Did you ever misplace a file on your computer and wish there were an easy way to find it? Now there is. It’s called Google Desktop. If you know how to find things with the Google web site, you already know how to find things with Google Desktop. This free download (http://desktop.google.com) installs easily and then creates a database of everything on your hard drive. To file something, click on the desktop icon. Your web browser starts and the Google Desktop application is loaded. Use the tool as you would use the regular Google web site to find something on the web. The difference is that your files make up the database that is being searched.
Google Desktop will find all your normal files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pictures, Movies) by typing part of all of the file name. If your file contains words or other indexable data, you can search by that criteria as well.
All “hits” are listed in your browser as links. Just click and open the file.
Ever see a cool website on your computer and forget the URL? Google Desktop also indexes all the things you open in your browser. Just type in a few key words that were on a web site you visited in the past few days and Google Desktop will find that URL for you.