>Does anyone know of a FAST way to search a memo field for a string. (say look for the string "System testing problem" in a memo field for all records in a DBF)

For free I would try this:

use werreur
scan
copy memo mWerDetail to detail.txt
create cursor Lines (Line c(254))
append from detail.txt sdf
select Line from Lines where "System testing" $ Line into cursor Found
scan
? trim(Line) && Do what you want with the line!
endscan
? "--------"
erase detail.txt
endscan