Windows 7: search function has completely stopped working

Hi guys at the moment my search bar in explorer and the start menu has completely stopped working.. im running Windows 7 premium with service pack 1 and far as i know theres been no changes to the computer and stupid me has no restore points to test anything.. was hoping people in the know would have seen this before and had an easy fix... i have a asus g73jh i7 6gig... what other info can i give that would help.. im not illiterate on a computer but im no wizz either... thanks in advance
Darrin

Hello darrin and welcome to Seven Forums.

I'd try running a system file checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two.) If any problems are found, run the scan 3 times and reboot the computer after each scan.

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

If the system file checker scan doesn't help, these two Microsoft articles might:

The "Search programs and files" box does not display search results correctly in Windows 7 and in Windows 2008 R2

Searching in Windows: frequently asked questions

Cool thanks heaps for that... so i ran the scannow 3 times with restarts and each time found errors that cant be fixed... then i tried the windows hotfix but said it wasnt compatible with my system ,so then i tried the microsoft fixit tool and it found three errors all to do with the search function but alas couldnt fix it either... im quite amazed actually i kinda thought this might be an easy fix .. any other ideas? cheers

Hmm .. I thought it would be an easy fix, too.

Open the Search and Indexing troubleshooter by clicking the Start button and then click control panel. In the upper right corner is a search box. Type in troubleshooter and then click Troubleshooting. Click View all, and then click Search and Indexing. This might give you some additional info as to what's wrong with the search function.

You could also see if the search function works in Safe Mode.

Access Safe Mode from Advanced Boot Options (step 3)

See if there are any application conflicts by doing a clean startup (AKA clean boot).

Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

Run a full scan with your installed anti-virus suite. Since no anti-malware product is 100% effective 100% of the time you could also double check by running a couple of free on-demand scanners.

Malwarebytes

ESET Online Scanner

If nothing works there's always a repair install. But that's really a heavy handed approach for a relatively minor issue (kinda like using a low yield nuclear weapon to kill a fly.) But it would also fix those sfc /scannow errors.

Repair Install

If everything else on your computer is working OK, you might consider using a 3rd party search tool. Both of these are free.

Everything Search Engine

Copernic Desktop Search

Darrin take a look at this and see if it helps.
Windows Search - Turn On or Off

Hi just wanted to say thankyou for taking the time to help me out.. took me a while to try all the options but in the end i had to do the repair install which has worked a treat, not to mention the comp runs a little faster and i can now get to msconfig so all is well
thanks again
Darrin

Great news, Darrin! Glad to hear you got it sorted out. Thanks for posting back.

Darrin Happy Computing.