Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

dhry reviewed v3.0 on Mar 2, 2009

Couldn't agree more about the observations of how underhanded these guys were with their shady "downgrade". For the moment, you can still download v2.3 build 18 from here: http://www.topdownloads....search-2-_2_145138.html

And if that download link goes away I'll make damn sure that the last free version of CDS is downloadable from SOMEWHERE (took me a while to find that link above). Maybe I'll submit it to oldversion.com.

Anyway - great program, but taking it from free to not-free gets them an instant 1-star rating from me.

aihyah reviewed v3.0 on Nov 5, 2008

i was a very loyal copernic user until 3.0.
beware. they slipped this downgrade in sneakily. the update window is not informative and it just seems like you are getting a normal patch. no user thinks a patch will cripple their program. so i clicked ok, and was left with a crippled program that couldn’t do network drives or turn off the preview pane. worst it inconvenienced me as now i had to uninstall the damned thing and downgrade myself back to functionality. if they wanted to gain customers i’m sorry, this is a good way to guarantee bad will.

also downgrading and blocking the program from accessing the internet with a software firewall is not enough to stop it from harassing you with upgrade notice popups that cannot be shut off to my knowledge. my guess is that 3.0 leaves something behind that causes this. quite annoying.

philosopher_dog reviewed v3.0 on Sep 12, 2008

If you're using the free version DON'T UPGRADE! They've taken away features like search as you type and moved that to the pay version. Also, there's an indication on their site that they intend to make the free version adware! This was an amazing product, but rolling back features in an upgrade isn't the way to make friends with users. Version 2.3 is very good if you can find a download of it somewhere. I think Copernic needs to review their policies if they want to keep users.

anonymouscowturd reviewed v3.0 on Sep 12, 2008

This is actually a downgrade from v2. Some of the features that were available for free in v2 such as saved searches and search as you type are now only available in the paid for versions. I installed, and then uninstalled and reverted back to v2. X1 6.1 Build 3575 (the last free version) is still the best desktop search by long long way.

oRoFLash reviewed v2.0 on Mar 8, 2008

Please, check the news:
Version 2.3 - Build 18 – February 21, 2008

Changes & improvements
Added default desktop search integration options for Windows Vista SP1
New “Search Everywhere” shortcut in Windows Start Menu
New shortcuts in Windows Explorer
Windows Key+F integration

Fixes
Fixed email address issue with Global Address List contacts
Fixed fax number display in contact preview
Fixed issues with .DWG files
Search box now cleared when minimizing to tray
Other stability tweaks

*****************

stefeq reviewed v2.0 on Jan 15, 2007

Version 2.1.1 - Build 3011 - July 25, 2007

Changes & improvements

* Added multiple deployment options for system administrators (through GPO)

Fixes

* Fixed ZIP archive indexing issues
* Fixed issues with dual monitor setups
* Other stability and performance tweaks

Version 2.1 - Build 2569 - May 23, 2007

Changes & improvements

* Full compatibility with Windows Vista
* Support for Windows Mail (Windows Vista's email program)
* Support for Microsoft Office 2007 documents (requires Office 2007 to be installed)

Version 2.0 consumes a bit more RAM but I must say it offers more functionality.

If you don't have much RAM I recommend using version 1.7 Build977 which is perfect.

mikes1616 reviewed v2.0 on Dec 14, 2006

On functionality, ease of use I rate this a 5.

I have scored it a 3 however, because on 3 test systems this program conflicted with Java applications so heavily that the Java apps simply "dissappeared" - it seamed to be related to mouse movement. This happened with 2 commercial Java applications I use - 1 is an IDE, the other is a Schematic Capture package. Both tools - at random times, would simply "poof" and be gone - no log files - during mouse movement in the app.

On all three machines - all with fresh WInXp installs, simple removal of Copernic solved the problem.

I have written Copernic and have gotten no response.

SO- if you experience no conflicts - this is "THE" desktop search to use - I miss it greatly. If Java misbehaves all of the sudden, this is why.

oompoop reviewed v2.0 on Nov 24, 2006

Maybe all ...
... but the search-option in TOTAL COMMANDER ist amazingly fast, comfortably for all kind of files, even zipped, and only one of hundreds of features of TC

Deedstyger reviewed v2.0 on Nov 16, 2006

these desktop searcher types cant index cd-roms do they? i searched for a definition everywhere and couldnt find.. if someone knows exactly could he\she please tell?

hell0 reviewed v2.0 on Oct 28, 2006

The best feature of Copernic (vs Google Desktop Search and Windows Desktop Search) is that it supports wildcards. So searching for "App*" will match "Apple", "Application", etc.

Biggest fault is that its a bit unstable. I've been using it for a couple hours and its already crashed a few times. Also, unlike GDS, when you type a search it only gives you the filename of the results. GDS will actually show you a snippet of text from the matching file. This means if you get lots of results for your search, you have to click on each match one by one to figure out which file you actually want.

zridling reviewed v2.0 on Sep 20, 2006

Because unlike other download sites, it's the software authors who often control their product info and download info here, not BetaNews.

amavida reviewed v2.0 Beta on Jul 11, 2006

Great freeware & better than it's competitors.

By the way Copernic Desktop Search 2.0.2392 Beta was launched on July 10th, 20:17 GMT. Don't know why betanews did'nt know about it but softpedia does...

luckman212 reviewed v2.0 Beta on Jun 16, 2006

(Using beta2.0 build 2365)

great! just great! keeps improving with every beta build, this is the only desktop search app (tried MSN and Google also) that could get through building an index of my entire 2.4 terabytes of data without crashing. Searches are super quick and the context highlighting is a nice feature. I like the options to auto-update the index on a schedule in addition to "on the fly" indexing for 2000/XP. Overall, a very solid desktop search app with low impact on CPU resources. I only hope they don't load it up with bloat when the release the final 2.0. I would be willing to pay for this, not sure if they are going to keep it free or not.

wanderer2005 reviewed v2.0 Beta on May 30, 2006

Copernic Desktop Search 2 beta has been out for some time now before appearing on BetaNews. I was using version 1.63 before switching to version 2 beta. The beta has some bugs; for instance, it would freeze during a search. The new interface has a lot of eye candy but portions of a number of menus would be blacked out. I am confident that Copernic will work out the bugs before releasing the next stable version. In my opinion, people should wait until the stable version is released. But, if you want to experiment with the beta then why not? p.s. the latest stable version is 1.70, but the only difference between version 1.63 and 1.70 is better toolbars for IE and Firefox. Otherwise, the two version are identical.

utomo reviewed v2.0 Beta on May 24, 2006

Nice software.

I hope copernic also update the Copernic agent www.copernic.com
so it use Google as default, and many other improvements.

photonboy reviewed v2.0 Beta on May 24, 2006

Awesome.
I'm very interested to see what happens with MS Vista. I believe it has built-in "on-the-fly" indexing.
I've been using CDS for two years and it is amazing. I have lots of files on two hard drives. I used to index everything but now I've limited indexing to e-mails and a few other folders.

forgie reviewed v2.0 Beta on May 24, 2006

Still the best desktop indexer I've seen. Only downer is that upgrading to 2.0 required a full re-indexing.

m08n14b02 reviewed v1.7 on Apr 12, 2006

very fast and simple to use. just add file extensions not included in default that you want included in search.

the preview is a big help when you have to be certain of the file you are looking for.

been using this since last year and i've never needed another desktop search program.

gate1975mlm reviewed v1.63 on Feb 19, 2006

http://mamma50.mamma.com/desktopsearch/

Copernic Desktop Search is now Mamma Desktop Search Powered by Copernic

Looks the same except the name change.

gate1975mlm reviewed v1.6 on Dec 8, 2005

The best Desktop Search by far!

OroKen reviewed v1.6 on Aug 17, 2005

Copernic Desktop Search is fast and effective program. You can do precise and exact searches in your computer, and you can visualize files like .txt .doc .jpg .pdf etc before opening them. I've used Copernic and I've never had problems.

Copernic Desktop Search es un programa que te permite hacer busquedas rapidas y precisas en tu equipo, y que te permite tambien visualizar los archivos antes de abrirlos. Nunca he tenido problemas luego de instalar Copernic Desktop Search.

httpd.confused reviewed v1.6 on Aug 6, 2005

I like CDS very much, but this latest version still freezes up on me. They tell me it's a known issue. (Even if you haven't had problems, if they acknowledge the issue, I consider myself quite vindicated.)

zridling reviewed v1.6 on Jul 28, 2005

Agreed, this is exactly what I was wanting. Thanks Copernic!

ecjs reviewed v1.5 on Jul 14, 2005

Perfect, it is even better than all we could expect !

Moreover, we can select which folders to index, zridling !

amitpagarwal reviewed v1.5 on Apr 26, 2005

I frequently write for Copernic in my blog and find it to be the best among all desktop search programs.

Surprised to see that Fileforum has no special category for desktop search yet :(

http://search.yahoo.com/...ogspot.com&fr=yscpb

zridling reviewed v1.5 on Apr 4, 2005

It's still unexcusable that you cannot select and deselect which folders and subfolders you want to index. I neither need nor want my 220,000 nude photo collection indexed!

httpd.confused reviewed v1.5 on Apr 4, 2005

^ Zridling's candor is commendable. (220,000? Wow!) But there is a way to exclude folders in CDS... I remember doing it on many of my own folders. But since I removed CDS quite awhile ago, I can't remember exactly how it worked... Does it only allow root directories to be excluded?

In any event, CDS was the best of the desktop search utilities I tried, but that's not saying much. The performance didn't impress me, the preview window had no options, and the whole thing often froze up entirely on me.

I'm sticking with WinKey+F, PowerDesk Pro's "File Finder" applet, and FileLocator Pro until someone gets desktop search right. I won't hold my breath. As uber guru Mark Russinovich has also discovered, they all suck in their own horrid ways.

yokozuna reviewed v1.5 on Apr 4, 2005

Copernic Desktop Search - citius, altius, fortius.

amitpagarwal reviewed v1.5 Beta on Mar 12, 2005

Copernic 1.5 final version is released today.

http://labnol.blogspot.c...arch-v15-offically.html

Amit Agarwal
http://labnol.blogspot.com

zridling reviewed v1.5 Beta on Feb 24, 2005

I love how Copernic works, but I hate its interface! Given the broad programmability of the latest MSN Desktop Search version, I've been using it more than Copernic. Can't believe this is still freeware, but it's worth having.

stevenyu reviewed v1.5 Beta on Feb 24, 2005

This work much better than any other desktop search engine software, and so far only this one have supports for Mozilla Thunderbird and Firefox.

photonboy reviewed v1.5 Beta on Feb 24, 2005

This product rocks! It does exactly what I've been waiting for an indexing solution to do, especially the on-the-fly indexing.

The interface is very clean and user-friendly.

It is so great that I only have one small complaint and that is I wish the Video preview could be shrunk to the window.

Carlospr reviewed v1.5 Beta on Feb 24, 2005

It is really useful! Worth to try. I've found some informations that I was not able to find with the Windows default search...

hunterb reviewed v1.2 on Feb 2, 2005

Interface is good.
I have 230,000 indexable files and about 1Gb of emails. It took days on my notebook to index. Email indexing was painfully slow. I gave up in the end. MSN Desktop search did the lot in less than a day.