Last year, while trying out some Linux operating systems, I was surprised to discover a cool find-as-you-type feature in the Gnome Nautilus file browsers.

While looking for a file, you only had to start typing and a small text box appeared in the bottom right of the window (as shown below).

At this point I had feature envybecause I wanted to see the same feature built into Windows Explorer. However, I knew that this was not going to happen anytime soon. Windows is traditionally many years behind on cool features that appear in other operating systems.

Last week, I found that my wait was over. As usual, someone saw the need and developed a third-party app which adds this cool feature to Windows. Listary not only reproduces the find-as-you-type feature, it adds even more little time-saving tricks.

Here’s what Listary looks like in Windows 7 (or Vista):

As you can see, it not only lists the first match as Nautilus does in Linux, it adds a drop-down list with all the possible matches. Another great addition is that it accepts the asterisk and question mark wild-card characters that help you find files quickly.

If you were looking for only JPG files in a folder, you would start by typing *JPG in the window and your matching files would be listed below. To navigate inside the list, you can use the TAB key or the UP and DOWN arrow keys. As each file is highlighted in the Listary search box, the corresponding file in the Explorer window is also automatically shown and highlighted. If a file you wish to open is highlighted in the results box, pressing ENTER will open it.

In addition to working in Windows 7 and Vista, Listary also works in Windows XP, as shown below.

Listary is a free program although there is a paid version (Listary Pro) which offers more search features. You’ll find that it’s offered as an 827kb setup file that must be installed. The installation doesn’t spring any surprises on you and you do have the ability to set several options in it.

The most important option is whether to allow Listary to start when Windows does. Listary only takes about 7mb of memory while running and is always shown as an icon in the system tray. Right clicking on the system tray icon allows you to exit the program or change settings.

Download the free version of Listary

[via DownloadSquad]

Techie Buzz Verdict:

Listary has given me the chance to try a feature I’d wished for in Windows. I like how it works and I was also surprised to find that it offers more than similar features in Linux. I can’t complain about any lack in features, because there is a Pro version and I could pay for the additional features if I need them.

Techie Buzz Rating: 3/5

If you are sick and tired of seeing the same icons in Windows explorer, you can change it to a custom icon of your choice. This tutorial explains how you can change the icons of Windows drives using an applicaton.

How to change Windows Drive icons with a Freeware Application

My Drive icon can change the Windows icons in three easy steps.

1. Download My Drive icon. It’s a portable application and thus require no installation.

2. Start the application and select the drive for which you wish to change the icon.

3. Browse to the icon file and hit Apply Changes.

That’s it. The Windows drive icon will be changed to your chosen icon file. You can check iconarchive for a wide variety of free icons. (also read: Get Automatic Drive icons on your desktop)

The application works with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

How to Change Windows Drive Icons Without Using Any Software

You can change the drive’s icon without using any third party tools. Following are the steps involved:

1. Go to the root directory of a drive and paste the icon file. For example: if you want to change the icon of C drive, paste the icon file in C:\
2. Rename the icon file to Driveicon.ico.
3. Open notepad and paste the following lines:

[autorun]
ICON=Driveicon.ico

4. Save the file as Autorun.inf. Remember to save it as All filesand not as a text document.
5. Execute the autorun file and restart your computer. The Windows drive icon will be replaced with your chosen icon.

Techie-Buzz Verdict

The application does the job perfectly and it is compatible with Windows Xp, Vista and Windows 7.

Techie-Buzz Rating: 5/5 (Perfect).

I have used a couple of cool windows explorer replacements that adds tabs to to the regular explorer navigation. If you want to switch to a tabbed windows explorer experience then I recommend you one of these below.

QTTabbar

If you are one who opens more than a couple of windows to work with files from different folders then QTTabBar is the right software for you.

xplorer ²

xplorer ² lite is a very good alternative for your regular Explorer windows and performs better than QTTabBar. It is a lightweight version of xplorer ² software which is available for commercial usage. It is free for personal and academic use.

ExplorerXP

ExplorerXP is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non – commercial use) file manager for Windows 2000/XP. Unlike the regular Windows Explorer, it displays the total size of each folder and allows you to browse multiple folders from a tabbed interface.

Xplorer

XPlorer is a substitute for the Windows Explorer, adding multi tabbed features. So it is possible to have lots of locations opened at the same time, while we can manage them in an easy and eficient way.

All of the above softwares help you add tabs and make your navigation easiers I am currently using xplorer ² but have loved QTTabbar which is a awesome replacement for explorer, try out these and let me know how these work for you.

Do let me know your experiences with these softwares. If you have not used these then I definitely recommend you start using it.

Ever wondered whether you could add your favourite folders to the Open/Save Dialog in Windows? There’s a way to do that. Here’s a little tool that can help you add custom locations to the open/save dialog in Windows.

Places Bar Editor is a tweaking tool that does the job for you. It can help you add your favourite, custom locations to the Windows Open/Save dialog.

With no installation needed, just download the Places Bar.exe from here and fire it up.

A window pops up, and now you can edit to specify the custom locations that should appear in the Open/Save dialog. It’s as easy as that.

You can click on the ‘Default’ option to revert the changes you’ve made.