John Topley's Knowledgebase

Searching For Text Within A File Doesn't Work

Monday, 29 September 2003

By default Windows XP only searches certain file types when performing a search for a word or phrase in the file. It is possible to specify additional file types to search by editing the registry. The usual caveats about editing the registry apply.

Locate the registry key under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT corresponding to the file extension of the file type in question, for example, “.txt” for text files. If there is no sub-key named PersistentHandler then create one. Change the default value for the PersistentHandler key to the following GUID:

{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}

—You should now be able to search for a word or a phrase contained within files of that type.

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