Start Menu Search

[Wasila]

Hi,

I have a slight problem. I have noticed that a couple of files still appear in my Start menu search even after they've been deleted (trying to open them leads me to an error message). I deleted and rebuilt my indexing database and the problem has gone in regular search (Windows Explorer) but the files still appear in the Start menu. Help?

Thanks,
Wasila

 

[WalkerA WinTeam]

Hi Wasila,

You could try this tool: Start Menu Cleaner

Let me know if it helps at all.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team

 

[Wasila]

It wants me to delete a raft of stuff I need and it doesn't find what I'm looking for. Doesn't look like it's compatible with 7; it looks designed for XP.

Just to confirm, I'm talking about searching via the Start menu, not shortcuts on the menu itself.

 

[WalkerA WinTeam]

That's weird, it says Windows 7 compatible on their site... huh. And sorry I misread your post! Guess you need a different tool after all. I'll see if I can find anything.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team

 

[CommonTater]

That's weird, it says Windows 7 compatible on their site... huh. And sorry I misread your post! Guess you need a different tool after all. I'll see if I can find anything.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team

On a great many "freeware" sites, "Windows 7 Compatible" translates to... "Does not set the computer on fire"... Really... any fool can claim that on the web. Doesn't make it so.

 

[Wasila]

On a great many "freeware" sites, "Windows 7 Compatible" translates to... "Does not set the computer on fire"... Really... any fool can claim that on the web. Doesn't make it so.

Very true.

As for my problem, I discovered something very interesting. I right-clicked on the file and hit 'Open File Location'. It took me to Users/*username*/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Recent Items. Deleting it from there seemed to solve the problem. There are a number of other shortcuts here which are remnants of deleted files.

The question is, will these files automatically go after a set time? If not, is there any way of automatically getting rid of deleted files? And what exactly is this folder for?

Thanks,
Wasila

 

[Wasila]

So am I just going to have to manually and regularly clear the folder out?

Thanks,
Wasila

 

[HammerHead]

Recent Items

Is there a chance that CC cleaner would clean those references out?

 

[not so gray matter]

Are you talking about a Start Menu search or just the start menu itself? You can delete files from the start menu. As far as the search goes, if you read up on the way search works you might find a solution.

How to improve Instant Search

 

[Wasila]

notsograymatter, I was talking about a search. Sorry, that link wasn't very helpful.

HamerHead, CCleaner did clear it out but now all my recent items are gone - I was hoping for a solution that when a file is deleted it comes out of Recent Items as well.

How does the Recent Items folder work? Is there a limit for the number of files are do things stay there for a specific time period?

 

[WalkerA WinTeam]

HamerHead, CCleaner did clear it out but now all my recent items are gone - I was hoping for a solution that when a file is deleted it comes out of Recent Items as well.

Doesn't that mean it worked? Your Recent Items will start to rebuild quickly with normal computer use, but the unwanted items won't come back.

Walker
Windows Outreach Team

 

[acooldozen]

. It took me to Users/*username*/AppData/Roaming/

These are hidden files.......see,

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2013-recent-items-turn-off.html

 

[Wasila]

Doesn't that mean it worked? Your Recent Items will start to rebuild quickly with normal computer use, but the unwanted items won't come back.

Yes, but I don't want to have to do this every time (and it clears my Recent Items). I'm asking if there's any way to automatically delete just the broken shortcusts as they're broken.

Also how do Recent Items work? When are older, unused files deleted? Is it after a time limit or after a particular number of files is reached?

 

[WalkerA WinTeam]

I'm not sure if there's a way to automatically delete the broken shortcuts, but what do you mean by "every time" - do you find more and more broken shortcuts are popping up all the time? If so then I think that's the bigger issue here.

As for Recent Items, I'm not entirely sure what the mechanism is. Maybe one of the more development-oriented folks here can chime in.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team

 

[Wasila]

I have not yet seen any more broken shortcuts in my searches, however I would assume since that one wasn't deleted from Recent Items when the file was deleted, the same would happen with other files.