By default Windows Explorer just searches file names and contents.  You can specify any field that can be displayed and follow it with a colon and what you want to search for.  For example name:, datetaken:, author:.  Boolean constructs like AND, OR, and NOT and be used.  There are several functions such as ~<, which means begins with.  If the options you want are not there, Windows may have guessed that the folder contains certain types of items.  You can change this by going to the properties on the folder, and on the Customize tab, change the “Optimize this folder for” dropdown.  There are other options under Organize, Folder and search options, on the Search tab.
 
Search help for "Advanced tips for searching in Windows" for more information.