WDS 3.01 Administrator's Guide

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Windows Desktop Search (WDS) 3.01 is a minor update to WDS 3.0 that adds support for indexing UNC files, additional support for enterprise deployment, and stability improvements. WDS 3.01 installs on Windows XP and Window Server 2003, but is not needed for Windows Vista since the WDS component is already included in Vista. The search engine in WDS 3.01 is a Windows service that is also used by applications such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and OneNote 2007 to index application content and deliver instant results when searching within those applications.

While the indexing engine that is part of WDS 3.0 and later is already part of Windows Vista, there are some differences, as described in the following table.

Feature Windows XP Windows Server 2003 Windows Vista

Filters and protocol handlers

X

X

Fast desktop search

X

X

Live icons

 

X

File tagging

 

X

Search folders

 

X

Advanced navigation

 

X

Index offline or cached files

 

X

Filters and protocol handlers are components the indexer uses to access and index files and other data stores like e-mail. Windows ships with a number of default filters and protocol handlers. All of the filters and protocol handlers that work with WDS 3.x on Windows XP also work with Windows Vista.

There are some differences in policies that apply to WDS on Windows XP versus Windows Vista. These differences are called out in the WDS Group Policy section of this guide.

Last Updated 26 Sept, 2007

This document is provided for informational purposes. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to this document or the information contained in it. In addition, this should be considered a living document and as such readers should check back to the online version located at Microsoft TechNet for any updates that may have taken place since the time this document was created. This document targets an audience of IT managers and administrators and pertains to Windows Desktop Search 03.01 and later versions for Windows™ XP, Windows™ Server 2003 and Windows Vista™ operating systems.

The latest version of the technology is WDS 03.01.6000.72 (Microsoft Knowledge Base article 917013). In this paper, WDS 03.01.6000.72 is referred to as WDS 3.01. WDS 3.01 is an update to WDS 03.00.0000 which is referred to as WDS 3.0. WDS 3.01 is available via Windows update for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003. Windows Vista has WDS 3.x indexing technology built directly into the OS, but uses a new User Interface to surface the integrated search functionality.

This document will attempt to differentiate the functionality of XP/Server versus Vista.

Note

Some features are not available in all markets.

See Also

Concepts

WDS 3.01 Troubleshooting Guide

Other Resources

Knowledge Base article 917013