How to search on Download.com

Searching There are four search options on Download.com: searching within a category, searching the entire Download.com site, searching the entire CNET network, and searching on the Web. These options are available in the drop-down menu near the top of each page. On the front page of Download.com, the search box menu does not offer a category-specific search, but all of our category pages offer this option. To search for a particular program within a category (such as Business), go to that category's page and you'll find the "in Business" option automatically added to the drop-down menu. Select "Download.com" for searching if you are not sure which category might contain the program you are looking for. Select "All CNET" to search the whole CNET network. Through this search option you can find, when available, downloads, features, reviews, or news stories relevant to your search term that have appeared on any of CNET's sites. Select "The Web" if you want to search the Web for programs, news, or whatever else you might be looking for. Search tips Download.com is organized by categories that are available from the front page of the site and through the site map. You might find that choosing a category works better for locating a file. For example, you will find most programs that are related to the Internet in the "Internet" category. Simple, one-word searches work the best. If you are searching on a word that is too general, such as Windows or Macintosh, you might not find what you are looking for, or find too many entries. Commas or the word OR let you search a combination of two words. For example, entering night OR day would return any reference to night or to day. The same applies for night, day. The word AND, an ampersand (&), or a plus sign (+) let you search on two (or more) words together. For example, entering night AND day in the search box would only give you results that mentioned both night and day. Spaces must be used between words and the AND or &, as in, night & day. Quotes around words let you search on the words as a phrase. "Night and day" entered as a search query will return results that contain the entire phrase "night and day" only. Wildcard searching is available with the asterisk symbol (*). For example, a search on simulat may reveal no programs, but add the wildcard symbol, and simulat* will show all programs mentioning something that "simulates" or is related to a "simulation." However, please keep in mind that a wildcard search may take longer than a normal search and should be used only as a last resort. Sorting search results Once your search result has been returned, you can re-sort the list. Options for sorting results are "Title," "Buy," "Pick," "Date added," "Downloads," and "File size." For example, if you would like to see your results by date, click the "Date added" link, and the list will be re-sorted to show the newest programs first. Filtering search results You can also filter search result listings to narrow down your choices. Options for filtering the list of results can be found at the bottom of the list; you can filter results by operating system or license. For example, if you want to find only freeware programs, you can choose "freeware" from the drop-down menu and click Update. The resulting list will only display freeware programs relevant to your original search term. Advanced searches Our advanced search option offers several variables you can select before you conduct your search. These include title, description, category, when the program was entered into our library, author/publisher, full text search, operating system, license, and number of downloads. Keep in mind that the more variables you select, the fewer results you'll see returned. Software recommendations Because of the vast number of titles listed on Download.com, we are unable to make personal software recommendations via email. We strive to be as comprehensive as possible through our reviews, recommending what we feel are the best programs available. But if we do not review a specific type of software that you are interested in, please check out the CNET Message Boards, where you can post questions and comments and receive feedback from other CNET users.