This hack will save you a good deal of time and frustration…it is the Google Desktop.

Google Desktop puts the power of Google to work searching your hard drive to find the files you have created. Why would this matter in the least? Let me give you an example.

Suppose you are asked to speak at a chapel service at the local Christian private school for their Advent series. And suppose you remember an Advent article you wrote a piece for church church newsletter that would lend itself to a short chapel message.

What do you do? Why you open it up and see if you can change it. But….often we forget what folder we placed it in…was it in my article folder or my advent folder? Did I accidentally change a previous version (from my first church?) and save it there or is it in some other folder all together? Didn’t I have a tickler file I used to work on that kind of stuff in? Oh crud, I can’t find the darn thing.

Does this happen to you? It sure does to me…a lot. I used to use the search option under the start menu in my Windows based computer. But I hated it because it took quite a while. Now, under the scenario I just proposed, I would just type a word or two either in the document name or a few words contained in the document itself in the Google Desktop search box and Google finds it on my hard drive in flash.

A few tips to make this an even better tool for you.

  1. The power of this shows up over time so be sure you are backing up your files with Mozy or someGoogle_desktop_box other auto backup system. You can search years of data in seconds provided you do not lose it.
  2. I don’t think running it as a sidebar is the way to go. Under the options you can choose to have it as a desk bar and not a side bar. The sidebar takes away visual space for other things and will distract you by bringing up new feeds and your e-mail. (Because you use gmail, right?) The picture is of the Google desktop search box on the desk bar.
  3. If you want to find Open Office documents, after installing Google Desktop install this plug-in. (Just click on it…have no fear.)
  4. Stay signed into you Google account, the one you used when you signed up for gmail, and it will search your web history too. And, if you use Gmail, it will search your e-mails as well.
  5. When you first install Google Desktop, be sure to leave your computer on over night. The program will scan your hard drive when it is idle. After that initial scan, files will be added incrementally to the search.

And finally, let me tell you that this powerful piece of software that will save you time each week comes in at the grand cost of zero dollars and zero cents. Thats right, it is FREE.

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