Solved Search for environment variables return no results

[herman]

Hi all,

I am a new guy on this forum.
I have been using this forum as a resource for many years (going back to the XP and Vista days), there are tons of useful information here.
In all these years I never had a question for which I had to register and ask it to you guys.
Until now......

When I click the START button and type the name of an environment variable, e.g. %appdata%, there are no results displayed.
BUT when I just type %appdata% and hit RETURN the proper roaming folder is opened.
The same for %temp% and other environment variables.

It used to work on this machine, i.e. typing %appdata% showed the Roaming folder as a result.
It seems to me that the variables are still OK, they are just not displayed in the search window.

When I check the properties of the Roaming folder the Hidden flag is not set.

Any idea what can cause this?

Thanks for any pointers!

 

[andrew129260]

Welcome to seven forums

Problems with search can be usually fixed by rebuilding the index.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/17880-index-rebuild.html

I also suggest looking at these as well:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/17854-index-locations-add-remove.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18212-index-add-remove-file-types.html

 

[Ztruker]

I think it's a matter of substitution. Until %appdata% is substituted with it's definition, it's not going to be found. Pressing Enter tells the system to process the entry, it sees %appdata%, checks to see if it's a defined variable, substitutes the value C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming then passes it on. Search is not involved at that point, I think Explorer.exe is which is why the folder is opened.

 

[herman]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Rebuilding the search index did not help.
Search locations and file types are OK, I could compare these to my laptop (same OS, same file structure) and the settings are similar.
On my laptop the environment variables do show up in the search results, so the problem is apparently not in the settings.

 

[Ztruker]

It works the same way with XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

Just discoverd this:



After you type the variable name, with % at each end, click on See more results right above it. That works as you want I think.

 

[herman]

I wish it did ....

The image you show is what I used to get on my main PC (and what I still get on my laptop) when I just type %appdata%. The search produces results with every character you type and when the trailing % is typed it should show just the environment variable.
There should be no need to click "See more results".
Anyway, on my main PC the search results blank when I type the final %.
When I click "See more results" it returns a number of files which contain appdata in the body, but the Roaming folder is not returned.

 

[Ztruker]

Not returned for me either. I don't understand why it returns what it returns.

I never use the search in Win 8 or previously in win 7. I install Everything search and use that to find files or folders. It doesn't know anything about variables but is very good at finding files or folders.

 

[Slartybart]

You wouldn't have deleted your Libraries by any chance?

Regardless of the answer, try rebuilding the Libraries

Right click on Libraries on an Explorer navigation pane
Select..... Restore default Libraries.​

 

[Layback Bear]

I use this %appdata% and get roaming. Tick on it and I get all kinds of programs.

 

[Slartybart]

Is this only on the Start menu search or does it also behave that way if you type %appdata% in an Explorer search box?


Could you post a screen shot of the search properties
Explorer > Organize (upper left) > Folders and Search > Search tab

I think there's also a search properties tab on the taskbar, but I'm currently taking Win8 for a test drive and can't refresh my memory. If there is and it's different - please post both.

Bill
.

 

[Ztruker]

Here's is mine for Explorer (in Windows 7):



I don't see one for Task bar.

I just realized I was posting results before from my Win 8 system, not Win 7. Just tried entering %appdata% in Start of Win 7 and pressing Enter and C:\Users\myaccount\AppData\Roaming does open.

 

[Slartybart]

Thank you Ztruker

I thought there were search options on the taskbar property page, perhaps not a tab. I dunno, my eyes and memory seem to get worse by the minute.

@herman, we didn't forget about you.
Could you update this side of your monitor with what you have already tried?

rebuild the index - did not change the issue
review the index locations - seem ok

Libraries deleted???? Restored ????

Screen shot of Search properties ????

Ztuker's screen shot provides another option. You could do it in an Explorer window, but I suggest it be done in Control Panel (CPL).

Open Folder options in CPL,
go to the Search tab,
make note of the current settings (screen cap?)
and then hit Restore Defaults.

In another thread, after chasing all of the possible causes, I suggested a System File Checker (SFC) scan - there were errors, but not related to Search, when they were fixed so was search.

Please follow the instructions in
OPTION TWO of http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html
you can skip step 3: verifyonly. You should run the SCANNOW option

Attach the entire CBS.log to a post if errors are reported. Copy it to your desktop first - you might have to zip it, depending on the size.

Thanks

 

[herman]

Hi guys,

Thank you for all your suggestions.
I am really glad you are thinking with me! :grouphug:

To answer your questions:
I did not change anything to my libraries in the last half year or so.
I did a sfc.exe /scannow way before I hollered here for help, sorry, forgot to mention that....
Search options are exactly identical to the search options on my laptop.
Yet the search results for environment variables are different between the two machines.

Anyway, I have got it "fixed" over the weekend, although I still don't know what caused this.
To repair things I let Windows roll back to an earlier point in time using a system restore point.
Following that %appdata% in the start menu search functions again as it should.
Now if I only knew what happened under the hood......

Thanks again for all your help and suggestions.

 

[Slartybart]

.....
Anyway, I have got it "fixed" over the weekend, although I still don't know what caused this.
To repair things I let Windows roll back to an earlier point in time using a system restore point.
Following that %appdata% in the start menu search functions again as it should.
Now if I only knew what happened under the hood......

Thanks again for all your help and suggestions.

Brilliant! I always forget a Restore Point roll back as an early solution. I need to correct that because it is by far the easiest.

Glad you thought of it and I'm glad it resolved the issue. Sometimes, I just take the solution found as a win and don't worry about the underlying cause.

If you get the chance, can you mark this thread as solved. That might make it faster for another member to resolve a similar issue on their machine.

Thanks,

Bill
.