Do you wonder if your IT business is truly profitable or if you should raise your prices? Learn how to calculate your overhead burden using our free interactive tool and use it to determine the right price for your IT services. Start calculating Now!
How to search efficiently within zip files for specific file or folder
We need to restore specifics files and specific folder from within a whole lot of Zip files (WinZip files). We have all of these zip files in one folder. How can we search for specifics within these zip files? (for example we want to search for files dvsum*.* or dvsum2012-0215).
Do more with
EXPERT OFFICE® is a registered trademark of EXPERTS EXCHANGE®
Checkout this article at TomsHardware. It describes how to configure Win 7 to do exactly what you are asking. I haven't tried it but the same technique may also work with Win 10. I don't have a collection of zip files available so I can't readily test it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2244-63-search-files-filenames
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2244-63-search-files-filenames
I just realized that the location of the folder containing your zip files might not be local to your machine... in that case, Windows will not index the zip files content and you may need to use something like Winaero Tweaker to enable the search.
After "tweaking" your system you will be able to search thru files located on network shares and mapped drives... but, it will be slower than local stores because it isn't indexed. If you prefer to not install this on your main system then you could put up a VM and install it there... but the search will most likely be slower still.
Here is the link to Winaero Tweaker tool: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-search-network-shares-or-mapped-drives-in-windows-10/
After "tweaking" your system you will be able to search thru files located on network shares and mapped drives... but, it will be slower than local stores because it isn't indexed. If you prefer to not install this on your main system then you could put up a VM and install it there... but the search will most likely be slower still.
Here is the link to Winaero Tweaker tool: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-search-network-shares-or-mapped-drives-in-windows-10/
Which version and build of Win 10 are you using? Different builds have different capabilities and the answer to that question may be relevant to your request.
To be sure of version/build, run this command at a cmd prompt: systeminfo
Then, post the 2nd and 3rd line back here.
If I have the same build as you (I have both Enterprise LTSB 14393 and Pro 14393 available) I'll try to create a couple zip files and test it.
To be sure of version/build, run this command at a cmd prompt: systeminfo
Then, post the 2nd and 3rd line back here.
If I have the same build as you (I have both Enterprise LTSB 14393 and Pro 14393 available) I'll try to create a couple zip files and test it.
Yes, Win 10 supports searching for files from the File Explorer... including files contained in zip archives if indexing for zip files has been enabled.
I created a small set of 3 zip archives each containing 3 to 4 files. Each archive had a common file in it. Then, I created a subdirectory below where they were stored and copied all 3 into that folder... making a total of 6 archives each of which contained at least 1 common file.
Then, I opened File Explorer and selected the folder that contained the original 3 archives. Next, I clicked in the search box near the upper right, typed in name of file I was searching for (without an extension), then clicked "Current folder" option in the upper left and the archives were listed that contained that file in the folder I had originally selected. Next, I clicked "All subfolders" and the 3 archives from the subdirectory where I had copied the original files also appeared making all 6 archives containing the desired file found.
Lastly, I searched for a file that I knew was unique to only 2 of those archives... and those were the only ones that were found. I also tried searching for filename using standard windows wildcards and that worked as well.
Before I used File Explorer, I tried searching with Cortana... that didn't go so well. It missed a few of the archives.
I hope this is useful for you. Here are a couple of references to guide you in enabling zip archives to be indexed correctly and how to use File Explorer to do the searching...
http://lifehacker.com/set-windows-10-to-search-all-file-contents-with-this-se-1733511735
http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/windows-10-file-search,2-1032.html
Be advised that when you enable the zip file indexing that it may take a long time to complete... the dialog box will let you know when it's finished but there isn't much of a progress indicator. It took 10 minutes for my system which had a fresh copy of Win 10 installed in a VM on a fairly powerful physical machine. I noticed about the time that indexing completed that Windows Defender had also been running so perhaps those 2 things were responsible for the lengthy run-time.
I created a small set of 3 zip archives each containing 3 to 4 files. Each archive had a common file in it. Then, I created a subdirectory below where they were stored and copied all 3 into that folder... making a total of 6 archives each of which contained at least 1 common file.
Then, I opened File Explorer and selected the folder that contained the original 3 archives. Next, I clicked in the search box near the upper right, typed in name of file I was searching for (without an extension), then clicked "Current folder" option in the upper left and the archives were listed that contained that file in the folder I had originally selected. Next, I clicked "All subfolders" and the 3 archives from the subdirectory where I had copied the original files also appeared making all 6 archives containing the desired file found.
Lastly, I searched for a file that I knew was unique to only 2 of those archives... and those were the only ones that were found. I also tried searching for filename using standard windows wildcards and that worked as well.
Before I used File Explorer, I tried searching with Cortana... that didn't go so well. It missed a few of the archives.
I hope this is useful for you. Here are a couple of references to guide you in enabling zip archives to be indexed correctly and how to use File Explorer to do the searching...
http://lifehacker.com/set-windows-10-to-search-all-file-contents-with-this-se-1733511735
http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/windows-10-file-search,2-1032.html
Be advised that when you enable the zip file indexing that it may take a long time to complete... the dialog box will let you know when it's finished but there isn't much of a progress indicator. It took 10 minutes for my system which had a fresh copy of Win 10 installed in a VM on a fairly powerful physical machine. I noticed about the time that indexing completed that Windows Defender had also been running so perhaps those 2 things were responsible for the lengthy run-time.
Premium Content
You need an Expert Office subscription to comment.Start Free Trial