On 17 Jun 2018, masonc wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

My "Start" search shows files that have no relation to what I type.

Using "DOS" dir filename*.* /s I find my file in the active folder.

How do I use Win7 Search to find a file?

Yes, yes, I've googled it to no avail.

Windows 7 will only search where it's been told to search, which by
default is not the entire hard disk. Check Control Panel | Indexing
Options to see if it's keeping track of where you intend to search.

Or better yet, use a 3rd-party search tool like Everything and/or Agent
Ransack.

DOS syntax will not work in Windows Search.