Freeware for searching or indexing removable media?

Floopy Tofu · Floopy Tofu #1 (**permalink**)

04-04-2012, 01:11 PM

I am looking for a free utility that allows me to search for files that have been saved on removable media. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I used to have a piece of freeware that would allow me to search for files that I had previously backed-up onto DVD. It would quickly let me know the name of the DVD that contained the file. Of course, I had to catalog all of the DVDs first, which was time consuming, but only had to be done once. The interface wasn't great and I suspect it might have been a simple GUI covering some basic UNIX commands, but it worked.

I have a newer Mac now (iMac with Intel i3 and OS 10.6) but I can't find that utility to re-download it. I also haven't been able to find anything like it that is free. I'd be very grateful for any help!

chscag · chscag #2 (**permalink**)

04-04-2012, 02:26 PM

"Find Any File" (donation ware) works well. Give it a try. Download LINK

Floopy Tofu · Floopy Tofu #3 (**permalink**)

04-04-2012, 02:45 PM

Find Any File does look like a good program, but it seems to only search mounted disks. Maybe I'm missing something.

I'm hoping to find something that can search off-line disks. I have 100+ DVDs that I'd like to be able to catalog and search off-line.

chscag · chscag #4 (**permalink**)

04-04-2012, 03:14 PM

Maybe it's me who is not understanding what you're trying to do? How can you search any external hard drive that's not mounted? Or for that matter a DVD that's not mounted?

Floopy Tofu · Floopy Tofu #5 (**permalink**)

04-05-2012, 08:20 AM

The software I used to have created a searchable catalog or database of all the files on a DVD and associated those files with the name of the DVD. All the DVDs have to have unique names and it takes a long time to create that database initially, but it makes it very easy to find a file when you don't know what disc it could be on.

For example, I could do a search for "logo" and it would return a list of files that had the word "logo" in the file name, along with the name of the disc they were saved on.

There are a number of commercial products that do this, but I hoped there might be a freeware version out there.

chscag · chscag #6 (**permalink**)

04-05-2012, 08:33 PM

OK, I understand now what you're referring to. I had similar software loaded on my Windows machine that worked well - at least it did in XP.

I don't know of anything for free which can do what you're looking for.

Floopy Tofu · Floopy Tofu #7 (**permalink**)

04-09-2012, 09:12 AM

Oh well. Thanks for trying!

chscag #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 32,026 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	04-04-2012, 02:26 PM "Find Any File" (donation ware) works well. Give it a try. Download LINK Community Guidelines
	QUOTE Thanks

chscag #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 32,026 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	04-04-2012, 03:14 PM Maybe it's me who is not understanding what you're trying to do? How can you search any external hard drive that's not mounted? Or for that matter a DVD that's not mounted? Community Guidelines
	QUOTE Thanks

chscag #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 32,026 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	04-05-2012, 08:33 PM OK, I understand now what you're referring to. I had similar software loaded on my Windows machine that worked well - at least it did in XP. I don't know of anything for free which can do what you're looking for. Community Guidelines
	QUOTE Thanks

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Floopy Tofu #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 04, 2012 Posts: 4	04-04-2012, 01:11 PM I am looking for a free utility that allows me to search for files that have been saved on removable media. Does anyone have any suggestions? I used to have a piece of freeware that would allow me to search for files that I had previously backed-up onto DVD. It would quickly let me know the name of the DVD that contained the file. Of course, I had to catalog all of the DVDs first, which was time consuming, but only had to be done once. The interface wasn't great and I suspect it might have been a simple GUI covering some basic UNIX commands, but it worked. I have a newer Mac now (iMac with Intel i3 and OS 10.6) but I can't find that utility to re-download it. I also haven't been able to find anything like it that is free. I'd be very grateful for any help!
	QUOTE Thanks

Floopy Tofu #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 04, 2012 Posts: 4	04-05-2012, 08:20 AM The software I used to have created a searchable catalog or database of all the files on a DVD and associated those files with the name of the DVD. All the DVDs have to have unique names and it takes a long time to create that database initially, but it makes it very easy to find a file when you don't know what disc it could be on. For example, I could do a search for "logo" and it would return a list of files that had the word "logo" in the file name, along with the name of the disc they were saved on. There are a number of commercial products that do this, but I hoped there might be a freeware version out there.
	QUOTE Thanks

Floopy Tofu #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 04, 2012 Posts: 4	04-09-2012, 09:12 AM Oh well. Thanks for trying!
	QUOTE Thanks

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