boots up then freezes when "Windows Search" is checked in "Services"

[RCinSTP]

boots up then freezes when "Windows Search" is checked in "Services"

Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit, boots up and runs fine as long as "Windows Search" is NOT checked in "Services".

When I run msconfig in the Services Tab, that is the Windows Search checkbox that I'm talking about.

If the box is checked, computer will start up, allow me to click on my user icon and load everything as if it's ready to go. The cursor moves with the mouse but does not respond to mouse clicks, also the computer does not response to the keyboard. If I click the start button, I get the spinning round wait icon (or whatever that is called). It also runs fine in Safe Mode.
I tried sfc.exe /scannow I have all the latest windows updates. I have run several different anti-virus, anti-malware programs. I ran chkdsk. Do I need Windows Search checked in Services? What does Window Search do? Is that where you can search from the Start Button area?

 

[paul1149]

Which flag did you use with chkdsk - /F ?? My first guess is that Search is trying to index and snagging on something - either a file system problem or bad disk sectors. The /F flag deals with the filesystem. If you haven't tried /R, for sectors, do so, but only after backing up important data, and perhaps taking a system image if the system's current state is valuable to you. I prefer to run chkdsk from a WinPE/RE boot disk so I can study its output at leisure.

 

[RCinSTP]

Regarding chkdsk, I should have specified, I right-clicked the C: drive icon in Windows Explorer, then selected the Tools tab, then clicked Check now, then checked the boxes for: Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

I am not familiar with WinPE/RE boot disk but I can look into that. Is there a specific way I should run it?

 

[paul1149]

Then you've already run /R, which is the second checkbox. Did chkdsk take a long time, or report bad sectors? MS in its wisdom only gives you about .5s to see the output of boot time chkdsk, which is why I like WinPE.

At this point I'd be interested in the health of the drive. You could fire up HDScan, Defraggler, or some other disk utility and see what the SMART report says, particularly #5, reallocated sectors, but also ##196-199. Then you could run Seatools for Windows and do a Long Generic Test of the drive. That would eliminate the hardware aspect (or not).

Beside that, the only thing I can think of is Service or file permissions got out of whack somehow. But I would look to the hardware first.

 

[RCinSTP]

Thanks, I will run some hard drive diagnostics and report back.

 

[RCinSTP]

I found the instructions below: "turn Windows features on or off in Windows 7.
Click Start | Control Panel and select Programs And Features. In the left pane, click Turn Windows Features On Or Off. Simply select or deselect the check boxes to enable or disable the various Windows features then click OK."

And, I did that and noticed that Windows Search was running, so I think that may not have been the problem (but I'm not sure). I ran Seagate Tools for Windows and it detected that the hard drive had problems that it could not fix and recommended running Seagate Tools for DOS. I download the .iso file from Seagate, burned a DVD, booted the PC from the Seagate Tools for DOS boot DVD and now it's running a full scan of the hard drive. I will post back with the results (it will take awhile to run).

 

[NoelDP]

You can see the results of Chkdsk in the Event Logs.

 

[paul1149]

Presence at Turn Windows Features On Or Off doesn't mean the entity is currently running, only that it's available to the system.

 

[RCinSTP]

paul1149, thank you, I assumed that it was running when I saw it listed in Windows Features.

After the hard drive test is finished I will check the box again in the msconfig services list and see if Windows freezes.

 

[paul1149]

Yeah, MS's "Turn off/on" terminology there is not the best. Also, use one of the other utilities (GSmart is another good one) to get the SMART attribute count after SeaTools is done. Those unfixable errors may well be at the root of the problem, especially if they fall at a critical area.