Review: DeskFinder - Quickly and Securely Find Files and Download Text

Have you ever been away from home and needed to access documents? Or perhaps you wanted to see if you already had this song in your music collection. With DeskFinder, you can get access to the text of most documents as well as search through the hard drive for a certain file on your computer (limited to what Google Desktop can search). Add this with ease of use and security and you have one very powerful search add-on to Google Search.

DeskFinder allows users to search and download text from emails, chats, Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDF files, Web history and many other files being miles away from their home or
office PC. Search results are organized based on search criteria.

Installation:

Installation consists of two parts:

- Installing GoogleDesktop for the PC
- Installing DeskFinder on both the PC (server portion) and the PPC (client portion)

Google Desktop Installation

As DeskFinder interfaces with Google Desktop to provide functionality (it’s an official Google Gadget), you’ll need to download and install the latest version of Google Desktop. Google Desktop is free and can be downloaded here. Google Desktop 4 or higher is required for this gadget.

Installing the DeskFinder Desktop Service and DeskFinder PPC Client

Install DeskFinder with the DeskFinderSetupForPPC.exe

Running the DeskFinder Desktop Service

The DeskFinder Desktop Service must be running at all times in order for the client portion on the pocket PC to connect. Make sure that your firewall settings are set to allow the DeskFinder Desktop Service to have internet access. It is recommended that you let the DeskFinder service to run on Windows startup - there’s nothing worse than realizing that you forgot to start the service and you are at school trying to quickly grab the text of your term paper!

 

 

Emails - you can search for any information, contained in your mail box filling out all strings as you think fit.

 

Files - the search of files becomes an easy work as you can denote the type of file, its location and name or other specifics you remember.

 

Web - you can find information on your desktop, which you ve obtained while browsing the web. Just denote the word or the URL you want to find and the application will index all information contained in cash memory of your computer, displaying the results in search window.

 

Chats - the history of your chats will be scanned accordingly to the information you denote in search strings.

 

Other - you should enter the word or a phrase to find it in your contacts, appointments, tasks, notes, journal etc.

 

All - the search of any type of information will be executed at this section.

 

Search results can be filtered by date, has the follow keywords but not this other keyword, location, and filetype. What filters available are dependant on which tab you are using.

 

It is important to note that even though you can enter any extension for a file type to search for, only Google Desktop’s supported documents can be found as DeskFinder uses Google Desktop’s index.

 

These are the files that can be found with Google Desktop / DeskFinder:

 

 

Downloading Text:

This is one of the most important features of this program. The ability to download and copy text from emails, chats, Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDF files, and Web history allows the user full access to their documents. In my case, I was able to download text for my term paper and continue writing on my mobile device. To download text, simply tap and hold on a search result. Then click "Download text". If a URL is available, clicking open URL will take you to whatever website is listed in the URL section of the search entry.

Conclusion:

DeskFinder currently is a one of a kind piece of software that certainly has its uses. At first I did not realize the power of such a utility. It has had no problems locating my home PC when I was accessing Wi-Fi at school and at a hospital. Overall, it has boosted my productivity. The other option that I have considered was to start an FTP server on my computer to access documents that I needed. The DeskFinder solution proved to be far more functional as I could view and copy text directly in the DeskFinder client. It mattered not whether the document would be a PowerPoint slideshow, an Excel spreadsheet, HTML, or a Word document. I also found it useful to verify whether or not I owned a certain song as I could browse through my entire music collection when I talk with my friends about the latest and greatest tunes. DeskFinder certainly has met my needs for secure and easy access to my documents at home.

Name: DeskFinder
Version: 1.1.4
Platform: WM 2003 / WM5 Pocket PC or Blackberry
Developer: SHAPE Services
Available From: JAMM Store
Price: $19.95
Trial: Yes - 7 Days
Devices Used for Review: Dell Axim X51v

Technorati Tags: SHAPE Services, DeskFinder, Review, Google Desktop, Search, PPC, Pocket PC, Black Berry, Windows Mobile, WM, Just Another Mobile Monday

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