Solved Slow Search in Windows 7

uidl7526

New member
Local time
3:52 AM
Messages
25
Hi guys,

My company is just rolling out Windows 7 and we get claims from the users that the search process in Windows 7 is much slower than in Windows XP.

Users cannot add additional locations to the Search Index because we have disabled this through group policies.
The D:\ drive for example is not indexed, but why is searching taking 3x longer on Windows 7 than Windows XP?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP 8560p
OS
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
CPU
Intel Core i5 2520M @2,5 GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon HD 6470M
Sound Card
IDT High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
17"
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
320 GB
I can only guess, but two probable reasons:

  1. The large size of the C:\Windows\winsxs folder is causing searches to take longer than in XP, which would (on average) have a considerably lower count of files and folders on the C: drive.
  2. Since the Windows 7 systems are newly installed, it takes a few days for everything to be completely indexed until search can take full advantage of said indexing.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom-built
OS
Windows 7 Professional SP1 32-bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz
Motherboard
Asus PL5D2
Memory
4GB DDR2-667 (4x1GB in dual-channel config)
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce 9800 GT
Sound Card
Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer P236H
Screen Resolution
1920x1200 (DVI)
Hard Drives
OCZ SSD Vertex Plus 60GB SATA (Firmware 3.55), 64MB cache
Hitachi HD321KJ SATA, 320GB, 7200rpm, 16MB cache
PSU
Antec TruePower 2.0
Case
Cooler Master Centurion
Cooling
Too many fans
Keyboard
Standard
Mouse
Microsoft wireless optical mouse
Internet Speed
AT&T U-verse (18mbit/sec)
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials
Browser
Firefox
Other Info
Other devices:
Compaq CQ-60 laptop
Google Nexus 7 (2012) tablet
Nvidia SHIELD tablet (US/LTE)
Hardkernel ODROID-XU single-board computer (Samsung Exynos 5420)
My C:\Windows\winsxs folder is 7,80 GB in size.
My Windows Client is installed for 1 month already. The index should already be created. But searching in unindexed locations still takes very long.

PS: our C:\ drive is not fully indexed. Only these locations are included in the index:
- Internet Explorer History
- Offline Files
- Start Menu
- Users
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP 8560p
OS
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
CPU
Intel Core i5 2520M @2,5 GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon HD 6470M
Sound Card
IDT High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
17"
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
320 GB
Gentlemen, did Windows XP search automatically inside documents?
Because Windows 7 seems to do so.
Might that be the reason why searching is so slow?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP 8560p
OS
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
CPU
Intel Core i5 2520M @2,5 GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon HD 6470M
Sound Card
IDT High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
17"
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
320 GB
Hi guys, we didn't find any solution for this, so we included the location to the index :(
So, I will mark this thread as solved (by workaround).

Merry Christmas !
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP 8560p
OS
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
CPU
Intel Core i5 2520M @2,5 GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon HD 6470M
Sound Card
IDT High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
17"
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
320 GB
I use a third party utility and disable Windows own search and indexing.

By comparison search results are literally always instant...

Everything Search Engine
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom built machine
OS
W7 x64
CPU
Intel Q9300 2.5Ghz Quad LGA775 (Would like Q9650)
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3R (F6 Bios)
Memory
4Gb OCZ Gold 1,333Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
Palit HD4850 O/C Sonic 512Mb DDR3, Dual DViD's
Sound Card
Azalia to twin Samson 50w Studio Monitors
Monitor(s) Displays
Twin Dell (E-IPS) U2311H 23.6" Screens
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz
Hard Drives
Crucial M4 SSD, archives on twin Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX, 2TB, 7200rpm HDD's, Samsung Ritemaster CD/DVD Burner...
PSU
OCZ 600w
Case
Lian-Li PC8 acoustifoamed' aluminium tower
Cooling
Scythe 140mm Zipang
Keyboard
Cherry PS/2 custom model
Mouse
Lenovo USB laser "Thinkpad" Mouse
Internet Speed
ADSL2+ @14Mbps downstream & Cat6 Gigabit Ethernet
Antivirus
NOD32
Browser
Opera
Other Info
Silicon Dust HD Homerun Dual FTA (Ethernet) TV Tuners, Dray Tek Vigor 2850Vn router and 8x HP Gigabit Switch. Lian-Li CR26 Card Reader, Canon MF4430 iSensys laser printer/scanner.
Back
Top