Indexing Problems

[bwatch]

I am having a problem with Windows 7 search when searching for emails:

1)When searching for an outlook email in the "instant search" bar in Outlook, the results are as expected (many results are displayed for the search term)

2) However, when searching from a search box using the exact same term as in #1 above, (eg/ when using "option F"), no results are displayed.

My understanding is that both of these search methods utilize the same index, application, etc...so this is perplexing.

In looking at Inexing Options, it appears to be completely indexed. I have tried to rebuild the index several times with the same results.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[James Colbert]

You don't really specify which search box, so here are some links you may find helpful:

This one discusses how searching from different 'boxes' produces different results:

Mastering Windows Search using Advanced Query Syntax

And here are some other useful links:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/129437-windows-search-configure-use.html

Become a Windows Search ninja with Advanced Query Syntax | Ed Bott

 

[bwatch]

Thanks for the links. The trouble I have is that when I do a search using "Windows Key + F (Windows Search), I do not get any email results regardless of where I do the search. (I can use Windows Key + F while in Outlook and still get no email results).


On the other hand, if I use the internal search bar that is part of Outlook 2007 (which is supposed to use the same index as Window Key + F ), the email results appear.

As mentioned, my index does include emails, so it is confusing why they are not being displayed in results when using the Windows Key + F.

 

[James Colbert]

Assuming that Oulook 2007 email extension is .eml, I would try using some of the filters mentioned in the links, i.e.:

type:.eml or kind:email

If you wish to find email from a particular person:

type:.eml author:bob jones

Give it a try.

 

[bwatch]

I did try that... It works great for the "instant search" internal to Outlook; however it does not work with the Window Key + F. Should work the same in both, so very confusing.

 

[James Colbert]

Is the file type selected in Indexing Options|Advanced|File Types tab?

 

[bwatch]

yes, it is

 

[James Colbert]

You could check to make sure that the directory in which the emails are kept are indeed indexed. If they are, my next step would be to rebuild the index to see if that makes a difference.

 

[bwatch]

They are definitely indexed. In fact, those directories are the only items in the index. Tried to rebuild several times, but the results are the same.

 

[James Colbert]

Is your system set to show Hidden files and protected OS system files?

If not (the tutorial at the link will show you how, if you don't already know), set them to show and try a search. If still no results, try rebuilding the index again in case the hidden .pst files aren't included in the index.

 

[bwatch]

Yes, hidden/system files are visible. The .pst files are included in the index (in fact, those are the only files that are in the index). I can confirm that the .pst files are in the index through the Indexing Options box and by the fact that they are shown in results from the internal Outlook Instant Search box (prior to indexing, results were not displayed in the Outlook Instant Search box either).

 

[James Colbert]

I'm stumped. Here's a link that may help:

Fixing Instant Search | MSOutlook.info

I'm not sure what you mean by .pst files being the only files in the index. Are you including C:\ in the index? If not, I would try including C:\ with all folders selected, including your user folder, Windows, etc.

If none of this helps, you might try deleting your .edb file, restarting and letting Windows rebuild everything from scratch. Here's a link outlining the procedure:

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/140745-indexing-failure-2.html#post1213488

Not sure if it will help or not, but worth a try.

Edit: Another thought...have you moved your user and/or program files to another location?

 

[bwatch]

I had tried rebuilding several times (including deleting the .edb file once), but didn't get better results. It seems that the problem is not with the index per se, since Outlook Instant Search finds all of the files (If the index were bad, Outlook Instant Search would not retrieve results).

It seems that the email items are contained in the index as they should be, and the problem lies with the the Windows Key + F pane not retrieving them for some reason.

 

[James Colbert]

What happens if you try searching from the start menu? Or from Windows Explorer?

 

[BisVal]

When You search e-mails in Outlook it connects to Your e-mail account in the net , in fact these e-mails are not in Your computer and that's why You can't find them through computer search engine.

 

[James Colbert]

When You search e-mails in Outlook it connects to Your e-mail account in the net , in fact these e-mails are not in Your computer and that's why You can't find them through computer search engine.

As far as I know (for Outlook 2007), they are kept here:

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

 

[bwatch]

When searching from start menu or explorer, the results are identical to searching using the Windows Key + F pane (no results from emails).

 

[James Colbert]

Two more thoughts:

1) Have you tried the filter usage previously mentioned at the start menu search box or Windows explorer search box (type.pst or kind:email)?


2) This one will involve a bit of work. Assuming that Outlook will allow you to re-locate your message store, have you tried re-locating it to another partition, then adding that partition to the index? Bring the mountain to mohammed, so to speak.

 

[bwatch]

Tried kind:email. In the Outlook pane, it returns the right results. On the other hand, in the Explorer Search Pane, it finds only a few "loose" emails that are not contained in pst files, but none that are contained in the .pst files.

Tried moving the pst files to a folder directly off of c: and added this location to the index. This caused re-indexing of all of the emails in the pst files, but after re-indexing, the search results are the same (Outlook search pane works, but Win + F and Explorer search do not)

 

[James Colbert]

Doubtful, since you state that the mail store is on your HD, but worth asking...by any chance, are you using Microsoft Exchange Server? If so, Outlook will store your emails on the server rather than local HD.

If not:

Although I use Win Search extensively, I have found (for whatever reason) that a winkey +F search does not work well here (for this reason, I never use winkey+F searches). For instance, if I search in a winkey+F window for type:.eml (I keep my emails on my D: partition), it only returns 19 items!

However, if I open Windows Explorer, click on the D:\ partition and then type type:.eml in the search box (ctrl +E), it returns 9,863 items! This also (mostly) works for me even when clicking on Computer. It should be the same as winkey+F, but it's not (here).

Needless to say, I generally use the search in WE (or Start Menu for windows utilities and user files).

Win 7 Search seems to produce inconsistent results for different people. In fact, if you search these forums for the term "windows search", you're likely to find many of my posts stating that it just doesn't work. I spent time researching and learning how to configure Search in a way that works for me and how to efficiently employ filters.

I think part of my Search problem was that I have so many partitions on my machines (my main machine has 14!). Against Microsoft's advice (and others here), I decided to index all my partitions and all available locations in Indexing Options. It really doesn't take up any resources that I notice. And the results were exactly what I had hoped for. Search now works great here (excepting the never-used winkey+F search)!

There are others here who believe that Search is hopelessly useless and have moved on to 3rd party search utilities such as the free Everything. For my part, I'm very happy that I took the time to figure out how it could work for me and that it did work for me (whereas it may not for you or others). I like the shell integrated search.

This has worked out quite well for me.

Try using the WE search box, clicking on the partition. Make sure it's configured in a way (and employ filters) that will produce the most results for you (you may have already...). If, in the end, you cannot get the results you need, you may want to install a 3rd party tool like Everything. It's a small utility that doesn't use any resources and is fast (filename and file type searches only).

I'll be interested to hear if the above methods makes any difference.

To summarize, try searching from the WE search box, having clicked on the partition on which the files are located. Also try indexing all of your partitions (it could take a few hours). Are the results what you expect?