diff --git a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/SearchProviders.java b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/SearchProviders.java
index 3a71faa..2610847 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/SearchProviders.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/SearchProviders.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IStatus;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Platform;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Status;
+import org.eclipse.mylyn.internal.sandbox.search.ui.provider.BasicSearchProvider;
 import org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui.SearchProvider;
 
 /**
@@ -30,6 +31,8 @@
 public class SearchProviders {
 	private static final String EXTENSION_POINT_NAME_SEARCH_PROVIDER = "searchProvider"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 
+	private static boolean noProviderWarningLogged;
+
 	public static List<SearchProvider> getSearchProviders() {
 		List<SearchProvider> providers = new ArrayList<SearchProvider>();
 
@@ -62,8 +65,15 @@
 			return new CompositeSearchProvider(searchProviders);
 		} else if (!searchProviders.isEmpty()) {
 			return searchProviders.get(0);
+		} else {
+			if (!noProviderWarningLogged) {
+				noProviderWarningLogged = true;
+				SearchPlugin.getDefault()
+						.getLog()
+						.log(new Status(IStatus.WARNING, SearchPlugin.BUNDLE_ID,
+								Messages.SearchProviders_NoSearchProvidersAvailable));
+			}
+			return new BasicSearchProvider();
 		}
-		throw new CoreException(new Status(IStatus.ERROR, SearchPlugin.BUNDLE_ID,
-				Messages.SearchProviders_NoSearchProvidersAvailable));
 	}
 }
diff --git a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/messages.properties b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/messages.properties
index 922057d..c3b764a 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/messages.properties
+++ b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/messages.properties
@@ -28,5 +28,5 @@
 OpenFileAction_CannotOpenFile=Cannot open file {0}: {1}
 OpenFileAction_OpenFileErrorMessage={0} files could not be opened
 OpenFileAction_OpenFileErrorTitle=Cannot Open Files
-SearchProviders_NoSearchProvidersAvailable=Cannot perform search: no search providers available
+SearchProviders_NoSearchProvidersAvailable=Platform-specific search is not available
 SearchResultLabelProvider_QualifierFormat={0} - {1}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/BasicSearchProvider.java b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/BasicSearchProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7604d7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/BasicSearchProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,281 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2011 Tasktop Technologies.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Tasktop Technologies - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+
+package org.eclipse.mylyn.internal.sandbox.search.ui.provider;
+
+import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Stack;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+import org.eclipse.core.filesystem.EFS;
+import org.eclipse.core.filesystem.IFileInfo;
+import org.eclipse.core.filesystem.IFileStore;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IStatus;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.OperationCanceledException;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.SubMonitor;
+import org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui.SearchCallback;
+import org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui.SearchCriteria;
+import org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui.SearchProvider;
+import org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui.SearchResult;
+import org.eclipse.osgi.util.NLS;
+
+/**
+ * A search provider that operates over java.io
+ * 
+ * @author David Green
+ */
+public class BasicSearchProvider extends SearchProvider {
+
+	private abstract class FileMatcher {
+		public abstract boolean matches(IFileStore file, IProgressMonitor monitor);
+	}
+
+	private class CompositeFileMatcher extends FileMatcher {
+
+		private final List<FileMatcher> delegates;
+
+		private final boolean allMatch;
+
+		/**
+		 * @param allMatch
+		 *            indicate if one delegate must match (false) or if all delegates must match (true)
+		 */
+		public CompositeFileMatcher(boolean allMatch) {
+			this.allMatch = allMatch;
+			delegates = new ArrayList<FileMatcher>();
+		}
+
+		public CompositeFileMatcher(List<FileMatcher> delegates, boolean allMatch) {
+			this.delegates = delegates;
+			this.allMatch = allMatch;
+		}
+
+		public void add(FileMatcher matcher) {
+			delegates.add(matcher);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean matches(IFileStore file, IProgressMonitor monitor) {
+			for (FileMatcher matcher : delegates) {
+				if (monitor.isCanceled()) {
+					return false;
+				}
+				if (!matcher.matches(file, monitor)) {
+					if (allMatch) {
+						return false;
+					}
+				} else if (!allMatch) {
+					return true;
+				}
+			}
+			return allMatch ? true : false;
+		}
+	}
+
+	private class FileNameMatcher extends FileMatcher {
+
+		private final Pattern pattern;
+
+		public FileNameMatcher(String matchPattern) {
+			String regex = ".*?"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+			regex += patternToRegex(matchPattern);
+			regex += ".*"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+			pattern = Pattern.compile(regex, Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean matches(IFileStore file, IProgressMonitor monitor) {
+			String name = file.getName();
+			return pattern.matcher(name).matches();
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	private class FileContentMatcher extends FileMatcher {
+
+		private final Pattern pattern;
+
+		private final int maxMatchingCharacters = 1024 * 16;
+
+		public FileContentMatcher(SearchCriteria searchSpecification) {
+			pattern = Pattern.compile(patternToRegex(searchSpecification.getText().trim()), Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean matches(IFileStore file, IProgressMonitor monitor) {
+			monitor.subTask(file.toString());
+			try {
+				InputStream inputStream = file.openInputStream(EFS.NONE, monitor);
+				try {
+					InputStreamReader reader = new InputStreamReader(new BufferedInputStream(inputStream));
+					try {
+						ReaderCharSequence charSequence = new ReaderCharSequence(maxMatchingCharacters, reader, monitor);
+						return pattern.matcher(charSequence).find();
+					} finally {
+						reader.close();
+					}
+				} finally {
+					inputStream.close();
+				}
+			} catch (IOException e) {
+				// ignore
+			} catch (CoreException e) {
+				// ignore
+			}
+			return false;
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void performSearch(SearchCriteria searchSpecification, SearchCallback callback, IProgressMonitor m)
+			throws CoreException {
+		SubMonitor monitor = SubMonitor.convert(m);
+		monitor.beginTask(NLS.bind(Messages.BasicSearchProvider_0, searchSpecification.getText()),
+				searchSpecification.getMaximumResults() > 0
+						? searchSpecification.getMaximumResults()
+						: IProgressMonitor.UNKNOWN);
+		try {
+			FileMatcher matcher = computeMatcher(searchSpecification);
+
+			File[] roots = File.listRoots();
+			if (roots != null) {
+				int matchCount = 0;
+
+				Stack<IFileStore> state = new Stack<IFileStore>();
+
+				// reverse-order iteration so that the first one is the last pushed on the stack
+				for (int x = roots.length - 1; x >= 0; --x) {
+					if (monitor.isCanceled()) {
+						break;
+					}
+					File root = roots[x];
+					IFileStore fileStore = EFS.getLocalFileSystem().fromLocalFile(root);
+
+					state.push(fileStore);
+				}
+				try {
+					while (!state.isEmpty() && !monitor.isCanceled()) {
+						IFileStore fileStore = state.pop();
+
+						IFileInfo fileInfo = fileStore.fetchInfo();
+						if (isDefaultIgnore(fileStore, fileInfo)) {
+							// ignore
+						} else if (fileInfo.isDirectory()) {
+							monitor.subTask(fileStore.toString());
+
+							IFileStore[] childStores = fileStore.childStores(EFS.NONE, monitor.newChild(0));
+							for (IFileStore child : childStores) {
+								state.push(child);
+							}
+						} else {
+
+							if (matcher.matches(fileStore, monitor.newChild(0))) {
+								monitor.worked(1);
+
+								callback.searchResult(new SearchResult(fileStore.toLocalFile(EFS.NONE,
+										monitor.newChild(0))));
+
+								if (++matchCount >= searchSpecification.getMaximumResults()) {
+									break;
+								}
+							}
+						}
+					}
+				} catch (OperationCanceledException oce) {
+					// ignore
+				} catch (CoreException e) {
+					if (e.getStatus().getSeverity() != IStatus.CANCEL) {
+						throw e;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		} finally {
+			monitor.done();
+		}
+	}
+
+	private boolean isDefaultIgnore(IFileStore fileStore, IFileInfo fileInfo) {
+		if (fileInfo.getAttribute(EFS.ATTRIBUTE_SYMLINK) || fileInfo.getAttribute(EFS.ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN)) {
+			// ignore, we don't follow symbolic links or hidden files
+			return true;
+		} else {
+			String name = fileStore.getName();
+			if (fileInfo.isDirectory()) {
+				if ((name.equals("Windows") || name.equals("$Recycle.Bin")) && fileStore.getParent() != null && fileStore.getParent().getParent() == null) { //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
+					return true;
+				} else if (name.startsWith(".")) { //$NON-NLS-1$
+					return true;
+				}
+			} else {
+				if (name.endsWith(".dll") || name.endsWith(".exe") || name.endsWith(".sys") || name.endsWith(".zip") || name.endsWith(".jar") || name.endsWith(".bin")) { //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$ //$NON-NLS-3$ //$NON-NLS-4$ //$NON-NLS-5$ //$NON-NLS-6$
+					return true;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	private FileMatcher computeMatcher(SearchCriteria searchSpecification) {
+		List<FileMatcher> filenameMatchers = new ArrayList<FileMatcher>();
+
+		for (String filenamePattern : searchSpecification.getFilenamePatterns()) {
+			if (filenamePattern.length() > 0) {
+				if (filenamePattern.equals("*") || filenamePattern.equals("*.*")) { //$NON-NLS-1$//$NON-NLS-2$
+					// every file matches
+					filenameMatchers.clear();
+					break;
+				} else {
+					filenameMatchers.add(new FileNameMatcher(filenamePattern));
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		CompositeFileMatcher fileMatcher = new CompositeFileMatcher(true);
+		if (!filenameMatchers.isEmpty()) {
+			fileMatcher.add(filenameMatchers.size() == 1 ? filenameMatchers.get(0) : new CompositeFileMatcher(
+					filenameMatchers, false));
+		}
+
+		if (searchSpecification.getText() != null && searchSpecification.getText().trim().length() > 0) {
+			fileMatcher.add(new FileContentMatcher(searchSpecification));
+		}
+
+		return fileMatcher;
+	}
+
+	private String patternToRegex(String matchPattern) {
+		String regex = ""; //$NON-NLS-1$
+		for (char c : matchPattern.toCharArray()) {
+			if (Character.isLetterOrDigit(c)) {
+				regex += c;
+			} else {
+				if (c == '*') {
+					regex += ".*"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+				} else if (c == '?') {
+					regex += "."; //$NON-NLS-1$
+				} else {
+					regex += "\\"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+					regex += c;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return regex;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/Messages.java b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/Messages.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63aefb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/Messages.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2011 Tasktop Technologies.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Tasktop Technologies - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+
+package org.eclipse.mylyn.internal.sandbox.search.ui.provider;
+
+import org.eclipse.osgi.util.NLS;
+
+class Messages extends NLS {
+	private static final String BUNDLE_NAME = "org.eclipse.mylyn.internal.sandbox.search.ui.provider.messages"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+
+	public static String BasicSearchProvider_0;
+	static {
+		// initialize resource bundle
+		NLS.initializeMessages(BUNDLE_NAME, Messages.class);
+	}
+
+	private Messages() {
+	}
+}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/ReaderCharSequence.java b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/ReaderCharSequence.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca34955
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/ReaderCharSequence.java
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2011 Tasktop Technologies.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Tasktop Technologies - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+
+package org.eclipse.mylyn.internal.sandbox.search.ui.provider;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.Reader;
+
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.OperationCanceledException;
+
+/**
+ * A CharSequence that is based on a reader, providing a specified number of characters. If the reader cannot provide
+ * enough character data, the sequence is padded with whitespace.
+ * 
+ * @author David Green
+ */
+class ReaderCharSequence implements CharSequence {
+
+	private final int length;
+
+	private Reader reader;
+
+	private final StringBuilder buffer;
+
+	private final IProgressMonitor monitor;
+
+	public ReaderCharSequence(int length, Reader reader, IProgressMonitor monitor) {
+		this.length = length;
+		this.reader = reader;
+		this.monitor = monitor;
+		buffer = new StringBuilder(length > 1024 ? 1024 : length);
+	}
+
+	public int length() {
+		return length;
+	}
+
+	public char charAt(int index) {
+		if (index >= length || index < 0) {
+			throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
+		}
+		if (index >= buffer.length()) {
+			fill(index);
+		}
+		if (index >= buffer.length()) {
+			return ' ';
+		}
+		return buffer.charAt(index);
+	}
+
+	private void fill(int maxIndex) {
+		if (reader == null) {
+			return;
+		}
+		int c;
+		while (buffer.length() <= maxIndex) {
+			if (monitor.isCanceled()) {
+				throw new OperationCanceledException();
+			}
+			try {
+				c = reader.read();
+				if (c == -1) {
+					reader = null;
+					break;
+				}
+			} catch (IOException e) {
+				reader = null;
+				break;
+			}
+			buffer.append((char) c);
+		}
+	}
+
+	public CharSequence subSequence(int start, int end) {
+		if (end > length || end < 0 || start < 0 || start > end) {
+			throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
+		}
+		if (end > buffer.length()) {
+			fill(end - 1);
+		}
+		if (end <= buffer.length()) {
+			return buffer.subSequence(start, end);
+		}
+		StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder(end - start);
+		for (int x = start; x < end; ++x) {
+			buf.append(charAt(x));
+		}
+		return buf;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/messages.properties b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/messages.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5956df2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.mylyn.sandbox.search.ui/src/org/eclipse/mylyn/internal/sandbox/search/ui/provider/messages.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+###############################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2011 Tasktop Technologies.
+# All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+# are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+# which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+# http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+#
+# Contributors:
+#     Tasktop Technologies - initial API and implementation
+###############################################################################
+BasicSearchProvider_0=Searching for files matching "{0}"