Start Menu Search

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Wasila

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Hi,

I have a slight problem. I have noticed that a couple of files still appear in my Start menu search even after they've been deleted (trying to open them leads me to an error message). I deleted and rebuilt my indexing database and the problem has gone in regular search (Windows Explorer) but the files still appear in the Start menu. Help?

Thanks,
Wasila
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Intel i56GB RAM512MB ATI Radeon
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion DV6
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel i5
Memory
6GB RAM
Graphics Card(s)
512MB ATI Radeon
Hard Drives
500 GB HDD
External 500 GB HDD
Hi Wasila,

You could try this tool: Start Menu Cleaner

Let me know if it helps at all.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows X...AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Qu...4.00 GB *** 4.00 GBATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4...
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion dm3 (netbook) *** 27" iMac (Dual-Boot)
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows XP SP3 (32-bit), OSX 10.6
CPU
AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Quad Core 2.8GHz
Memory
4.00 GB *** 4.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4850, 1GB
Sound Card
ATI High Definition Audio *** ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG Flatron W2053TX
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900 (monitor), 1266 x 768 (laptop) *** 2560 x 1440
Hard Drives
300 GB SATA (internal), 500 GB HP SimpleSave (external) *** 1 TB SATA (internal), 160 GB LaCie (external)
Mouse
Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse for Notebooks
Internet Speed
Broadband
It wants me to delete a raft of stuff I need and it doesn't find what I'm looking for. Doesn't look like it's compatible with 7; it looks designed for XP.

Just to confirm, I'm talking about searching via the Start menu, not shortcuts on the menu itself.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Intel i56GB RAM512MB ATI Radeon
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion DV6
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel i5
Memory
6GB RAM
Graphics Card(s)
512MB ATI Radeon
Hard Drives
500 GB HDD
External 500 GB HDD
That's weird, it says Windows 7 compatible on their site... huh. And sorry I misread your post! Guess you need a different tool after all. I'll see if I can find anything.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows X...AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Qu...4.00 GB *** 4.00 GBATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4...
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion dm3 (netbook) *** 27" iMac (Dual-Boot)
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows XP SP3 (32-bit), OSX 10.6
CPU
AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Quad Core 2.8GHz
Memory
4.00 GB *** 4.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4850, 1GB
Sound Card
ATI High Definition Audio *** ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG Flatron W2053TX
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900 (monitor), 1266 x 768 (laptop) *** 2560 x 1440
Hard Drives
300 GB SATA (internal), 500 GB HP SimpleSave (external) *** 1 TB SATA (internal), 160 GB LaCie (external)
Mouse
Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse for Notebooks
Internet Speed
Broadband
WalkerA WinTeam said:
That's weird, it says Windows 7 compatible on their site... huh. And sorry I misread your post! Guess you need a different tool after all. I'll see if I can find anything.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team
Click to expand...

On a great many "freeware" sites, "Windows 7 Compatible" translates to... "Does not set the computer on fire"... Really... any fool can claim that on the web. Doesn't make it so.
 

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XP Pro SP3 X86 / Win7 Pro X86Amd 64 x2 4200 (2.4ghz)Kingston DDR2 800 2gbNvidia GF-8400
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Homebrew
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XP Pro SP3 X86 / Win7 Pro X86
CPU
Amd 64 x2 4200 (2.4ghz)
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Asus M2N-MX SE Plus
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Kingston DDR2 800 2gb
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Nvidia GF-8400
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Realtek on Motherboard
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Acer x-193bw
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1440 x 900
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Western Digital 500g
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In-Win
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Air
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yes
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yes
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5mpbs
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Also ASRock ION 330 as HTPC (on XP).
Acer Aspire as GP netbook (on XP).
On a great many "freeware" sites, "Windows 7 Compatible" translates to... "Does not set the computer on fire"... Really... any fool can claim that on the web. Doesn't make it so.
Click to expand...

Very true.

As for my problem, I discovered something very interesting. I right-clicked on the file and hit 'Open File Location'. It took me to Users/*username*/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Recent Items. Deleting it from there seemed to solve the problem. There are a number of other shortcuts here which are remnants of deleted files.

The question is, will these files automatically go after a set time? If not, is there any way of automatically getting rid of deleted files? And what exactly is this folder for?

Thanks,
Wasila
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Intel i56GB RAM512MB ATI Radeon
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion DV6
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel i5
Memory
6GB RAM
Graphics Card(s)
512MB ATI Radeon
Hard Drives
500 GB HDD
External 500 GB HDD
So am I just going to have to manually and regularly clear the folder out?

Thanks,
Wasila
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Intel i56GB RAM512MB ATI Radeon
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion DV6
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel i5
Memory
6GB RAM
Graphics Card(s)
512MB ATI Radeon
Hard Drives
500 GB HDD
External 500 GB HDD
Recent Items

Is there a chance that CC cleaner would clean those references out?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

win 7 X64 Ultimate SP1I3770KG Skill F3-14900CL9-4GBXL x 4NVIDIA GeForce GTX670 + Intel 4000
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
BGC (Bob's Garage Crew)
OS
win 7 X64 Ultimate SP1
CPU
I3770K
Motherboard
Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe
Memory
G Skill F3-14900CL9-4GBXL x 4
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX670 + Intel 4000
Sound Card
Realtek HD 5.1 (MOB)
Monitor(s) Displays
Asus VW224T (1)
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
SATA Corsair Force GT 2.5" 180GB (System) Sata 3
OCZ Vertex3 120GB
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB 2.5" SATA II
ST31000524AS 1000.2GB
WD15EARS (External)
PSU
CoolerMaster 1000 Watt
Case
CoolerMaster HAF X
Cooling
CPU -- CoolerMaster 520N
Keyboard
MS Wireless 3000 V2
Mouse
MS Wireless 3000 V2
Internet Speed
Cable
Antivirus
Norton Internet Security
Browser
IE9
Other Info
AMI Bios 1805
OC'd 3%
Are you talking about a Start Menu search or just the start menu itself? You can delete files from the start menu. As far as the search goes, if you read up on the way search works you might find a solution.

How to improve Instant Search
 

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W7 Ult. x64 | OS XIntel Mobile Core 2 Duo 2.93Ghz [T9800 Penryn]4096MB Samsung DDR3 Dual Channel [PC3-8500F 1...NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB [G96M Rev. C1]
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Apple Macbook Pro (April 2009)
OS
W7 Ult. x64 | OS X
CPU
Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo 2.93Ghz [T9800 Penryn]
Motherboard
NVIDIA nForce 730i Rev. B1 [Mac-F2268EC8 (U2E1)]
Memory
4096MB Samsung DDR3 Dual Channel [PC3-8500F 1066Mhz]
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB [G96M Rev. C1]
Sound Card
SB X-Fi Surround 5.1 USB | Onboard Realtek (Disabled)
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer x223wbd 22" | Apple Anti-Glare 17" (Disabled)
Screen Resolution
{Current} 1440x900 {Acer} 1680x1050 {Apple} 1920x1200
Hard Drives
{Internal}
Seagate Momentus 320GB 2.5" 7200RPM [ST9320421AS]

{Externals}
LaCie 320GB USB 2.0 HDD [301284UR]
LaCie 750GB USB 2.0 FW400 eSATA HDD [301314U]
LaCie 1TB USB 2.0 HDD [301304UR]
PSU
Magsafe
Case
Aluminum/Unibody (MBP52)
Cooling
2 x 6000 RPM Fans
Keyboard
Logitech G-15v2 [PN 920-000379]
Mouse
Logitech G-9 [PN 910-000338]
Internet Speed
12Mbps/2.5Mbps w/ 24Mbps Speed Boost [Comcast]
Other Info
Logitech X-540 Speakers [PN 970223-0122]
Sennheiser PC-151 Headset
notsograymatter, I was talking about a search. Sorry, that link wasn't very helpful.

HamerHead, CCleaner did clear it out but now all my recent items are gone - I was hoping for a solution that when a file is deleted it comes out of Recent Items as well.

How does the Recent Items folder work? Is there a limit for the number of files are do things stay there for a specific time period?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Intel i56GB RAM512MB ATI Radeon
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion DV6
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel i5
Memory
6GB RAM
Graphics Card(s)
512MB ATI Radeon
Hard Drives
500 GB HDD
External 500 GB HDD
HamerHead, CCleaner did clear it out but now all my recent items are gone - I was hoping for a solution that when a file is deleted it comes out of Recent Items as well.
Click to expand...
Doesn't that mean it worked? Your Recent Items will start to rebuild quickly with normal computer use, but the unwanted items won't come back.

Walker
Windows Outreach Team
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows X...AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Qu...4.00 GB *** 4.00 GBATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4...
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion dm3 (netbook) *** 27" iMac (Dual-Boot)
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows XP SP3 (32-bit), OSX 10.6
CPU
AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Quad Core 2.8GHz
Memory
4.00 GB *** 4.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4850, 1GB
Sound Card
ATI High Definition Audio *** ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG Flatron W2053TX
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900 (monitor), 1266 x 768 (laptop) *** 2560 x 1440
Hard Drives
300 GB SATA (internal), 500 GB HP SimpleSave (external) *** 1 TB SATA (internal), 160 GB LaCie (external)
Mouse
Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse for Notebooks
Internet Speed
Broadband
Doesn't that mean it worked? Your Recent Items will start to rebuild quickly with normal computer use, but the unwanted items won't come back.

Yes, but I don't want to have to do this every time (and it clears my Recent Items). I'm asking if there's any way to automatically delete just the broken shortcusts as they're broken.

Also how do Recent Items work? When are older, unused files deleted? Is it after a time limit or after a particular number of files is reached?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Intel i56GB RAM512MB ATI Radeon
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion DV6
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel i5
Memory
6GB RAM
Graphics Card(s)
512MB ATI Radeon
Hard Drives
500 GB HDD
External 500 GB HDD
I'm not sure if there's a way to automatically delete the broken shortcuts, but what do you mean by "every time" - do you find more and more broken shortcuts are popping up all the time? If so then I think that's the bigger issue here.

As for Recent Items, I'm not entirely sure what the mechanism is. Maybe one of the more development-oriented folks here can chime in.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows X...AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Qu...4.00 GB *** 4.00 GBATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4...
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion dm3 (netbook) *** 27" iMac (Dual-Boot)
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) *** Windows XP SP3 (32-bit), OSX 10.6
CPU
AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz *** Intel Core i7 Quad Core 2.8GHz
Memory
4.00 GB *** 4.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 3200, 384MB *** ATI Radeon HD 4850, 1GB
Sound Card
ATI High Definition Audio *** ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG Flatron W2053TX
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900 (monitor), 1266 x 768 (laptop) *** 2560 x 1440
Hard Drives
300 GB SATA (internal), 500 GB HP SimpleSave (external) *** 1 TB SATA (internal), 160 GB LaCie (external)
Mouse
Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse for Notebooks
Internet Speed
Broadband
I have not yet seen any more broken shortcuts in my searches, however I would assume since that one wasn't deleted from Recent Items when the file was deleted, the same would happen with other files.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Intel i56GB RAM512MB ATI Radeon
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion DV6
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel i5
Memory
6GB RAM
Graphics Card(s)
512MB ATI Radeon
Hard Drives
500 GB HDD
External 500 GB HDD
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