Windows Search Index not working

[LevelBest]

I've recently found, through event viewer, that Search Index is not working. I can't switch it on in services, or re-build the index. I've tried fix it several times and it just tell me the service isn't switched on. I had a disc clean a week or so ago and deleted all but the most recent restore point, so that isn't an option.

The issue seems to have started on 14 June whereby the event view is saying that it has detected corrupted data files and will attempt to rectify the problem by re-building the index.

Event viewer then says it failed to read the registry.

What should the registry entries be?

LevelBest

 

[Anak]

I would not go mucking around with the registry until you have tried a few suggestions, first.

Your search index may only need to be reset, do you have any experience running troubleshooters?

• Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting and make sure the box at the bottom is checked, the one that says: Get the most up to date troubleshooters...

• Click on System and Security.

• Do you see Search and Indexing under Windows like I have?

Click on Search and Indexing to start it. When it opens click on the Blue Advanced Word near the bottom left corner. It will open, showing:


You can leave the Apply repairs automatically box checked, but if you want to learn uncheck it, then click on the blue Run as Administrator link and it will go back to the window that only has the Advanced link. Click on the Next button.

When the tool is finished running and you see:


Click on all check boxes to reset search and index and then click on Next to finish the reset.

When finished does the troubleshooter tell you the reset worked or did it fail, it could not be reset?
If it worked go to: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/17880-index-rebuild.html, but see Related below first.
If it failed take snips of and post any/all error messages and we will have to figure out how to fix it.

If you do not see the search and indexing troubleshooter like I show you can get it here: Fix Windows Desktop Search when it crashes or not showing results It should run close if not exactly as I have shown.


Related:
Those corrupt files you mentioned; It might be good thinking if you ran the a SFC scan even before you tried the troubleshooter 'cause you don't know if they were fixed or not, and if I had a successful reset I would run a SFC scan before I indexed my drive(s) just to be on the safe side or you could wind up back in the same boat as before the reset.

Heed the blue note box at the SFC tutorial about running the SFC scan at least three times or more with restarts in between.

See Note after Option Two step #4:

   Note

• If SFC could not fix something, then run the command again to see if it may be able to the next time. Sometimes it may take running the sfc /scannow command 3 or more times to completely fix everything that it's able to.

 

[LevelBest]

Hello Anak

Thank you for taking the time to help me.

I did run the troubleshooter several times however, it seems exactly the same as the MS fix it, which I also ran several times.

I have run sfc /scannow three times with re-boots inbetween each scan. Each time it reports no issues.

I've tried to run the troubleshooter in advanced mode, with the 'repair' box ticked, then unticked - all several times to no avail. I've tried to re-start the service in services.msc - no luck

I attach various screenshots of failure messages.

 

[Anak]

Hi LevelBest, you're welcome.

I see you are running a McAfee product, as a test can you shut it down and see if you can then index for search?

First make sure you're not on the internet then, go into the Real-Time scanning settings and turn it off and do the same with the Firewall, then see if you can run the indexer for search.

 

[LevelBest]

Hello Anak

I switched off McAfee firewall and scanning, disconnected from the net and tried to re-build the index, run the troubleshooter and switch on via services etc All the error messages are the same as the previous screenshots. I appear to be missing a file option tab on the index facility.

Event viewer is going round in circles saying it's successfully removed the old index and is trying to rebuild a new one.

LevelBest

 

[Anak]

I would like to go over a few easy suggestions before I bring out a big gun. :shock: We've all ready touched on some of these.

If search was running okay even with McAfee on, go ahead and turn McAfee back on; If McAfee was a recent addition or if it had a recent update leave off.

   Note

Please remember to start McAfee back up to go online, and shut off for testing, I wouldn't want you to go online without malware protection.

There are three settings I'd like you to double check:

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


Open Windows Explorer and;


Go to: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features and check:


If any of these three conditions weren't met, correct, and test Indexing.

If these conditions were met, study this tutorial: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/107982-clfs-transaction-logs-reset.html And run Method I without using the MS Fix it 50140
If Method I doesn't work then proceed to Method II, hold off on Method III.

 

[LevelBest]

Hello Anak

One of the boxes was unchecked in the programmes and features however, ticking the box hasn't made any difference.

I carried out the first instruction on run: fsutil resource setautoreset true c:\. I think it said it was re-set but again, still can't switch indexing on.

I was a little nervous about step 2 but tried it in safe mode. It's really difficult to see if those are spaces after the 'b' in attrib and the 'r' in (attrib -r -s -h *). I tried several different versions with and without spaces but at one point the screen just started listing at a very fast rate and I decided to stop as I wasn't confident. I did a system restore just to make sure I hadn't mucked up anything.

I tried to look back in event viewer to see if I could find when the first error messages started to occur.

Also, at the moment, I am nursing a much larger problem which I've been trying to solve since mid-April. I may be on the verge of solving it. If I can solve that, then I can live without indexing if it's not a simple fix.

I attach a screenshot. I am not sure if there are any further simple measures I could try. Pretty sure, we've tried them all.

Thank you for your help.

LevelBest

 

[Anak]

I believe those are spaces, but I know from past experience win7 will overlook them in some commands [CMD].

Yes the screen will zip by very fast and it can get scary especially if you have a lot of files in the CMD target, it's kid of a shame you didn't let it finish, doing the system restore was okay though.

If you want, go ahead and run the MS Fix it 50140 When you get there its the 20th down the list: Find and fix problems with Windows Search Clicking on the link will open a download dialog box, save it to your desktop, save and close any open work, then right click on it and run as administrator.
It kind of looks like the troubleshooter you ran earlier but maybe this one's better.

Were you able to find when this started?

Any hints on the "larger problem"? Is it computer related, like on this machine or is it of a personal matter? If personal, I understand.

In your first post, the registry screenshot, where did you find that key? It's not even close to mine.


Do you have a disk, you might want to think about doing a: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Do you use Outlook for email? Incomplete search results may occur in Outlook when a PDF iFilter is installed

 

[LevelBest]

Hello Anak

I may have another go in the future with running those commands. It's just a little disconcerting not knowing how to exactly enter the letters. On the third attempt at running the first one, I got a whole load of entries come up which indicates I entered the figures correctly. Should I expect a hit like that for each entry, otherwise I won't know if I've entered it correctly?

Could I use system restore if anything goes wrong? Would system restore, restore all the files?

I did try the fix it tool several times before reporting the problem here. It just keeps saying indexing isn't switched on (which we kinda already know!)

I don't use Outlook, I have LiveMail.

I've spent an hour trying to find the location of the registry shot I sent you and can't seem to find it again. I have however, found the entries the same as your screenshot. I notice that my 'setup completed successfully' is at
'0' whereas yours is at '1'. Would it be worth changing the value to '1' - or is the idea that it should populate itself after successfully recreating the index?

Yes, the problem I've been trying to solve since mid-April is a computer problem, a pretty massive one, and very complicated. I may (very big 'may') be on the brink of solving it but it's even earlier than 'early days' and I don't want to do too much more tinkering until I know for sure the first problem has been solved or not. Be re-assured if it is solved, I'll let you know.

I don't have an installation disk with my windows 7, apparently (so I was told by the place I purchased the laptop from) windows 7 wasn't issued with one. A repair install is a last option and not one I would want to do if perchance, I've solved the first problem. However, if it's not, then a repair install will probably be what I'll have to do.

LevelBest

 

[Anak]

If you do have a go at running those CMDs again just copy and paste the CMDs from the tutorial on to the CMD line, that should remove the ambiguity.

You should expect that behaviour for each entry, to slow down the quickness of the CMD showing you all the files in a particular folder, add

dir | more

attrib *.* | more

or

dir /p

to the end of the CMD before you execute; These CMDs will pause the showing of files in a folder to one DOS screen's worth if there are more than a screen's worth of files in the folder.
If there are more than a screen's worth there should be a notation to "press any key to continue" to continue to the last file in the folder, if not just tap the space-bar or enter/return key, if it doesn't advance, you've reached the end of that file.

Related:
More - screen display | Windows CMD | SS64.com
How to scroll in MS-DOS or the Windows Command Prompt


If you want to make sure all files are safe you would need to run an Image or Clone Backup of your system. A System restore only backs-up you system and leaves personal files alone.

See: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/697-system-restore-point-create.html

   Note

These restore points contain information about registry settings and other system information that Windows 7 uses. System Restore points do not include the personal user files.

You will not be able to create a restore point in safe mode since it is not supported.

If you do a System Restore when the computer is in safe mode, then you cannot undo the restore operation. However, you can run System Restore again and choose a different restore point if one exists.

This may be related to your "bigger problem" after everything we've tried to turn on Indexing.

This is old, but Live Mail related to windows search: Using Windows Search to search for Windows Live Mail e-mail will return incomplete results on Windows 7 64-bit Operating Systems

Yes,

the idea that it should populate itself after successfully recreating the index?

One fix is to change the "1" to a "0" restart the machine and test the indexing, since you're already at zero change it to a "1" restart then test indexing, I wouldn't believe it would help but its worth a try.
This may have the affect of a reset if you then go back in and change the "1" back to "0" and test for indexing.
To be prudent, you should: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/4230-registry-backup-restore.html

Okay with the mid-April problem.

That's been standard practice to sell a machine without a disk, if ever you want to try a repair there may be a way through an .iso disk, let me know.

 

[Layback Bear]

I have a question if I may.

How much free space is on the drive/partition you are having problems with indexing??

 

[LevelBest]

Hi both

I tried to change the number in registry but that didn't work.

I will maybe try to run the commands again at some point in the future. At the moment, I really want to see this other problem through to conclusion and to be on the safe side, it's going to need a good two weeks. And really, if that has worked, as much as I would like indexing to work, it will be a small price to pay.

The problem of loss of indexing started on 12th June (screenshot attached), that's the first indication in the event logs and I'm pretty sure it's not related to the first problem as that began in mid-April.

Re disk space, I attach screenshot of space available.

LevelBest

 

[Anak]

Take your time, I'll be here when you get back.

Don't know what Laybackbear is thinking as regards to disk space, he might be thinking that if you don't have enough room, search may not work.
If you want a third-party search have Layback tell you about a tool he uses, called: Everything.

 

[Layback Bear]

Steve you are correct.
That is exactly what I was thinking. I see their is plenty of free space.
You two have covered so many things, so I'm just thinking a little out of the box.

I have another thought that might be helpful.

List all programs installed. One of them might be causing a problem.
Ccleaner is a good method of showing all installed programs.

**Has any program by IObit ever been installed?**

If I understand correct a Repair Install or Clean Install is not desired. Is that correct?

I do useEverything.
I also use Windows 7 built in Indexing. They both work properly.

This tutorial by Brink can be use to verify that all the Defaults are set properly.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/236709-services-restore-default-services-windows-7-a.html

If you all want me to stop thinking just let me know.
I surly don't want to get in the way.

Layback Bear
Jack

 

[Anak]

You're right about everything we've tried and I'm about tapped out for ideas so creative thinking is always welcome Jack.
LevelBest is working on a bigger problem with his machine so this indexing problem may be associated with that, but he wants to keep mum about it for now and I respect his wishes.

A list of installed programs would be helpful to go over, sometimes I'll request a BSOD report even if a member hasn't had a BSOD because the report can show detail that some information programs don't always pick up on like msinfo, and or sysinfo would.

A Repair or Clean Install would be a last resort; From Level's ninth post:

I don't have an installation disk with my windows 7, apparently (so I was told by the place I purchased the laptop from) windows 7 wasn't issued with one. A repair install is a last option and not one I would want to do if perchance, I've solved the first problem. However, if it's not, then a repair install will probably be what I'll have to do.

LevelBest

Have you seen this post yet Jack?

The guys at Heidoc have made an app that generates direct microsoft links (valid for 24 hours) to Windows 7/8/10 and office ISO's.

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/techn...icrosoft-windows-and-office-iso-download-tool

As these are direct from Microsoft I can't see any harm in pointing people needing ISO's that way rather than them getting dodgy ones from a torrent etc.

The Heidoc guys new tool does make getting a new .iso much easier than working directly with the Microsoft site.

Thanks for the default services link, I'm having a permissions problem myself with one program since I had to uninstall and hide KB315939, see post #29

I'm okay with your suggestions and no, don't stop thinking you don't want to get rusty do you?


Clear skies to you both!

Steve...aka...Anak

 

[LevelBest]

Hi guys

I've had a look at 'everything' - so that would be an option if I want a search/index facility in the future.

I've attached a word doc containing 5 screenshots of all programmes. I tend not to download much software/programmes, try to keep the computer as clean as possible. I've not heard of IObit.

Yes, a clean install/repair is not an option right now whilst I'm waiting to see the outcome of the first, larger problem.

As far as I'm aware, all the defaults for index/search are correct - I've not changed anything (I was unaware of the facility until I was searching for a file in system and it said to turn on indexing). If I search via the start orb, it will find what I guess is system files or things like system restore, it just won't find any word, excel, powerpoint docs.

I did see something this morning on the net saying this problem had been resolved by deleting all BLF and REGTRANS files in System 32/Config/TxR. Not sure if that's worth a go.

Would be grateful to hear if you see anything suspect in programmes.

Thanks guys, your ongoing support is much appreciated.

LevelBest

PS: I've noticed this morning that the registry has a new line 'Rebuild Index' - value 2 - which wasn't there before. Is that significant? Would it be worth changing it to 1 or 0? (screenshot attached).

 

[Anak]

My apologies on not replying yesterday, real life pulled me away and most likely will today and tomorrow; Best time for me will be before Noon local time [UTC -5].


I had a look at your program list and the only ones I have misgivings with are the McAfee products and maybe that google toolbar for IE, the toolbar shouldn't give problems with indexing, but the McAfee has, by my past experiences.

About your "April problem" Your list shows that you have installed programs dated 04/25/2011 [which I assume came pre-installed with the laptop] It seems odd that now after 5years almost to the day some problem(s) would rear its/their ugly head(s).

To troubleshoot you may want to uninstall all programs installed in April 2016 [04/2016], then see if your problems go away, then add them back one at a time to see if it triggers the problem again.
If it helps, I run a Cannon MG3200 series printer with 11 associated programs, I show the MP drivers but not the navigator, MP deals with the scanner side of the machine, strange though yours is showing two installs of navigator I would think one is okay, but two? The reason why I don't show navigator could be the different ways things are done here in the States as compared to the UK:



Just a reaffirmation, Have you set up the indexing options to find those word processing files?

• How to Add or Remove Index Locations in Windows 7 and Windows 8

• How to Add or Remove a File Type from the Index in Windows 7 and Windows 8

I did see something this morning on the net saying this problem had been resolved by deleting all BLF and REGTRANS files in System 32/Config/TxR. Not sure if that's worth a go.

You can try it, it's the manual way of doing the CLFS transaction logs - Reset minus the %windir%\System32\SMI\Store\Machine files, if just doing the TxR folder doesn't bring indexing back move on to the store\machine folder and remove the BLF and REGTRANS files also, you may see a few LOG, text, DAT files there, leave those alone.

Some items to remember:

• Show hidden files folders: Hidden Files and Folders - Show or Hide

• To test, reboot after you delete the files in theTxR folder, and again if you empty the store\machine files.

PS: I've noticed this morning that the registry has a new line 'Rebuild Index' - value 2 - which wasn't there before. Is that significant? Would it be worth changing it to 1 or 0? (screenshot attached).

I've done an extensive "search" for that sub-key but haven't come up with any authoritative answers.
"My best guess?" Windows will keep an accounting of how many times the index has been rebuilt; For what reason I do not know, but if I ever do find out I will be sure to let you know.

What would I do? I'd delete the key and make sure that SetupCompletedSuccessfully key is set to zero (0) reboot and test.

• You did backup the registry didn't you? Registry - Backup and Restore

Now; On to take care of the holiday!


Steve

 

[Layback Bear]

Good call.
Going alone the suggestion that Steve has left this tutorial by Brink should be helpful.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

 

[Ranger4]

@ LevelBest, sorry for tuning in a bit late on your Search problem, but are you running a Samsung SSD & have used the Samsung Magician to set up OS Optimisation. If so it will disable Windows Search as it causes excessive read/writes. This quote is from it.

"Windows automatically indexes the contents of data files stored on the disk in order to produce very fast keyword search results.
In addition to taking up extra space on the storage device, this feature requires frequent read/write operations".

I have found that the Magician will disable Search, but you can override it in the Optimisation section.

 

[LevelBest]

Hello Anak

No problem with not replying sooner, I understand about life getting in the way (been the other way round for me since April with the computer definitely getting in the way of life - but after six days being clear of the April problem, I'm reasonably confident I've got it sorted).

I deleted the registry index rebuilt key, the 'set up' value seemed to put itself back to '0'. I exported the registry, and then moved the TxR files to the D drive (just in case). The 'store machine' folder didn't have anything in it, except for a few of the files you said to leave alone (I'm guessing I may have deleted them when I ran that command line). I ensured I had all files showing. Unfortunately, this still hasn't resulted in being able to switch on indexing, although interestingly, when I first tried to switch on services it gave a new error message of 'some services stop automatically if they aren't in use by other services or programmes' before then reverting to the usual message of 'unable to create an index where one already exists'. I also tried to run the troubleshooter and MSfixit - no luck

I can't actually access the 'file option' tab to get it to list word documents as it doesn't appear (screenshot below).

Ranger 4 - as far as I'm aware I don't have 'magician' - screenshot of Samsung programmes installed. This is (by modern standards) a fairly old laptop (I just don't tell it that!). Also, if I did have that programme, would it not have been part of the original programmes - this indexing problem started mid June.

I think we've done as much as we can guys and I think I'm going to have to gracefully give up. Given the larger 'mid-April' problem appears to be solved, I can live without the indexing.

Thanks guys for all your help.

LevelBest