Google desktop Search 3.0 Search Across Computers
With all of the hype around Googles new desktop search tool that stores a copy of your files on Google’s servers the following information describes the policy and how it works.
No one is forced to use this product or any of Googles products, but if you do use it we recommend that you consider your companies policy for storing data on 3rd party servers.
The search across computers would be a great feature if integrated with the Google Search Appliance for organizations to manage their users desktop environment.
We recommend that all organizations have a policy for desktop search.
From Google’s website:
Search Across Computers
Search Across Computers enables you to search your documents and viewed web pages across all your computers. For example, you could find files you edited on your desktop from your laptop. To activate this feature, you will need a Google Account (the same login you use for Gmail, Orkut, or other Google services). Remember, to search your other computers you must also install Google Desktop on them as well as enable the Search Across Computers preference using the same Google Account on each one.
Search Across Computers makes the following files searchable from your other computers:
* Web history (from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, and Mozilla)
* Microsoft Word documents
* Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
* Microsoft PowerPoint presentations
* PDF files and Text files in My Documents
Note: Your HTTPS web history will never be shared with your other computers, whether or not you allow indexing HTTPS items on one of your computers.
Note: Only new items indexed on a computer after you enable Search Across Computers will be found when you search from your other computers. Items indexed before you enabled Search Across Computers are not visible from your other computers.
Search Across Computers also has the following preferences, found on the Desktop Preferences page:
* Name this computer: This name will be displayed on remote computers that are part of the same Google account group.
* My other computers can search this computer’s:
o Documents and web history
o Documents only
o Web history only
* Clear my files from Google: In order to share your indexed files between your computers, we first copy this content to Google Desktop servers located at Google. This is necessary, for example, if one of your computers is turned off or otherwise offline when new or updated items are indexed on another of your machines. We store this data temporarily on Google Desktop servers and automatically delete older flies, and your data is never accessible by anyone doing a Google search. You can learn more by reading the Google Desktop privacy policy.
While your data is automatically deleted from our servers, you can use the Clear my Files from Google button to manually remove all your files from Google Desktop servers. Note that if these files havenÂt yet been copied to your other computers, clicking this button will prevent you from finding them when you search from your other computers. The files will, of course, still be searchable from their computer of origin.
If I enable Search Across Computers, can I stop Google Desktop from making specific files or folders searchable from other computers?
Yes, Search Across Computers respects all your Google Desktop indexing prefences. If you use the Don’t Search These Items preference to remove specifc files and folders from Google Desktop’s index, they also won’t be visible from any other computer in your group.