UltraSearch Free Changelog

The Support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 ends with version 3.1.2. Subsequent versions will no longer support these operating systems. Of course, there will still be important bug fixes if necessary.

• Protected PDF files no longer lead to a program error in the file content search.
• A program error when renewing the internal cache has been fixed.
• Regular Expressions containing the wildcard * caused an error in some cases. The problem has been solved.
• Using a Regular Expression with backslashes produced incorrect results. This bug has been corrected.

01 September 2021

• Several bugs that could lead to missing results or exceptions in the file content search have been fixed.
• If the separate input field for searching for file contents was activated, it now remains visible even after restarting the program.
• An error occurred in the Query Composer when changing the program language. The problem has been solved.
• An error when deleting files from the result list has been corrected.

26 May 2021

New Features

• UltraSearch now has a dark theme for the user interface. Its activation can either be linked to the corresponding Windows setting or switched on and off specifically.
• Searching for specific file types such as audio, video, or office files has been significantly simplified: By using the file type filter, the desired file type can be selected or changed and activated and deactivated with a simple click.
• The search for file contents has been streamlined and now offers a separate entry field as in previous versions. If required, this can be activated via a button in the ribbon bar.
• A new overview bar has been added above the search field. This will provide information about the filters that are currently active.
• Additional buttons for starting and finishing the search can now be displayed on the "Start" tab via the options. If this option is active, a search is no longer started automatically when a search pattern is entered, but only when the button or the "Enter" key is pressed. Changing the filter settings will still automatically start a new search.
• [Professional Edition only] The File Operations dialog now has an option to retain the timestamps of files (creation date, modification date, last access) during a copy or move operation on the file system.
• [Professional Edition only] An option to disable the splash screen has been added.
• The full version of the product can now be downloaded and installed directly from the demo version by entering the customer ID and installation key. The setup of the full version is performed automatically and unattended and can optionally be deferred until the application is closed.
• The command line parameter/CLIPBOARD can now be used to copy search results to the clipboard for further processing.
• Support for Windows Core Servers has been discontinued with this version.

Improvements

• The user interface has been made more intuitive: The Search tab has been removed from the ribbon bar. All search and filter functions are now located on the "Start" tab. File operations such as copying, opening or deleting files as well as export functions of the results list have been moved to a separate "Results List" tab, which is displayed when results exist and hidden when the results list is empty.
• The menu item for opening the file path of a selected file has been adapted to the corresponding option in Windows Explorer. For this purpose, the icon has been replaced and the option has been renamed from "Open path" into " Open file path".
• UltraSearch is now also available in Japanese, Hungarian and Portuguese (Brazil).
• To simplify a new search entry, an existing search term will be completely selected again when clicking in the search field.
• The support of high-resolution monitors has been enhanced.
• When importing drive information, the drive paths are now displayed in the status bar.
• The search syntax hints in the empty result list have been removed. More detailed information and examples can still be found in the program help.
• The hint that UltraSearch is minimized to the notification area is now only indicated after initial activation of the corresponding option.

Bugfixes

• In some cases, UltraSearch could not be started from the taskbar. This problem has been fixed.
• Languages written from right to left are now correctly depicted again when typed into the search field.
• In the results list, opening a file by double-clicking would not work in some cases. This problem has been fixed.
• An error in the selection of the target for file operations has been corrected.
• Special settings, such as collapsing the ribbon toolbar, are now preserved beyond a restart of the program.
• In rare occasions, results were displayed twice in the results list. This problem has been fixed.
• Support for Windows high contrast display mode has been improved.
• Files are now no longer deleted from the results list when the confirmation to move the files to the Recycle Bin was rejected.

13 April 2021

• When using the semicolon to separate multiple search terms, an error occurred in some cases. The problem has been solved.
• An error when searching for file types and file content using Query Composer has been fixed.
• Opening URL files via double-click now works correctly.
• An error that could occur when browsing OneDrive and Dropbox folders has been fixed.
• When starting UltraSearch via the Windows Explorer context menu, the search will now be started after the user has entered a search pattern.
• A bug when searching for files in folders with trailing spaces has been fixed.
• The visual representation of the exclude filter has been adapted: If the filter is activated, this option is now highlighted in blue, analogous to the other filters.
• A bug that caused the file preview to still show the contents of a file that had just been deleted was fixed.
• The tooltip in the result list now matches the currently selected element.
• Sorting the drive list by pinned drives now works properly.
• In some cases, the standard action for the respective file type was not executed when you double-clicked on a file in the result list. This issue has been resolved.
• The color for highlighting the sorted column has been corrected and now corresponds to the color of the previous version.
• The user interface options are now saved in the same folder as the program options.
• The readability of search input in "High Contrast" mode has been improved.
• Other small bug fixes and improvements were made.

11 November 2020

New Features

• Starting with this version, UltraSearch offers a Professional Edition with extended functionality. You can find more information on our website.
• Searching on network drives is now supported.
• The user interface has been updated and adapted to the ribbon design of Windows Explorer.
• In addition to the NTFS file system, other file systems such as Fat32 or exFat can be searched.
• [Professional Edition only] New file operations can be used to conveniently move, delete and zip selected files and much more.
• The HTML and Excel export have been revised and are now exclusively available in the ‘Professional Edition’.
• [Professional Edition only] The result list can now also be exported to a PDF file.
• The input mask for search patterns has been completely revised and the input fields for file names, file types and file contents have been combined into one common input field.
• The new "Query Composer" supports you with an extended input mask and detailed explanations when entering your search.
• UltraSearch now offers its own search syntax with which the search queries can be formulated even more precisely. For more information please refer to our help file.
• [Professional Edition only] For a better selection of results, element checkboxes for the result list can be activated under 'View'.
• The program hotkey can now be freely configured in the options menu.
• After entering a search pattern, you can switch to the result list by pressing the F3 key.
• The keywords of the new language syntax are now highlighted in color for a better overview.
• Incorrect entries when using the new language syntax are displayed in red.
• The search can now be stopped using the keyboard shortcut CTRL + Enter.
• Support for Windows Vista / Windows Server 2008 has been discontinued with this version.

Improvements

• [Professional Edition only] The product logo has been updated.
• UltraSearch is now also available in Italian, Greek, Slovenian, Czech, Chinese (Simplified) and Korean.
• The language of the user interface can be changed without restarting the program.
• Office, video or audio files can be conveniently searched for at the push of a button using the file type search in the new ribbon bar.
• UltraSearch can now be started without administrator rights.

Bugfixes

• [Professional Edition only] In the options menu you now can create a portable version of UltraSearch if required.
• Opening URL files by double-clicking now works correctly.
• The import of file types in the file groups now works without freezing the application.
• When exporting file information to an Excel file, the application sometimes stopped responding to user input. This problem has been fixed.
• An error during printing that caused an empty result list to be printed has been fixed.

29 September 2020

• The search speed when searching subfolders has been increased significantly.
• The Windows Explorer context menu entries can now also be activated in the portable version under "Options > Explorer context menu".
• UltraSearch now uses the keyboard shortcut "Win + Shift + U" by default to minimize the application or bring it to the foreground.

23 April 2019

Improvements

• UltraSearch now scales better on high DPI resolution monitors.

Bugfixes

• The search reset button is now available if no search path is selected.
• The message "Network drives are not supported" was displayed incorrectly in some cases. This issue has been resolved.
• The options toolbar did not appear after an update in some cases. This bug has been fixed.
• The width of the file preview window is no longer reset when UltraSearch is restarted.
• In some cases, the application started without focus. This issue has been resolved.
• The display of the attributes has been revised and now includes the attributes "Pinned" (P) and "Unpinned" (U).
• An error in the search for file contents has been fixed.
• When navigating through the drive list using the tab key, only one drive will be selected.
• Numerous other bugfixes have been implemented.

15 April 2019

New Features

• UltraSearch is now also available in French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese. Other languages will follow.
• The search for file content can now be started with several search terms at the same time. The syntax {search-word1; search-word2; search-word3} makes it possible to find files containing all of the given words.

Improvements

• It is now possible to start UltraSearch in a compact view with some of the optional user interface controls hidden.
• The search for file groups during the MFT enumeration is accelerated considerably.
• UltraSearch now scales better on high DPI resolution monitors.
• The option to reset the drive list has been renamed to "Reset to default".

Bugfixes

• The application did not respond to user input in some cases. This issue has been resolved.
• An error while updating the MFT index has been fixed.
• The stability of the 32-bit version of UltraSearch has been improved significantly.
• Searching non-writable drives works again.
• Renaming files did not work in some cases. This issue has been resolved.
• The creation of context menu entries under Windows 7 now works again.
• An error while searching Bitlocker encrypted drives has been fixed.
• Unpinned drives were marked incorrectly as "Pinned" in the drive list. This issue has been resolved.
• The context menu entry "Open File Location" now works again in case that UltraSearch was started in another user context.
• Numerous other bugfixes have been implemented.

28 February 2019

Features:

• The file content is now displayed in a preview window on the right.
• Paths and drives can now be pinned to the drive list.
• A new button to stop the current search has been added.
• The language can now be changed via the user interface at "View> Language".
• The user interface now offers a "Delete" button which can be used to remove all entered search criteria.
• An option to use regular expressions has been added.
• The option "Ignore Umlauts/Accents" lets you specify whether umlauts and accents shall be included in the search.
• A new option lets you decide whether to include results in subfolders or not.
• The search history can now be deleted.
• The font size of the result list can now be set in the options.
• An option to select all drives has been added to the context menu of the drive list.
• The user will now be notified via a notification windows when the current search is complete.
• Bitlocker encrypted drives are now supported.
• The TreeSize file search can now be started via "Advanced Search" (if installed).

Improvements:

• The enumeration of the Master File Table (MFT) has been accelerated.
• The drive list has been revised. Drives can be selected or deselected faster via additional checkboxes.
• In many cases the search results are already displayed while the MFT is being read.
• If the option "Start with Windows" is activated the user account control is no longer displayed when UltraSearch is started
• Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are no longer supported.

Bugfixes:

• The message "Network drives not are supported" was displayed incorrectly in some cases.
• Sorting the "File Version" column now works correctly.
• The drive information in the drive list was not updated correctly. This issue has been resolved.
• An error during the update or uninstallation while the application was running has been fixed.
• Further small bugfixes and improvements.

06 November 2018

• The drive list can also be expanded via right-click now.
• Bugfix: It is now easier to see that the drive list can be expanded.
• Bugfix: Searches on virtual hard disks resulted in an error in some cases. This problem has been solved.
• Bugfix: A minor problem occurring when minimizing UltraSearch to the system tray via shortcut has been fixed.
• Bugfix: Numerous other bugfixes have been implemented.

19 July 2016

• Bugfix: An error occurring while starting UltraSearch has been fixed.
• Bugfix: The option 'Always sort results' was not recognized after a program restart. This problem has been solved.
• Bugfix: In some cases starting UltraSearch via command line parameters yielded wrong results. This issue has been fixed.
• Bugfix: The values of the 'File version' column were not calculated until a row was selected. This error has been resolved.
• Bugfix: Some settings were reverted during a program update. This is no longer the case.
• The icons of the exclude filter and the file groups have been updated.

01 July 2016

• UltraSearch now supports searching for file content.
• The drive list has been completely redesigned. It has been moved from the bottom of the result list to its top.
• Use the new drive list to search in single folders or entire drives.
• The new 'File type selection' enables the user to search for specific file groups or file types (e.g. 'Office Files', 'Video Files'). The file groups can be configured via 'Search > File Groups...'.
• UltraSearch now supports command line parameters, which can be used to start UltraSearch with specific search parameters.
• The icons have been revised to fit the style of Windows 10.
• The search results are now displayed even faster.
• The option 'Autocomplete Patterns' has been replaced by the option 'Suggest Patterns'.  This option displays a dropdown list beneath the search field containing one or more suggested patterns based on the recently used search patterns.
• The automatic update of the MFT-Index in the systems RAM can now be deactivated via 'Options > Include file system changes'.
• A progress dialog is now displayed during the export of large result lists.
• A new menu entry with information about an advanced search with TreeSize (search network drives, search for duplicate files and much more) has been added.
• The menu entry 'Options Toolbar' has been renamed to 'Toolbars'. The submenu entry 'Show' is now called 'Options Toolbar'.
• The advertising banner has been removed.
• Bugfix: A bug concerning the sorting order of search results during a search has been fixed.
• Bugfix: If the option 'Skip User Account Control Warning' was activated and the program had been renamed or moved to another folder, UltraSearch did not start. This bug has been fixed.
• Bugfix: Searching for file paths ending with a dot produced wrong results. This problem has been resolved.
• Bugfix: In some cases the exclude filter excluded the wrong files. This issue has been fixed.
• Bugfix: The preview of the excluded files in the exclude filter now also displays the exclusion of hidden files.
• Bugfix: Numerous other bugfixes and improvements have been implemented.

20 June 2016

• The search speed has been increased for specific search patterns.
• The file author is now set when exporting the search results to an Excel file.
• Bugfix: UltraSearch crashed occasionally when a removable drive was removed. This error has been fixed.
• Bugfix: An error occurring while reading the MFT (Master File Table) on some drives has been fixed.
• Bugfix: The progress bar was not displayed in some cases. This issue has been fixed.
• Bugfix: Numerous other bugfixes have been implemented.

23 March 2015

• Added support for hard drives with a sector size of 4K.
• Bugfix: Numerous other bugfixes have been implemented.

02 March 2015

• When opening a file or folder via 'Open Containing Folder' the file selected in UltraSearch will also be selected in the Windows Explorer.
• Bugfix: An error occurring while reading the MFT (Master File Table) on some drives has been fixed.
• Bugfix: File system changes caused errors in some cases. This issue has been fixed.
• Bugfix: Numerous other bugfixes have been implemented.

12 Februrary 2015

• A completely redesigned scanning mechanism for reading the MFT (Master File Table) has been implemented.
• A new search algorithm for faster searches has been implemented.
• The memory usage has been greatly reduced.
• The speed of sorting the search results has been greatly increased.
• The new scanning mechanism now always detects NTFS hardlinks. The option to enable/disable NTFS hardlinks has been removed.
• A new options toolbar has been added, enabling the user to quickly switch between file search and folder search and to de-/activate the exclude filter.
• A new button was added next to the search input field, enabling the user to browse for a folder to search in.
• An option to hide and reset the options toolbar was added.
• The 'Auto Sort' option was renamed to 'Always Sort Results'.
• The option 'Always Sort Results' will now be taken into account even after a restart of UltraSearch.
• Pressing the F3 key now focuses the search pattern and allows the user to instantly enter a new search pattern.
• The order of columns in the drive list can now be changed via Drag&Drop.
• Scrolling through the recently used search patterns has been disabled.
• The number of recently used search patterns has been limited to 15.
• Icons have been added to the menus.
• Bugfix: Refreshing the search during an ongoing search causes missing search results in some cases. This bug has been fixed.
• Bugfix: When starting UltraSearch via context menu the search input field is now selected correctly so that the user can immediately specify a search pattern.
• Bugfix: The option 'Autocomplete Patterns' now works properly.
• Bugfix: Disabled columns are now memorized after a restart of UltraSearch.
• Bugfix: File system changes are now detected corretly.
• Bugfix: A bug which caused UltraSearch to crash during a search in rare cases has been fixed.
• Bugfix: Numerous other enhancements and bugfixes have been incorporated.

18 December 2014