Varied Results with WinMX - why?

[wiggum]

Sometimes I run a search on WinMX and get 1,000's of matches but sometimes I end up with 0 for other very popular terms. Why? does it block certain type of strings?

[ston]

The search function of WinMX can be a bit flaky.

Logic would dictate that setting the search to "anyfile/bitrate" would always return more results, or at least the same number.
But this is not always the case. Sometimes narrowing the search parameters can yield greater results. Also the number of search words and whether they are in the bottom or top search box can affect the results. (file hashes need to be in the bottom box) And just as for all distributed p2p's, every search will normally yield slightly different results.

We should all do some experimenting to try to determine just how the search function works. I am working on my own "list of rules" that winMX search seems to follow.

[buzz_ny]

Search has a mind of its own! It's a living, breathing beast. My rules are
- Artist in top box, title in bottom. Reverse may be fine, it's separating them that helps I think.
- Narrower searches are better. Set bitrate and connection, and use as many words as possible in the artist and title (as long as you are accurate).
- If you get no or few results, hit Stop and Search again. Results are rarely the same twice!

I think too many results just chokes it.

Unlike a search engine, more words may be better than fewer. The usual rule of searches is to use the minimum number of words needed to precisely identify what you are looking for. (The reason is that if you or the other guys spell words differently, it still finds the song.) On a conventional search engine like Google you will find more stuff if you enter just "Ramones" for the artist and "sedated" for the title, than to enter "I wanna be sedated." BUT .... I'm not sure that works on WMX. I seem to have better luck with more words.

I do sometimes try leaving out words that are likely to be misspelled. (Like 'I Want To' vs. 'I Wanna'). Or, try variations. Though if the title isn't right you have to wonder about the content!

An open question is whether having the first few words in a title helps improve results. Like, is it better to enter just "sedated" for the title, or "I wanna be sedated." Don't know yet.

[Wolfie]

This has happened to me too. Sometimes its during a the first minute I connect to the network. It almost feels like the search engine needs to warm up or something. Other times I just disconnect and then reconnect that fixes it. I definately agree the search has been flakey on winmx (since the full version of 3 came out).

[psychotronic420]

For some interesting results use the show full paths function and note the names of folders that users are storing files in "such as shared, downloads, my music etc...." and then enter that in the search box I have found some really interesting files this way esp. programs and music vids


Happy searching!

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