Windows 7: No Start Search, no Win+F, but Constrained Search works?

Wow, have I been bashing my head on a brick wall with this problem. Been lurking here for a while, great site.

In a nutshell, my search field on the Windows 7 Start menu returns no results. If I click "see more results" it returns "Windows cannot find 'search:query=search string'. Note that this is not the 'Showing only category headers' problem. Search returns a big, white box with "No items match your search" and "See more results" no matter what you type.

Win+F simply does nothing (I've only just noticed this).

Constrained search in Explorer works fine (!).

I've tried:
The built in search troubleshooter - no problems detected. The MS downloaded troubleshooter - no problems detected. Deleting a bunch of registry keys and restarting the service (detailed here), service starts up fine, start search still non-functional. I've been mucking around, rebuilding indexes, trawling the web for anything, but alas, any offered solutions I have come across do not make any difference.

I'm not entirely sure how this happened - SP1 maybe? A reg cleaner? One of the two possibly.

I'm at a complete loss. I've just tried to do a reinstall following the guide that's around here somewhere. I've a 30gig SSD primary boot drive. Windows wants 15gig free to reinstall. Not going to happen considering the Windows directory is 10gig. I'd rather not clean reinstall for such a 'minor' problem, but I really miss that neat feature.

Any help provided greatly appreciated!



four

hi and hello

Perform a SFC Scan (System File Check)

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow

2. Type the following command, sfc /scannow and then press ENTER:

(A message will appear stating that 'The system scan will begin'. Be patient because the scan may take some time)

3. If any files require a replace SFC will replace them. You may be asked to insert your Windows 7 DVD for this process to continue

4. If everything is okay you should, after the scan, see the following message "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations"

5. After the scan has completed, close the command prompt window, restart the computer. (TIP repeat scan 3 times)


How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7 >>> How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

How to Check / Repair the Windows System Files from a Command Prompt at Boot >>> SFC /SCANNOW : Run in Command Prompt at Boot

Wow, thanks for the quick reply.

I've run sfc a few times now, and just ran it again to check. No problems found. :/

I should also add I'm not running anything odd, and using MS's virus protection.

have you run it from boot? How to Check / Repair the Windows System Files from a Command Prompt at Boot >>> SFC /SCANNOW : Run in Command Prompt at Boot

try this fix

1. Open Indexing and Search Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Indexing Options.
2. Click Advanced, click the Index Settings tab, and then click Rebuild. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Try all of brianzions suggestions.

If you made a System Image before you made registry changes you can restore the Image.

As a last resort if nothing else works to repair registry go with a repair install.
You will need your Windows disk.
Repair Install

This way you don't loose any files, pics etc.

Mike

hi i found this on a Microsoft forum its worth a look

and this

you can change the location of the index.

If you change this location, the Windows Search service will automatically be restarted, and the change will not go into effect until the restart is complete.

Open Indexing Options by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type indexing options, and then click Indexing Options.

Click Advanced. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

In the Advanced Options dialog box, click the Index Settings tab.

Under Index location, click Select new, click a new location, click OK, and then click OK again.

Note

When you change the index location, you should choose a location on a non-removable hard disk that is formatted using the NTFS file system.

(i have just moved mine without a hitch)

Improve Windows searches using the index: frequently asked questions >>> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...sked-questions

sfc at boot - no problems.
Rebuilding the index - no problems.
Can't do a repair install, I don't have the drive space (30gig SSD).
Don't have the network location problem, and I've tried uninstalling search. No dice there either.
Have just changed the location of the index, no help.

Why does the start search seem to be different to Constrained search, and why doesn't Win+F work?

Don't need to Google this one. Go to Device Manager, you seem to know your way around Windows 7 pretty well. Check thd device drivers for the keyboard----hell, check them all. If all is well in device manager, then uninstall the keyboard driver while you are there. Use the mouse to restart the computer so it can install a fresh copy of the driver. If you are using SSD, did you copy the backup from an HDD or clone your HDD to the SSD? IN either case, you may have gotten a bit of corruption in the system. I'm getting my first SSD on Wednesday, UPS. Just 60 GB but plenty for me. I store everything on 2 and 3rd HDD, both are 1 TB each. (I know, I digressed)