"Indexing not running"

When I go to Indexing Options within the Control Panel, the dropdown informs me that "Indexing is not running" and only the Advanced button is available. I really don't seem to be having problems with my searches although many a time when doing a search , there is a banner saying that "Your searches may be slow because index is not running." I will then click the prompt to index.

The searches seem to be fast enough, but I really can't tell if they should be faster.

Even though I have selected to index, when prompted, going into Index Options will still show that the index is not running??? Could it be that this action is only temporary at its time of use?

Once I get indexing working, I would imagine that I would like to choose just those folders where speedy searching would be of benefit, but I'm not sure which files/folder they should be. I'm thinking Pictures, Music, Documents, Program Files (x86), Program Files...or am I way off base?

Need some help hear to straighten this all out.

BTW, I have looked at Brink's excellent tutorials, I'm a little thick here and need some help.

Tried everything, but couldn't get Window's Indexing to start.
Did as you instructed and when I clicked Start, indexing started but then stopped and the following message: "Windows search services on local computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs." Then checked services.msc and Windows Search still didn't have Started next to it, but did have Automatic. Also, Windows Troubleshoot did identify that there was a problem with indexing, but couldn't fix it. What's next? Rebuild?