Windows 7 - Indexing - if off, will start menu work the same?

i don't really care for indexing. i use a 3rd party file manager and a 3rd party file search utility, so i never use the start menu for searches.

right now, the only thing i have indexed is the start menu itself. if i turn off indexing completely, will the start menu still function as usual? meaning can i still hit the WIN key, type a few letters, and quickly launch any Windows or 3rd party installed app?

if so, then indexing service is going bye-bye

I don't believe it will work still, unless you've already allowed the indexer to run and it has that info on file, but if you remove it completely then any future programs or files will not be indexed and won't show up there.

I can't say 100%, but I'm almost certain that's the case. That new start search is a heck of a tool isn't it, saves tons of time and clicky's. You could test it rather easily also, just disable the indexing service, start a few new files and/or install a program or 2, and then try to find them from that search box and see.

Yes it does still work. I always disable search services upon a fresh install but search in start menu still works. You can disable the search in start menu if you go to programs and features in control panel and disable from there.

so search in the start menu is independent of indexing? i assumed that since one of the default sites followed by indexing is the start menu, that the two were related.

i guess i'll just try it out and see as Chappy suggests.

thanks!

Uninstall service and you will lose search box, disable in services, and search box will remain

Yes it must be independent because it has it's own ability to be disabled in the programs and features list in control panel. I disable search in services every time I do a fresh install because I have no need for the service as I keep track of where everything is on my computer.

@scaramonga you are correct because I disabled it in programs and features once thinking it was related to the search in services then when I went to start search it had gone. I figured out it is its own entity (after 20 mins of wondering).

Searching the All Programs list and Control Panels will not be affected by disabling the indexer. However, the start menu will not show results from your Libraries or locations like Outlook / OneNote / etc if you disable indexing.

It is recommended that you not disable indexing or any other service that the OS relies upon. Some of the effects of doing so are:

1) The Libraries feature of the Explorer will revert to a "basic mode" and lose most of the functionality that makes Libraries interesting.

2) Applications such as Outlook, OneNote, Internet Explorer, and others (including several third party apps) which make use of the indexer will have reduced functionality. Applications that access metadata via the shell such as Windows Media Player may have reduced performance (for adding files and folders to WMP's libraries).

3) When browsing or searching locations on your machine that would have been indexed, performance will be affected.

4) When searching remote locations on network shares which are indexed on the server side, your machine won't be able to remotely query those locations and will instead have to fallback to a slow grep search.

However, even if none of the above apply to you, I'm curious what you expect to gain by disabling the service.

Also I'm curious, which file browse / search tool(s) do you use?

I have the service disabled and haven't noticed any effect, either way.

Thanks for the detailed reply!

Hrmmm. I've been disabling services for years. Why use system resources if you don't need what the service supplies? It's like leaving the light in your basement on when you only go down there once a year. Just turn the light on when you need it!

I use Directory Opus, so this won't affect me. It has long had the ability to create virtual folders for collecting files from different locations. But I don't even use the feature...

I already got a pop-up in OneNote, but I have never used the search feature there. I don't use the app in a way that would require me to search. As for the rest, I use gmail, Firefox, MPC, foobar2000... I really don't use very many built-in Windows apps at all...

Again, Directory Opus...

I'm not on a network.

I simply don't want Windows indexing files on my drive, especially if I don't take advantage of that index. It consumes resources, runs my hard drive needlessly, and takes up space. I don't use Windows to search files, I don't use MRUs or Favorites, and I never have. I just keep my system organized and remember where I put things.

Indexing has a mind of its own, and I have yet to find a way to control it to my liking. I posted this thread because when I installed 7100, I removed everything but the Start Menu from the list of sites to index, but then I noticed a while later that Windows had decided to add several sites without asking. I don't like that.

Directory Opus as a file manager, and for searching, I usually use Everything. Yes, it indexes, but only what and when I tell it to. It works very fast, and the index file is under 1mb for my ~400gb of drive space.

I also use SearchMyFiles from NirSoft if I need more control.

But really, I typically remember where I put things. I only use search maybe twice a month...