I must be missing something! Almost everything I read talks about how search has been improved in Vista and Windows 7, but I find the opposite.
As a support person I frequently search for hidden/system files. In XP all I needed to do was check off system files and hidden files and folders, supply the file name or a wild card version of it and Windows quickly found what I was looking for, granted sometimes with considerable extra stuff. With Vista and "7" from what I can see, I have to wait to get into Advanced Search, then check several boxes and wait a much longer time for poorer results.
Recently was asked to search a drive from a dead machine for "pictures". In XP I would have chosen Pictures, music or video|Pictures and Photos, selected the drive letter and been supplied with names of all pictures on the entire drive wherever they might have been saved. When I attempted this search with Windows 7, all I got was a list of files with the word pictures in the filename or contents, not what I needed at all.
I stumbled onto SevenClassicStart_Setup.exe here but "search" doesn't find it in the forums. A Google search did locate it! I took a dinner break so haven't yet tested it.
