Search Indexing

[ahstanford]

I have disabled Search Indexing under folder options in control panel but I still have a process called "SearchIndexer.exe" using a decent amount of resources - what should I do?

 

[pezzonovante]

Why someone in his right mind would want to disable search indexing is beyond me. Do you understand you are trying to disable the single most useful feature of Windows 7?

 

[CommonTater]

I have disabled Search Indexing under folder options in control panel but I still have a process called "SearchIndexer.exe" using a decent amount of resources - what should I do?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2495-services-start-disable.html

Control Panel -> Adminstrative tools -> Services -> Windows Search

Double click ... set to disabled... reboot.

 

[CommonTater]

Why someone in his right mind would want to disable search indexing is beyond me. Do you understand you are trying to disable the single most useful feature of Windows 7?

1) Because it thrashes hell out of the hard disk
2) Because it's a pointless waste of system resources
3) Because it's not a significant improvement in performance

Really... if you have a well organized fileing system and don't try to run your computer entirely by searching for stuff... it mostly gets in the way. Windows 2000, XP and Win7 have all included file indexing systems that are supposed to make searching a lot easier... I don't think I've used the in-machine file search tools in any of them more than a hadfull of times in over a decade.

 

[pezzonovante]

Why someone in his right mind would want to disable search indexing is beyond me. Do you understand you are trying to disable the single most useful feature of Windows 7?

1) Because it thrashes hell out of the hard disk
2) Because it's a pointless waste of system resources
3) Because it's not a significant improvement in performance

Really... if you have a well organized fileing system and don't try to run your computer entirely by searching for stuff... it mostly gets in the way.

I have used search indexing for a long time and have never had any noticeable difference in performance.

And searching from the start menu makes it infinitely easier to do everything. I no longer have to remember file names and locations. All I need to do is to type anything at all that I remember about a particular document/music/video/program and within a fraction of a second the result appears. This is incredibly productive.

Using the Control Panel also becomes a pure delight with the Search feature. I think you have never used the search feature, that's why you don't understand its value.

 

[CommonTater]

I have used search indexing for a long time and have never had any noticeable difference in performance.

And searching from the start menu makes it infinitely easier to do everything. I no longer have to remember file names and locations. All I need to do is to type anything at all that I remember about a particular document/music/video/program and within a fraction of a second the result appears. This is incredibly productive.

Using the Control Panel also becomes a pure delight with the Search feature. I think you have never used the search feature, that's why you don't understand its value.

Disabling the service does NOT disable the search bars in the start menu or Windows Explorer.... It only disables the indexing service itself.

 

[bigtony]

I personally don't search for stuff much. i have all my stuff neatly organized where I want it and keep all important files on my attached external 1tb hard drive.

 

[CommonTater]

I personally don't search for stuff much. i have all my stuff neatly organized where I want it and keep all important files on my attached external 1tb hard drive.

So... no harm disabling the Windows Search Service.

If this solves your problem, you should click the red triangle in the top right of the message and let the Admins know it's fixed.

 

[pezzonovante]

I have used search indexing for a long time and have never had any noticeable difference in performance.

And searching from the start menu makes it infinitely easier to do everything. I no longer have to remember file names and locations. All I need to do is to type anything at all that I remember about a particular document/music/video/program and within a fraction of a second the result appears. This is incredibly productive.

Using the Control Panel also becomes a pure delight with the Search feature. I think you have never used the search feature, that's why you don't understand its value.

Disabling the service does NOT disable the search bars in the start menu or Windows Explorer.... It only disables the indexing service itself.

But disabling the index means you can no longer search for file contents within a fraction of a second, doesn't it? This will make the whole system far less useful, because then you have to remember file names which is impossible.

 

[Brink]

Hello Pezzonvante,

Searching is the same with indexing turned off except that Windows 7 will search through the entire drive instead of just through the index locations. This may take a tiny bit longer, but you will always have accurate and up to date search results since you do not have to wait for the index to update itself from any changes (ex: deleted file) made.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/36098-search-options-change-restore.html

 

[pezzonovante]

Hello Pezzonvante,

Searching is the same with indexing turned off except that Windows 7 will search through the entire drive instead of just through the index locations. This may take a tiny bit longer, but you will always have accurate and up to date search results since you do not have to wait for the index to update itself from any changes (ex: deleted file) made.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/36098-search-options-change-restore.html

But if it is going to search file contents in non-indexed locations, surely it will take much longer to view the results. That will kill productivity. At the moment, I use Start Menu Search instead of Windows Explorer to open documents and music. Even before I finish typing what I'm looking for, the results start appearing. Are you saying the same thing can be achieved with Search Indexing turned off?

 

[Brink]

Yes.

As I posted above though, it may take a tiny bit longer for the search results, but they will always be accurate. It's a slight trade off of performance for accuracy.

The only downside to disabling the index is that you will no longer be able to search in a library window itself.

 

[pezzonovante]

Yes.

As I posted above though, it may take a tiny bit longer for the search results, but they will always be accurate. It's a slight trade off of performance for accuracy.

The only downside to disabling the index is that you will no longer be able to search in a library window itself.

What do you mean by "tiny bit longer"? Will it be as slow as it took XP when I used to search for file contents? Anyway, the Indexing Service has never affected my system performance. So, I have no problems turning it on.

 

[CommonTater]

Yes.

As I posted above though, it may take a tiny bit longer for the search results, but they will always be accurate. It's a slight trade off of performance for accuracy.

The only downside to disabling the index is that you will no longer be able to search in a library window itself.

What do you mean by "tiny bit longer"? Will it be as slow as it took XP when I used to search for file contents? Anyway, the Indexing Service has never affected my system performance. So, I have no problems turning it on.

Gees man... if you don't want to turn the thing off then don't!

The OP was asking how to turn it off and I saw no harm in answering his question.

 

[pezzonovante]

Yes.

As I posted above though, it may take a tiny bit longer for the search results, but they will always be accurate. It's a slight trade off of performance for accuracy.

The only downside to disabling the index is that you will no longer be able to search in a library window itself.

What do you mean by "tiny bit longer"? Will it be as slow as it took XP when I used to search for file contents? Anyway, the Indexing Service has never affected my system performance. So, I have no problems turning it on.

Gees man... if you don't want to turn the thing off then don't!

The OP was asking how to turn it off and I saw no harm in answering his question.

I just wanted to make the point that the Indexing Service doesn't really affect performance. So, it's not necessary to turn off this useful feature. It's similar to the myth regarding Page Files.

 

[Brink]

Yes.

As I posted above though, it may take a tiny bit longer for the search results, but they will always be accurate. It's a slight trade off of performance for accuracy.

The only downside to disabling the index is that you will no longer be able to search in a library window itself.

What do you mean by "tiny bit longer"? Will it be as slow as it took XP when I used to search for file contents? Anyway, the Indexing Service has never affected my system performance. So, I have no problems turning it on.

It's up to you if you want to turn index on or off. I'm just simply stating the alternative option with the drawbacks of performance vs accuracy. No myth. For me, it doesn't take long to do a nonindex search for search results, but I'm sure that it will vary per system and how much is saved on the HDD.

Now, let's get back to helping the OP and his question shall we.

 

[nimd4]

4 Windows 7, there's 2 ways about it..

• Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off > Indexing Service
• Indexer Sidebar Gadget @
  

  brandontools.com/content/IndexerStatusGadget.aspx

  gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=45c441a6-edbc-454d-9262-d264728d6a3a

P.S.
Also the actual search locations can be configured + offline files excluded & disabled, etc., etc.

 

[ISOHaven]

I wanted to add my 2 cents in here. Windows Search Indexing is easily the most worthless feature in both Vista and Win7.

1. I can search for a file that I know for FACT is in a folder structure and the search results come back BLANK.

2. The performance hit is horrible. If you read and write tons of files mixed with just the right malware protection and you'll see a MASSIVE performance hit.

3. The indexing forces a veru narrow scope of search locations.

The first thing I always do with Vista and Win7 is turn that garbage off. Right off the bat the system is zippier, and now I can search and ACTUALLY FIND those files it never found before and with it off, it's ACTUALLY searching and not relying on the garbage index for results.

The best part about it. With it off I can instantly search the start menu and other files.

A good idea is to manager your own files and don't rely on Windows to enable you to be a total slob.

Another thing that's super helpful is to turn off using thumbs.db. Those are so annoing!!!! It would be a non issue if Windows didn't lock them!

 

[tanzanos]

I wanted to add my 2 cents in here. Windows Search Indexing is easily the most worthless feature in both Vista and Win7.

1. I can search for a file that I know for FACT is in a folder structure and the search results come back BLANK.

2. The performance hit is horrible. If you read and write tons of files mixed with just the right malware protection and you'll see a MASSIVE performance hit.

3. The indexing forces a veru narrow scope of search locations.

The first thing I always do with Vista and Win7 is turn that garbage off. Right off the bat the system is zippier, and now I can search and ACTUALLY FIND those files it never found before and with it off, it's ACTUALLY searching and not relying on the garbage index for results.

The best part about it. With it off I can instantly search the start menu and other files.

A good idea is to manager your own files and don't rely on Windows to enable you to be a total slob.

Another thing that's super helpful is to turn off using thumbs.db. Those are so annoing!!!! It would be a non issue if Windows didn't lock them!

I turned off my indexing and lo and behold my PC is now turbocharged and man is it FASSSSSTTTTT!

 

[CGA1]

Haven't used windows search indexer in ages, I've always found that third party tools do it way better. Now I'm using the Everything search engine which is blazing fast. Highly recommended if you don't need to search within files. As for typing in the start menu, it works pretty well without the indexer if you have a reasonably fast machine.