Can’t do file search (Windows XP Home SP1)

Topic

New Reply

Lately I can’t do a file search on my Windows machine. When I click on Start>Search the machine thinks about it for about a minute, frozen, and then blinks and goes on with whatever was up before. The search window never opens.

My husband’s machine is having this problem also. He and I have very different software except for the basics, and he rarely installs anything new. We have both recently bought new Palm Tungstens, but can’t definitely pin the date on installing that software. Neither one of us uses this feature often, so we’re not sure how long it’s been missing.

We both have up-to-date virus protection and regular scans show us both clean. Can’t find any info on the Knowledge Base and can’t search Woody’s (temporarily) so we’re stumped.

Reply | Quote

Replies

Try this: Search – Doesn’t Work

Open Explorer and go to the WindowsInf folder. Locate the srchasst.inf file. Right click it and select Install. You’ll need your XP CD or the files from the I386 folder. (This fix will require you to have your Win XP CD).

The WindowsInf folder is a hidden folder. You can adjust your Explorer Folder Options (View tab) to Show hidden files and folders. You can also click Start, Run and enter %SystemRoot%Inf to open directly to the Inf folder.

Copied from Kellys-korner – an excellent XP site.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

I did that. Made no difference at all. Got any more things to try? Thanks for the Kellys-korner tip, by the way. I’ll add it to my resource list.

Reply | Quote

Did you try any of the other search troubleshooting tips at Kelly’s site?

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Frebb–

I’m just pinpointing a part of Kelly’s site that Joe was referencing. Her site is a great resource, and one of the the ways to use it is to go to the A-Z Section of Kelly’s and look for your topic. This is copied from the same place as Joe–a little lower down then the first under “S” under the topic “Search”
_______________________________________________________________________________

1) Download the regedit (whichever it is) from Line 148 here on this section her site. This may fix you–won’t hurt you.

2)If not, try this manual regedit:

Manual Edit: To Change Default Search Options, go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer]

Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = unselected, 1 = selected)

Modify the following values, setting them to “1” to select the parameter as a default or “0” as unselected.

CaseSensitive
IncludeSubFolders
SearchHidden
SearchSlowFiles
SearchSystemDirs

Restart or logoff Windows for the change to take effect.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ed. by SMBP Added to Post– Additional Solutions for Search[/size]:

See: Doug Knox’s Excellent Site: Search Problems

SMBP

Reply | Quote

I’ve tried everything anyone has suggested. Nothing works. This is also a problem on my husband’s Dell, which is newer and has far less software and is mostly just used for email, Web, and Word documents. I also can’t access msconfig or other system adjustment places on my machine anymore, though I could when I started all this. As with the search function, you click “run” and put in msconfig, and click OK, and everything purrs for a second, a DOS window appears and disappears instantly, and nothing happens after that. I am returned to the desktop.

Our two computers are on a small peer-to-peer network, with a router and firewall. Virus scans are consistently negative and we keep Norton up to date, both the software and the virus files. Help!

Reply | Quote

If either PC is new enough to still be under warranty you could try calling Dell. They may just tell you to reload, but OTOH they may have a solution. Sometimes, is just depends who you get on the phone. You could also try MS but they will probably direct you to the OEM. In addition to AVm you should use one or more psyware detectors. Many people use both Adaware & Spybot S&D. Both have free for personal use versions.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

One is a three year old Dell, the other (mine, the more impacted one) a five-year-old Gateway. I replaced my hard drive about 18 mos. ago and did a clean wipe-and-install-fresh (which took months to get completely squared away. Drivers!) when upgrading to Win XP. Neither under warranty at this point.

Reply | Quote