“Where did I put that document?” is often a common plaint when desks are stacked with piles of paper. However the same thing may happen with our electronic files even though, being out of sight, they don’t scream for organization.

The best way of handling electronic documents would be to have obviously labeled folders, and then subfolders, and subfolders for the subfolders. Yet even in organized computers, you can forget what you called something, or where you put a file that did not easily lend itself to a specific category.

The first thing you might do is go to the Microsoft Search feature (Start/Search/For Files or Folders). Yet this often seems to be ineffective in finding that item you need. To remedy this, companies came out with independent programs that index all the contents of your computer (e.g. Easy Reach). Then Google realized there was a chance to gain a foothold here, and they began offering the free Google Desktop Search. The drawback to this is that they take your files onto their computer and index them.

Finally Microsoft woke up and noticed how effective a program called “LookOut” was, and they bought the software. Now you can have access to a free and fast search engine that runs through all of your Microsoft products. Within a second or two after entering a keyword, you have a list, with that keyword highlighted, of all documents pertaining to your term. Their search includes Outlook as well as Excel, Word, etc.

The download for this free link is: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/default.mspx.

It is far superior to the built-in Windows Search feature. Amazingly enough though, while it is easily available on their site, Microsoft doesn’t publicize this add-in. I suggest you try it. It is a good answer for those who don’t have time to create folders, as well as those who may be organized but still need a little extra help occasionally.