3 easy steps to find your pictures using the Windows XP Search Utility

This page outlines instructions on how to use the Windows XP Search capability. You can use these steps with Win 98 or Vista as well as MacOSx with some modifications. The key to finding your pictures is to have named your folders in a consistent way according to the steps outlined in the Organize pictures booklet.

STEP 1: Start the Search Utility.

Start --> Search --> For Files or Folders. If you have named your folders with enough details you should be able to locate them very quickly using the Search capability that Windows includes by default. You don’t need any special program to install or learn, you use only what comes with Windows on your PC.

How to start the search utility in Windows XP

STEP 2: Click All Files and Folders on the Search Utility screen.

You may wonder: Why not use the Pictures, Music or Video? This option will find specific files and not folders. We usually want to find the folders containing the pictures we want, so we need to search for folders.

Make sure you’re searching for all files and folders.

STEP 3: Enter parameters for searching.

Make sure you select My Pictures (or your pictures folder) in the “Look in” field. Otherwise it will search your entire computer. In the “All or part of the file name” field enter the event or place you’re looking for.
If you have named your picture folders properly you should be able to find them quickly. Enter something like: bday, birthday, grandma, yosemite, or other events or places of interest. You can also enter part of a word (i.e. grand, yose, birth, and day) and the search utility will find what you’re looking for.

Modify the parameters for your search.

Essentials for organizing your digital photos

Here are the essential products and services I have come to rely on for many years to keep my media collection organized and safe. Even though these are affiliate links, I wholeheartedly recommend them.

Excellent Lightroom and Picasa alternative. If you need a cheaper and simpler photo manager then ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac (save 40% until Aug 9th) or ACDSee Pro for Windows (save $40 until Aug 9th) is my preferred solution for organizing all my media. It has a very fast browser, great image editing and it's simple to use.

If you do a lot of image editing like I do, I recommend using Adobe Lightroom Classic CC via the annual Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. Lightroom has best photo editing capabilities even though it comes with a steeper learning curve. If you do image editing, Adobe Lightroom is my favorite.

I recommend Backblaze Cloud Backup for affordable & reliable unlimited cloud backup. I have been using Backblaze for backing up all pictures & videos for more than 5 years now. All my invaluable digital memories are safe and secure. This is the best solution especially if you have a large quantity of media files.

Use a reliable & affordable external hard drive for backing up everything on your computer. It is absolutely essential for keeping all your memories backed up and safe.

Start organizing now using detailed, step-by-step instructions and videos:
Personal Coaching (closed) Independent Course Private Lessons
Reference book Basics book Picasa book

YOURS FREE! 10 crucial steps most people miss when organizing their digital photos

Most people want to just organize their digital pictures and ignore these crucial steps right at the beginning...when they are shooting and transferring their digital pictures. Then they wonder why they can't organize their digital photos! Avoid most people's mistakes and start on the right track!

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