or All Files and Folders. Depending on which type of Search you desire to perform, you may be asked to set a few more settings, such as when the document was last modified. However, don’t worry if you don’t know, the scan will only take slightly longer to complete.
3) Enter part or all of the filename. Additionally, under advanced search options the user may specify a specific phrase within the document to search for.
4) Click Search and wait. When the search has finished, you will be notified.

If you are lucky, then the Search Utility will have helped locate that missing file or files which you couldn’t manually find. If the search yields unsuccessful results, then try again and change the parameters.