How to index only one directory when on the same level there are 19 other directories I want to exclude?

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cata_solo
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:38 pm

How to index only one directory when on the same level there are 19 other directories I want to exclude?

Post by cata_solo »

This is my first post, so I will do a little introduction. I have used Windows Search since Vista and I was very dissatisfied. First of all, the input box where the search word is filled in is very small and does not allow editing a long list of advanced filters, then the duration of the search and staying in the search state for a long time. Without indexing, I couldn't find anything quickly and with indexing, the file was large and took a long time to complete create it, not to mention that the whole process consumes resources. I happened to see a presentation of Everything couple of weeks ago and after playing with it and reading its complete manual I can say that it is an alternative from all points of view.

I have the following issue and I am looking for a quick implementation. I have 6 SSDs that I want to index, but not completely. For example, on one of them I would like to index only one directory, at the third level in the tree, on another two directories. The issue I faced is that these directories are in a parent directory that contains dozens of other directories.

According to the user manual, Everything will fully index the 6 SSDs, but I have the possibility to exclude directories and only those that I want to index remain. In Windows it was simple because I chose which folders to index and that's it. In Everything if I want only one directory of the 20 directories I will have to exclude the other 19 adding in a list.

Is there a faster way to enter only the index folders without excluding the others? In my case I have to exclude around 160 directories to get only those I need. If there was only one level in the tree, then it would be perfect, but if you have 20 directories on the same level and you only want one indexed then you have to exclude the other 19.
void
Developer
Posts: 16683
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:31 pm

Re: How to index only one directory when on the same level there are 19 other directories I want to exclude?

Post by void »

I have the following issue and I am looking for a quick implementation. I have 6 SSDs that I want to index, but not completely. For example, on one of them I would like to index only one directory, at the third level in the tree, on another two directories. The issue I faced is that these directories are in a parent directory that contains dozens of other directories.
To specify which folders are included:
  • (I'm assuming these are NTFS volumes)
  • In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
  • Click the NTFS tab on the left.
  • Select your NTFS volume.
  • Set Include only to a semicolon delimited list of folders to include, for example:
    C:\Windows;C:\Program Files
    (where the specified folders reside on the selected drive)
  • Click OK.
Everything will still need to index your entire volume before it finds the include only folders.
This is a limitation with Everything and NTFS volumes.
For an SSD drive, this should be very fast.

Once the initial index is done, Everything should be very efficient.
Only your included folders will be stored in your index.

If there's only a few files in the folder you wish to include, please consider folder indexing.
Generally, NTFS indexing performance will exceed folder indexing performance.
cata_solo
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:38 pm

Re: How to index only one directory when on the same level there are 19 other directories I want to exclude?

Post by cata_solo »

@void - Thank you for the solution offered. I managed to make the selection quickly as follows:

Tools > Options > Indexes > NTFS I de-selected all the drives that I didn't want indexed (Include in database). Then I added those directories on each drive to the Include only field.

I didn't use the Exclude feature, but I consider it a fine tuning in this case. For example, if there is a directory in the indexed directories that I want to exclude, I can do it here. I have to take the decision depending on the implementation mode as follows:

1. If a directory has 20 subdirectories and I want only 2 to be indexed then the solution is to "Include only" the two.

2. If more than half are indexed, let's say 12, then the solution is to add the parent directory to "Include Only" and exclude the other 8 subdirectories.

I don't have a problem because I had to fill in the path manually. I just copied the path from Windows Explorer and it helped me evaluate the directories I want indexed.

In other words, the paths can be created in the Exclude section, then copied from the ini file (option exclude_folders) and paste into the "Include only" field.
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