INI entry ntfs_volume_paths

[NotNull]

For other people crazy enough to edit critical parts of Everything.ini by hand:

Turns out the entry ntfs_volume_paths= is case sensitive.
Meaning that this works: ntfs_volume_paths="C:" and this doesn't: ntfs_volume_paths="c:"

Might save you 15 minutes of confusion and searching in the future ...

(Everything 1.4.1.947 x64)

[void]

The Everything.db stores a copy of this setting.
When Everything checks for changes to this setting, the case MUST match.
Changing the case will result in a rebuild.
The guid lookup and root lookup is not case sensitive.

ntfs_volume_paths is where the index is mounted in Everything.
ntfs_volume_guids is the "volume name" of the volume to index.
ntfs_volume_roots is the root of the volume. This will be a path without the root specifier, eg: Program Files\Everything
An empty root "" means the true root of the volume.


ntfs_volume_paths="c:" should still work as long as you specify a ntfs_volume_guids.
You can use a blank GUID "" and Everything will get the volume name from the specified path for you. (This volume name lookup is not case sensitive)

An example, add the c: volume to your NTFS indexes:
ntfs_volume_paths="c:"
ntfs_volume_guids=""

An example, add the C: drive as both c: and C:
ntfs_volume_paths="c:","C:"
ntfs_volume_guids="",""

Note: You will need to disable automatically remove offline ntfs volumes from Tools -> Options -> Indexes.
Otherwise the c: volume will be automatically removed as Everything will see it as offline.

[NotNull]

Thanks for the info! Quite useful.
Unfortunately thinks work different on my system.
Will chew on it a little more to analyze why ..

"Preview" of some issues:

[void]

Thanks for the screenshots.

In the last image, is Automatically remove offline NTFS volumes enabled?

the path c: would be consider offline and therefore removed, while the path C: would be consider online.

[NotNull]

No, all 3 automatic include/remove settings are unchecked.

FWIW: Everything 1.4.1.947.
1.4.1.877 behaves different (but I can vaguely remember a newer INI setting for this "find GUID if driveletter is known" behaviour)

[void]

Also, please try disabling auto remove moved ntfs volumes:

• In Everything, type in the following search and press ENTER:
  /auto_remove_moved_ntfs_volumes=0

Everything might be detecting this c: path as being moved to C:\External\Some Name.

[NotNull]

Instead I completely removed the C:\External\Some Name volume:

It's alive!!
Results come in from c:\Tools (note the lower case c:


Well done!
(that would be my first test tomorrow (currently midnight): start with a clean INI to exclude all disturbances)

[void]

I've decided to disable auto_remove_moved_ntfs_volumes by default for future versions of Everything.

This setting is not necessary when auto_remove_offline_ntfs_volumes and auto_include_fixed_ntfs_volumes are enabled.
These are both enabled by default.

[raccoon]

Is it possible to track a volume based solely on its GUID and not the drive letter?

This is for a portable Everything that exists on a specific drive, and is meant only to index that specific drive.

The drive letter may change from time to time, depending on which computer it's plugged into. It's an NTFS drive.

I tried messing with auto_remove_moved_ntfs_volumes, and I tried blanking the drive-letter-and-colon from ntfs_volume_paths (ie: =""), leaving only the ntfs_volume_guids pointer, hoping Everything would attempt to track it that way. It does not.

(As an aside, the Everything.ini will be set to read-only, so it'll never automatically add other drive letters or guids it discovers).

[void]

The GUID for the same drive would be different for each PC.

I would have to add the option to specify NTFS volumes by serial number.
Something like in the GUID field you could set serialnumber:ffffffff

...added to my TODO list.

Does the drive content change often? What about file lists?
https://www.voidtools.com/support/everything/file_lists
Have Everything index only a single file list.
Update the file list occasionally from one PC where the drive letter is the same.

what about a readonly db that is only updated on one PC?
Similar to file lists, use the -read-only command line option for normal use and on one PC where the drive letter is the same, use without -readonly to update the index.

[raccoon]

I see. I was of the impression that the GUID might be unique to the drive's GPT id or some other unique volume fingerprint, and that Everything would try tracking it for drive letter changes. I'll just set it up for each computer in advance with the same drive letter. It's only a few machines. I was just thinking about futurization.

One thing that stands out is that I can't apply the relative folder "." (dot) or "..." (ellipses) under the Folders section, to mean the current path or drive.

[void]

Manually adding a folder index as \ seems to work:

• Exit Everything
• Open your Everything.ini
• Change the following line:
  folders=
• to:
  folders=\
• Save changes and restart Everything.

\ = the current drive from the current working directory.

Downside is this is a folder index, not a NTFS index.

-Unfortunately, this doesn't work for NTFS volumes.
I'll add support to do this for NTFS volumes, so you would leave the guid field blank and set the path = "\\"

[NotNull]

\ = the current drive from the current working directory.

See also Portable Search Index?


I did write an NTFS version of that, but if I didn't post it here on the forum (don't think I did), it is deleted.
Will "Frankenstein" together a couple of existing scripts to re-create it. And post it this time ...

[NotNull]

• Put Everything.exe in a folder on your removable (NTFS formatted) disk
• Extract Start-Everything.cmd from the ZIP and put it in that same folder
• Run Start-Everything.cmd

A new instance of Everything (can run side-by-side with your regular Everything) will open, showing the content of your removable disk.

Notes:
- It already has a couple of "senior settings" aboard
- No need to make INI file read-only.
- can run as a regular user; no admin rights requierd
- tested, but only quickly.