Can I do a "one-time" file content search in Windows Server 2008 without adding the folder to the index?

Can I search for files which contain a specific string in a folder if that folder is not in the search index?

So, lets say folder 'textFiles' is not in the index. I navigate to this folder in Windows Explorer. I type '.ini' in the search box I want to see a result list containing only 'b.txt'

FOLDER C:\textFiles\

FILE  a.php  
CONTENT once twice thrice mice moose monkey

FILE b.txt
CONTENT mingle muddle middle.ini banana beer

FILE c.spo
CONTENT sellotape stapler phone book

I do not have permission to add folders to the Windows index and I do not have permission to install or run any executables that did not ship with the server or approved applications.

I'd be happy with a Windows native command line solution if necessary.

Answer

You can do this with the command line tool findstr.exe provided by Microsoft.

1. 
   

   Open a command prompt and navigate to c:\textfiles

   
   


2. 
   

   run command findstr /L /M /C:"ini" *.*

   
   

   note: you can add /S to search all subdirectories

   
   

Full details on FINDSTR

  FINDSTR [/B] [/E] [/L] [/R] [/S] [/I] [/X] [/V] [/N] [/M] [/O] [/P] [/F:file]
        [/C:string] [/G:file] [/D:dir list] [/A:color attributes] [/OFF[LINE]]
        strings [[drive:][path]filename[ ...]]

  /B         Matches pattern if at the beginning of a line.
  /E         Matches pattern if at the end of a line.
  /L         Uses search strings literally.
  /R         Uses search strings as regular expressions.
  /S         Searches for matching files in the current directory and all
             subdirectories.
  /I         Specifies that the search is not to be case-sensitive.
  /X         Prints lines that match exactly.
  /V         Prints only lines that do not contain a match.
  /N         Prints the line number before each line that matches.
  /M         Prints only the filename if a file contains a match.
  /O         Prints character offset before each matching line.
  /P         Skip files with non-printable characters.
  /OFF[LINE] Do not skip files with offline attribute set.
  /A:attr    Specifies color attribute with two hex digits. See "color /?"
  /F:file    Reads file list from the specified file(/ stands for console).
  /C:string  Uses specified string as a literal search string.
  /G:file    Gets search strings from the specified file(/ stands for console).
  /D:dir     Search a semicolon delimited list of directories
  strings    Text to be searched for.
  [drive:][path]filename
             Specifies a file or files to search.

Use spaces to separate multiple search strings unless the argument is prefixed
with /C.  For example, 'FINDSTR "hello there" x.y' searches for "hello" or
"there" in file x.y.  'FINDSTR /C:"hello there" x.y' searches for
"hello there" in file x.y.

Regular expression quick reference:
  .        Wildcard: any character
  *        Repeat: zero or more occurrences of previous character or class
  ^        Line position: beginning of line
  $        Line position: end of line
  [class]  Character class: any one character in set
  [^class] Inverse class: any one character not in set
  [x-y]    Range: any characters within the specified range
  \x       Escape: literal use of metacharacter x
  \  xyz\>    Word position: end of word

For full information on FINDSTR regular expressions refer to the online Command
Reference.