Windows 7 Search Function Completely Gone

[Banksy]

Well today, when i tried to search for something, I noticed my search bar was gone from my start menu.

So I went to google, searching for an answer, and...

No go.

I looked in my "Windows Features", and it is completely gone. Is there any way to help, without doing a system restore, or re-installing?

 

[Mike Connor]

What do you mean "It's completely gone" ? It's not showing in features?

Like this;



Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Banksy]

Sorry for the late reply, I had to go eat. Anyways, yes it is missing from that list.

 

[Mike Connor]

Just to clarify, you get that list but "Windows Search" is not on it?

Can you post a screenshot? I have seen the whole list go missing, where just a blank window appears, but not a single item from the list missing. That is rather odd.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Banksy]

Yes, that is correct.

 

[Banksy]

I also am missing SearchIndex.exe, and all DLL's and MUI's that are used by SearchIndex, from System32.

 

[Banksy]

Just to clarify, you get that list but "Windows Search" is not on it?

Can you post a screenshot? I have seen the whole list go missing, where just a blank window appears, but not a single item from the list missing. That is rather odd.

Regards....Mike Connor

Can you please help me? I really don't want to reinstall.

 

[Mike Connor]

Something very fishy is going on there.

First of all, run a Malware scan. Get this,

Malwarebytes

the free version. Download it and run it.

Tell us what it says.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Hopalong X]

Uncheck what I circled in your Snip post. Indexing Service
That is for something totally different.

That has to be unchecked @ Brink and his tutorials.
I even asked Brink directly about checking that box or not last week and it was not to be checked.
Post #19, 20 and 21.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5023-windows-features-turn-off-3.html#post1311524

It should go back to normal or you may need to restart your PC.

The Search Index may have to rebuild before it is useful.

Look at Mike Connors- unchecked. So is mine.
Snip of my list on right below.

 

[Mike Connor]

That's interesting, which tutorial is that?

Am I understanding you correctly, if one checks the "Indexing Service" box, "Windows Search" disappears?

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Hopalong X]

It turns on an old XP style but I'm not sure exactly what.

It evidently turns off normal Win 7 Search.

Post #19, 20 and 21.
Windows Features - Turn On or Off

It gives backwards compatability to XP networked systems.

@ Brink
Hello Mike,

The Indexing Service in Windows Features is not for the same Index that is used in Windows 7. Instead it's for backwards compatibility. Here's some more information on it:

The Indexing Service (Cisvc.exe) used in previous Windows platforms is still available in Windows 7 and Windows Vista as an optional feature that administrators can turn on in Windows Features if needed.

The main reason enterprises might need to enable the previous Indexing Service would be for application compatibility reasons. For example, if enterprises develop applications that depend on Cisvc.exe, they can enable this service to support those applications. The Microsoft Office Visio shape-finding process also uses Cisvc.exe to index shapes. Therefore, if you need to search for shapes quickly in Office or Office Visio on some computers, you can enable Cisvc.exe on those computers.

Note Microsoft does not recommend running the older Indexing Service on computers running Windows 7 unless you have a compelling need to do so. The Indexing Service will likely be removed in a future version of Windows.

 

[Mike Connor]

OK. If that's the case maybe that will fix his problem. I have used the indexing service on a server, but not on any of my other machines, I have never noticed that.

This is what the indexing service is for;

How to install and configure the Indexing Service on a Windows Server 2008-based computer

and how to administer it;

Chapter 9 - Administering the Indexing Service

Anyway, if that does not solve the problem then "Banksy" can try this;

Fix Windows Search when it crashes or is not showing results

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Hopalong X]

Server may be different I'm just going with Brinks advice.
He needs to uncheck it.

Unchecking may not solve it but will allow for repair per your advice in the above post.

With it checked Win 7 Search can't work evidently.

No expert but I remembered my conversation with Brink last week.

mike

 

[Mike Connor]

Server may be different I'm just going with Brinks advice.
He needs to uncheck it.

Unchecking may not solve it but will allow for repair per your advice in the above post.

With it checked Win 7 Search can't work evidently.

No expert but I remembered my conversation with Brink last week.

mike

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that using it affected windows search. I don't think many people would use it anyway.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Hopalong X]

Your welcome.
It was news for me last week.

Now if we can get a response from Banksy on how things are going.

 

[Banksy]

Alright, it's not malware, and unchecking it didn't fix it.

@Mike, I tried that, and it told me to install Windows Search 4.0. There were only versions for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 & 2008, and Vista, because Windows 7 has it already installed.

I google'd this for 2 straight hours and can't seem to find anything to fix this

 

[fafhrd]

Try Right-clicking the start button, properties, start menu, customise, and "search other files and libraries" - is "Don't search" checked? - check one of the other options

Is "search programs and control panel" checked? -check it

Try clicking "use default settings"

You may need to reboot before any changes take place.

There is also the Group Policy Editor

You will need to start gpedit.msc - from control panel, Local Group Policy Editor, User configuration, Administrative templates, Start menu and taskbar. Remove Search link from Start Menu and if enabled, disable it.

There are further search-related settings lower down the list:

Do not search... (4 entries)
Remove search Computer link
Remove see more results/search everywhere link

A great alternative to Windows Search for files and folders is "SearchMyFiles"

 

[Mike Connor]

Alright, it's not malware, and unchecking it didn't fix it.

@Mike, I tried that, and it told me to install Windows Search 4.0. There were only versions for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 & 2008, and Vista, because Windows 7 has it already installed.

I google'd this for 2 straight hours and can't seem to find anything to fix this

Well, sorry, but I don't know anything else to do about it except re-install.

I have no idea at all how it has disappeared, and so I also have no idea how to get it back. I have not seen this before, and not heard of any "fixes".

You can try this;

Get Back Missing Search Option In Windows | Downloads | Technize - Be Techdated

But I don't really think it will help, as it is basically to get the search option back, not to get the feature itself back.

I don't know how one can "lose" one single feature.

Sorry, but you have me stumped on that one. If your machine is otherwise running OK, then you could simply ignore it and use an alternative as posted above, but something must have caused it to disappear, and such "somethings" invariably come back to bite you unless you eradicate them.

Personally, I would go for a reinstall on this one.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Hopalong X]

@Mike, I tried that, and it told me to install Windows Search 4.0. There were only versions for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 & 2008, and Vista, because Windows 7 has it already installed.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/25343-windows-search-turn-off.html

Turning off Windows Search removes it from Windows 7, but doesn't reduce the amount of hard disk space used by Windows 7. Windows Search will remain stored on your hard disk, so you can turn it back on if you want to.

 

[Mike Connor]

@Mike, I tried that, and it told me to install Windows Search 4.0. There were only versions for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 & 2008, and Vista, because Windows 7 has it already installed.

Well according to this it is deleted.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/25343-windows-search-turn-off.html

Turning off Windows Search removes it from Windows 7, but doesn't reduce the amount of hard disk space used by Windows 7. Windows Search will remain stored on your hard disk, so you can turn it back on if you want to.

That is why it requested to install Windows Search 4.0

No, that doesn't delete the feature. It just stops it running on the system. You can turn search on or off just by ticking or unticking the box in the feature list.

The only thing that occurs to me is that downloading "Windows Search" has somehow deleted the feature option. I'm not going to try it in order to find out though!

Regards....Mike Connor