Windows 7: Slow searching with Windows 7? Make sure hidden folders aren't shown!

(This has only been tested so far with Windows 7 Professional x64, and I'm not completely sure why showing hidden folders causes a slow down. If any professionals could chime in, it'd be much appreciated.)

Context:
As an active computer administrator, I subconsciously tweak the operating system a lot to ensure top-end performance on my computers & my clients' computers. If I'm troubleshooting computer issues, I usually make it first priority to Show Hidden Folders so I can access AppData and other necessary folders, especially if I'm dealing with malware. Unbeknownst to me though, enabling this feature has been the exact reason why typing a simple request like "cmd" or "notepad" in the Start Menu search bar takes seconds instead of being instantaneous. I've spent multiple hours today tweaking with my services & deleting unnecessary files in my user folder to figure out the bottleneck to no avail until now.

As my persistent googling failed to reveal anything about this, I hope this will be of assistance.

To check if you've enabled "Show Hidden Folders", go to:
Start > Control Panel > Folder Options > View > Under "Hidden files and folders", check "Don't show hidden files, folders, or drives."