[Python] How can I optimize my depth-first-search algorithm for searching files in my disk...

This small script finds files and folders by recursively parsing through directory structures and returning the paths they are stored. This was done for the sole purpose of finding a folder on my D drive. While the code functions effectively, it's run time is pretty slow. I explored the os.walk alternative but it seems some seconds slower than my manual recursive code. I would appreciate your feedback on how I can optimize it to run faster. Thank you.

import os
import re

rootPath = 'C:\\'

search = input("Enter file you are looking for ")
escaped = re.escape(search)
pattern = re.compile(escaped.replace(r"\ ", r"\s*"), re.IGNORECASE)
def recursiveDirFinder(root,target):
dirs = os.listdir(root)
for dir in dirs:
try:
path = os.path.join(root,f"{dir}\\")
if target.search(dir):
print(path)
else:
if os.path.isdir(path):
recursiveDirFinder(path,target)
else:
continue
except UnicodeEncodeError:
#print(f"Error processing {dir}")
continue
except PermissionError:
#print(f"{dir} cannot be accessed")
continue
except OSError:
continue

recursiveDirFinder(rootPath,pattern)

Continue reading...