M$, realizing that the built-in file search utility didn't quite work right anyhow when searching file contents in XP, has now made the same utility impossible to use in Windows 7. Thank goodness we will no longer be tempted to try to use it any more. Google searches on the problem so far have yielded no answers except for ridiculously cryptic answers provided by M$ staff. So far, there is no clue in the following links:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-files/in-windows-7-i-want-to-search-for-all-files/aadfe1f1-4a33-406b-8e72-bb920efa4f30
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-files/search-file-contents-in-windows-7/44920b75-ff71-4683-96eb-04055d090273
The short answer is install Cygwin, or in my case I was able to use the "Find in files" option in TextPad to do what I needed
