• Does the Win10 Search box still work for you?

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    #2135109

    Here’s a little test. Reboot your Win10 1903 or 1909 machine and click down in the Search box, in the lower left corner. When I did that early this mo
    [See the full post at: Does the Win10 Search box still work for you?]

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    • #2135127

      It works here, Win 10 Pro 1909, build 18363.592 vs. your reported 18362.592.  (Tangent alert!  Why the $&@#^% does Microsoft not have text-select and copy available on the About page?  Ugh!)

      My system just rebooted this morning to install the January KB4532938 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8

       

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2135266

        Update:  I just checked, after reading the comments below, and it looks like I long ago disabled the Bing and Cortana stuff in the search box.  The registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search has both BingSearchEnabled=0 and CortanaConsent=0.  Perhaps that is why my search box is working???

        2 users thanked author for this post.
        • #2135953

          One more update, to provide yet another data point:  I didn’t even know that I could easily find the version of the actual search box.  Mine appears to be rather old, at 2019.07.18.6227079

          My system is on Win 10 Pro 1909, build 18363.592

    • #2135136

      Works for me. The black box has 5 tiles (“Tops apps”) for programs that I have recently used.

      Most recent updates:
      Feature update to Windows 10, version 1909
      Successfully installed on ‎1/‎27/‎2020

      January 14, 2020-KB4532938 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10
      Successfully installed on ‎1/‎27/‎2020

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135137

      I have never used it. There are so many better alternatives.

      Byte me!

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135138

      Same issue here problem occured suddenly after logging in back from lunch. we have 4 machine showing the exact same issue.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135148

      I did not reboot since I posted in the other thread yesterday. But still the black window appears now with the search text at the bottom and the rest black.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135146

      Created an account to followup @Woody you found a solution already previous solutions regarding Start menu issues did not help…

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135153

      1903 18362.592

      search-1903

      Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
      All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135156

      1909 628.  I hid that Search Bar from the Taskbar quite some time ago, as I never use it.  As for the registry edits, I checked my registry, both are already there, and I didn’t do it.

      Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!
      We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.
      We were all once "Average Users".

      • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by bbearren.
      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135149

      Weird it just happened to me too this morning. Glad I’m not alone. It’s annoying because I search services with the search box so to get to audience to disable it.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135163

      Here is one thing I just realized:

      On my system where search is still working ‘as expected,’ the build number was updated to 2020.02.04.6238073 shortly after booting up at around 5:30 a.m. (Eastern) this morning.

      The system where the search box is blank, also booted up at the same time, was still at version 2020.02.04.6238049 when the search box stopped responding.

      Note though, that BOTH systems seemed fine from about 5:30 a.m. until 5:55 a.m. or so.

      (Cross posting this at https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/is-microsoft-messing-with-your-win10-search-box/)

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2135168

      I wonder if any large corporation Windows users are experiencing this issue, or if Microsoft is simply “updating” consumer and small business users with this unneeded change? Any idea of who’s all being hit with this?

      GreatAndPowerfulTech

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2135181

        The enterprise/volume licensing 10 customers get all the relevant settings offered to turn off all of that which is forced onto consumer versions of Windows 10. So no mucking about in the registry editor for a temporary fix is needed enterprise/volume licensing customers to disable all that annoys and perplexes consumer end users of windows 10.

        There may come a time when disabling Bing in Windows 10 will do worse and folks really loosing more of their control as MS fully implements its end goals for consumer Windows 10’s monetization of services business model.

        3 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2135188

        Large corporation users – like myself – have merely been moved to 1809 in the recent weeks.

        I’m on build 10.0.17763.864 myself.

        2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2135169

      Win 10 Pro 1903 Build 18362.418

      Computer is joined to a local AD domain. No Office 365; no MS account; I’m using a local domain user account. I’ve turned off everything related to Cortana that I could find. I’ve deferred all forms of updates and patching to as close to when-hell-freezes-over as I can. The machine is also governed by a ConnectWise/Labtech agent which is configured to block all patching that it knows about.

      I have a blank Search screen and typing into the box does nothing.

      This is NOT just a 1909 issue. And it doesn’t matter whether you have the latest CU applied either.

      Poking around using the Search feature in the System app (which DOES work) I found that there was a setting to to enable/disable Cloud Search, which I didn’t know existed. If I did know, I would have turned it off long ago. I turned it off, rebooted, no effect.

      I tried the instructions to disable Bing integration from Mayank Parmar.

      I had to create the BingSearchEnabled key. The CortanaConsent key already existed and was set to 0.

      This also had no effect. So the registry hack is not dispositive.

       

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      • #2135200

        Now THAT’s disconcerting.

        Did you reboot after using Mayank’s steps?

        • #2135204

          Yes, I rebooted after applying those steps. I normally run as standard domain user. As such, I can’t edit the registry from that account. I booted into the local admin account to make the changes. Then I did a cold boot and got back into my standard domain user account.

          1 user thanked author for this post.
          • #2135622

            When you were logged in as admin did you change the non-admin user registry or your own?
            Your’s will be “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software”, non-admin will be something like “HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-900782234-26297349357-534829454-1001\Software”

            cheers, Paul

      • #2139822

        This is precisely the behavior of my Win 10 Pro 1903 machine ever since the upgrade in January of this year.

        And I also have tried all the fixes, including a downloadable PowerShell Script. The Script unborks the Search for about ten minutes, then everything reverts to Woody’s screen shot at the head of this Post.

        Timeline is disabled on my PC. I chose to do that.

        One more clue: Both my User and Administrator Accounts upon upgrading showed issues with the MS Store. I had to create a new User Account and destroy the old one to resolve the issues with Search and the Store.  Needless to say, I am reluctant to apply this Nuclear Option to my Administrator Account. But that action did fix the User Account. All works well in there now.

        So I’m thinking the upgrade got munged somehow. And it was the stage in which the Account profiles are being set up and the MS Store is being configured where the error has occurred. At least that appears to be the nature of my system’s symptoms.

        I am considering switching to a different local search agent. Any suggestions?

        -- rc primak

        • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by rc primak.
        • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by rc primak.
        • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by rc primak.
    • #2135164

      Same thing for me, Win10 Home 1903 (18362.592) and search doesn’t work. Killing SearchUI.exe didn’t fix it, disconecting from internet didn’t fix it. 😠

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135172

      Also broken for me on 1909, 18363.592. Had to use the BingSearchEnabled workaround.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135180

      Search seems okay here…. but the first time I opened it, it took the entire height of the screen and part of the Taskbar, too.

       

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135187

      Confirming what Woody is seeing. Nothing but a black box. So what’s up with that? There were no updates installed overnight on my pc.

      Red Ruffnsore

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      • #2135233

        I just now rebooted my pc and the search box is working again. I did not make any changes, just a reboot. I shut down my pc at work almost every night and that was the case last night. So when I booted up this morning, something changed, and then another reboot changed things again.

        Red Ruffnsore

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    • #2135184

      For me it’s working on 2 PCs.

      1909 18363.628

      and

      1909 18363.592

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135190

      I’m in the same situation. All black search. I’m in 1909 18363.628 the last update of last Tuesday.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135199

      So far, we are seeing the issue on Windows 10 1903 systems. I saw it with one client yesterday, and another client reported it today.

      My Windows 10 1909 system is not having the issue.  My colleague running Windows 10 1903 is having the issue. Another colleague also with 1909 is not seeing the issue, and coincidentally, his mother just messaged him to ask if he was seeing this search issue from clients.

      EDIT:  The colleague is having the issue in 1909 actually.  I have found a link that purports to fix the issue.

      https://mspoweruser.com/windows-search-not-working-for-windows-10-users-across-the-world/

      Still investigating and if this fixes the issue, we’ll script it and push out to our clients.

      We are SysAdmins.
      We walk in the wiring closets no others will enter.
      We stand on the bridge, and no malware may pass.
      We engage in support, we do not retreat.
      We live for the LAN.
      We die for the LAN.

      • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by LoneWolf.
      • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by LoneWolf.
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      • #2135247

        I have scripted out the registry adds in the link I posted, and they work.  A system restart is required.  We are now pushing these fixes to clients.

        Since nobody we manage gives a fig about Bing or Cortana, having them disabled is just fine.  As @woody mentioned, this is concerning, because it’s an indicator of just how dependent (in default mode) the Taskbar search is on Microsoft’s cloud.  I plan to implement these changes in our client onboarding scripts for additional privacy.

        To say it not-so-politely: On this one, Microsoft can get bent.

        We are SysAdmins.
        We walk in the wiring closets no others will enter.
        We stand on the bridge, and no malware may pass.
        We engage in support, we do not retreat.
        We live for the LAN.
        We die for the LAN.

        2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2135210

      One of the worst parts of the whole thing is:

      If you disable Bing integration and kill Cortana, it fixes the issue, but….

      If you then ENABLE Bing integration and kill Cortana again (because I wanted to show someone a screenshot) – IT STILL WORKS.  Either it working after re-enabling is a fluke that will go away the next time I restart or they’ve just got a broken situation here where their “happy path” testing didn’t include a my-machine-got-updated-without-my-knowledge situation.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2135214

      Windows 10 Pro x64 Version 1903 Build 18362.592 – Local account.

      Mon, 2020-02-03 – Search build 2020.02.02.6237943 – “Type here to search”.

      Tue, 2020-02-04 – Same as Monday.

      Wed, 2020-02-05 before rebooting – Search build 2020.02.04.6238049 – “Type here to search” – Search is apparently working normally.

      (I say “apparently” because I don’t use this search and I have content indexing turned off, but when I type something in I get a list of results.)

      Wed, 2020-02-05 after rebooting – Exactly the same as before rebooting.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135222

      Windows 10 search has never worked at all on any of my machines. After first upgrading to Win 10, I tried to disable some Cortana capabilities following instructions on Ask Woody. Many versions ago, I may have succeeded in that but no more. In any case Windows 10 search does not function.

      In some versions, e.g., 1903 and 1909, there is an icon in the taskbar that can be clicked “Type here to search”. I can type a word or two into that box but then nothing happens, whatever I click on. This behavior is at least an improvement from earlier verisions of Win 10 where I did not have a search icon to click.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2139827

        In my case, which looks similar to yours, I had to effectively remove and reinstall the entire Microsoft Store for each Account. (The easiest way to do this for a Standard User Account is to recreate the Account entirely. I would be very reluctant to try recreating the Administrator Account on a production PC.) Then everything started working again. At least in a Local, Standard User Account.

        Why does local Search rely on the MS Store infrastructure?

        -- rc primak

        • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by rc primak.
    • #2135218

      One of my co-workers had this issue today. We have the same Windows build but his update log showed it had installed some Store App updates this morning (Skype, People, and Windows Voice Recorder). When we went into the Store and looked at his available updates, those same 3 apps were again on the list. After running them again, he rebooted to a very long login “Welcome” (as if Windows was performing changes in the background) and now his search bar works again.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135224

      Search Box works:
      search-1

      On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
      offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
      offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
      online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender
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    • #2135219

      This problem is limited to one user login, but has not spread to others on the same PC.  On the affected user, the search bar shows “Start a web search” and is completely inoperative.  See screenshot.

      search-1

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2139832

        Yes, one user Account can seem to be uniquely afflicted. But the problem can then spread to other Accounts, it appears. At least in my experience as I think I have observed the issue.

        -- rc primak

    • #2135230

      I too can confirm that the problem affects 1903. I don’t use the search bar (it’s disabled) but just type from the Start menu from time to time (needing to find a random application, usually).

      It’s infuriating that I can’t search for something on my own computer because Microsoft is having server problems. I should be able to disconnect from them entirely if I don’t need or want those services. (For the record, I don’t.) Bad enough that I can’t access the tools I (or rather my company) is paying them for when systems go down, but they shouldn’t need to take everything else with it.

      3 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2135237

      Hello everyone

      As per my earlier Tweet with Woody, we saw this earlier today in the office with 1903 users.  I’ve implemented a GPO to add

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
      DWORD BingSearchEnabled = 0

      Prior to applying the GPO on my own 1903 PC, search worked normally. I performed a gpupdate /force believing the new GPO to be applied and got the blank search fly-out.  Killed SearchUI.exe, which was found to be in a suspended state and still the same. But the registry showed the GPO was not applied through a mistake of our making.

      Odd then that the gpupdate instigated the fault even though the 365 back-end is the root cause.

      Applying the registry entry above correctly and kicking SearchUI.exe resolved it for us.

      Cheers

       

      -Neil-

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2139840

        The Office 365 back-end may not be the root cause.It may be the MS Store itself. If my observations and other people around here are correct (and they may not be) recreating the MS Store in the Account (or recreating the whole Account) seems to fix the issue, plus a few other glitches. Especially if the issue showed up after an upgrade. Still awaiting confirmation and other suggestions on this point.

        -- rc primak

    • #2135239

      I took screenshots of the registry, where one could add the ‘BingSearchEnabled’ to workaround the issue (for most people). I have not done this, at least yet. Since I have one system where search is working, and other is not, I am comparing and not the following:

      1. The ‘CortanaConsent’ string is present on both systems,  with the DWORD already set to 0 (this is how I found it, I’ve made no changes)
      2. Note the ‘InstalledPackageAppsRevision’ and ‘InstalledWin32AppsRevision’ strings. They are different. I would think that for those strings, they should be the same assuming the ‘app’ is updated at about the same time.

      That seems to build on the possibility that those who were ‘lucky’ enough to get later build numbers (see post #2135163 above) were spared this issue. However, I think it also means for those who did not get the later builds, there might be an issue with Mircrosoft just pushing out a new build to fix this, as the updating mechinaism could be broken also.


      @Woody
      … what is your take, risk-wise, on adding the ‘BingSearchEnabled’ string?

      Registry-Comparison

       

       

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    • #2135238

      BingSearchEnabled fix worked for us.

      1. Windows Key + R, regedit
        2.Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
        3. Right-click the right pane, New > D-WORD (32-bit) Value – BingSearchEnabled : 0
        4. check that CortanaConsent = 0 (5th entry from top), File – Exit
        5. Reboot
      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135245

      1903 Pro 18362.592. Search works normally.

      P.S How do we delete an attachment ?

      • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Alex5723.
    • #2135250

      A reboot fixed mine.

      I just looked at my logs and when my pc booted this morning there were around 6 entries from Windows Installer that is was attempting to modify google update and google update helper. The second entry showed that the update failed but then after sever other entries there was another entry confirming update applied.

      Not sure if it’s related but perhaps.

      Red Ruffnsore

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135253

      BingSearchEnabled fix worked for me as well.

    • #2135254

      A reboot fixed mine.

      I just looked at my logs and when my pc booted this morning there were around 6 entries from Windows Installer that is was attempting to modify google update and google update helper. The second entry showed that the update failed but then after sever other entries there was another entry confirming update applied.

      Not sure if it’s related but perhaps.

      For giggles, I actually just rebooted my system (like literally two minutes ago before I saw your post!). I had already rebooted numerous times between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and the issued did not resolve.

      BUT, this time, indeed it did! Search is back … build number 2020.02.04.6238073. That’s the same build on my system where search continued to work this morning.

      So, I’m guessing that in the background, the search ‘app’ updated at somepoint between 9;30 a.m. and now (Eastern), but in order for everything to refresh, the system needs to be rebooted (or perhaps ending the searchui.exe task might have done it also).

      But, also seems like some type of user intervention may be necessary for search to come back …

      I’m glad it’s back – but boy, is this a ding in my trust toward Microsoft …

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2135256

      Clicking in the taskbar search box produces a filled flyout on one 1909 machine (Machine A-18363.592) and typing in the search box provides results, but clicking there on the other 1909 machine (Machine B-18363.592, too) produces a blank flyout and nothing happens when typing in the search box.  The former got 1909 yesterday, Feb 4.  The latter got 1909 on January 24.

      I rebooted Machine B twice. 

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2135286

        Update to my post #2135256

        At 12:51 EST, I rebooted for a 3rd time and the flyout is working on Machine B. I probably got a new version of FE, but I’m not sure how to find that info.

        • #2135358

          FYI, just saw the screenshots at #213522 and Win10 Search is working again for information on how to find a FE version.  Machine A had 2020.02.04.6238073 (evidently arrived, when 1903 updated to 1909 on yesterday February 4).  After rebooting for the 3rd time at 12:51  EST, machine B has it, too.

    • #2135259

      @woody … what is your take, risk-wise, on adding the ‘BingSearchEnabled’ string?

      If you absolutely must use Windows Search, you don’t have much choice – although it isn’t clear to me that disabling Bing Search works on all machines.

      If you can’t stand the thought of sending all of your Windows searches to Microsoft, disable Bing Search. No doubt we’ll see more bugs introduced by the change, but at least we have some experience with that now.

      Otherwise, if you can find any way to work around Windows Search, do that. Manually changing the Registry for any reason has, historically, led to untold problems.

      3 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2135257

      My primary working machine is still running 1809, but I’m looking at both a VM and an old laptop that was recently upgraded from Win 7.  Both are running 1909 18363.592.

      The VM is working as expected/advertised.

      The laptop has the blank display that Woody shows.  Because I had complications with the laptop in a Win 10 upgrade (video drivers), and I don’t make a lot of use of it, I haven’t explored in detail, but I had been working under the assumption that that was part of the detrius left over from the upgrade.

      It’s useful to know that there’s a known issue in Windows, although I agree that it is puzzling that machines on the same build behave differently.

      For both of these machines, both are running Win 10 Pro in a peer LAN (no Domain or AD), and neither has any versions of Office installed. I’m also using local user IDs and not a Microsoft account. I have also not tried the hack to disable Bing.

      I’ve been considering making the move to upgrade the 1809 instance to 1903, but I make enough use of search in that way (even if just local searching) that this is reason to stay with 1809 until that gets fixed.

      Knowing where Microsoft wants to go with search (including eventual elimination of the Control Panel), and where nearly all local navigation is done with search rather than menus and icons, I find the lack of urgency to be incomprehensible.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2135280

        Replying to my own post…

        I neglected to catch the point about rebooting in the discussion above, and with a reboot of my problem machine, the search dialogs are working correctly.

    • #2135265

      Is there a race condition with different operating system functions glomming on to different versions of the same Microsoft software?

      On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
      offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
      offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
      online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender
    • #2135268

      Does Godmode still work? As I understand it, this little program allows “quick access to over 200 tools and settings that are normally tucked away in the Control Panel and other windows and menus”. So, if the taskbar searchbox is not working, maybe Godmode will still work.

      • #2135785

        Yes at least for W10 18363.592

        🍻

        Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.
        1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2139842

        Due to the depth of its menus (layers within layers, all alphabetical) I find GodMode much less useful than Local Search. There is simply nothing like being able to type a few letters and seeing a choice of settings or apps right there on in the display window, ready to click or right-click (run as administrator). That’s why I want this issue to get fixed. And without further tying us to 365 or the Store.

        -- rc primak

    • #2135269

      I am using Windows 10 – 1909 build 18363.592 Home version and not having problems.

      I’ve shut down/blocked updates since the start of February (did update when the defcon setting hit three) and do not have any Microsoft (365, account, etc.) open or running.  When I do a search it first looks at my disks on the machine. I can then pick ‘search the web’ and it then opens my default browser (Firefox) and uses the default search application (Smartpage) without issue.

      My hunch is it is a Microsoft issue and by not using their connection preferences I’ve dodged this problem.  Hopefully (for me at least) it’s really that easy.

    • #2135271

      It is interesting; for me, Search in the taskbar doesn’t work, but in File Explorer does work and shows the results.

      Win 10 64bit Pro. 1909 with all the latest updates.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2139843

        That actually looks like a common variant of this issue. It’s the variant I got, and a few others in this thread.

        -- rc primak

    • #2135232

      I was able to resolve it by:

      1. Log in with secondary account (local or domain admin). This is important as you cannot rename a folder that’s being used.

      2. Delete, rename or move the following folder:

      C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy

      3. Log back into your original account.

      Cortana will not work immediately. (It is busy recreating the folder you just deleted.) But when it does, everything will be back to normal.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2139844

        That’s the same solution we would get if we ripped out the MS Store and reinstalled it, or else recreated the whole Account Profile. This might just be the ticket.

        -- rc primak

        • #2141710

          UPDATE: I just went into my Win 10 Pro and applied this fix. (OK, I run a Linux dual-boot, so I found the AppData subfolder and deleted it from Linux. Easier than running Powershell from within Windows.) Anyway, after a few seconds of the old Spinning Blue Circle, Local Search was back up and running just fine. This fix survived a complete system shutdown and restart.

          So the issue at least for me seems to be corrupted data in the User App Data for the Cortana Store App. Deleting the munged folder and letting the Windows system recreate the folder (in my case not even connected to the Internet the whole time) restored Local Search to where it needed to be.

          All the indexed data and search bookmarks and favorites were gone, but that’s a small price to pay. All of that stuff will no doubt be restored the next time I connect to the Internet or update my Windows Store Apps.

          -- rc primak

    • #2135275

      @woody … what is your take, risk-wise, on adding the ‘BingSearchEnabled’ string?

      If you absolutely must use Windows Search, you don’t have much choice – although it isn’t clear to me that disabling Bing Search works on all machines.

      If you can’t stand the thought of sending all of your Windows searches to Microsoft, disable Bing Search. No doubt we’ll see more bugs introduced by the change, but at least we have some experience with that now.

      Otherwise, if you can find any way to work around Windows Search, do that. Manually changing the Registry for any reason has, historically, led to untold problems.

      Thanks, Woody! As per my post just above … it looks like the ‘app’ updated in the background at some point in the past three hours or so. For kick, I just rebooted about a half-an-hour ago, and search is back, with the same build number as my system where search was not broken.

      But, it took a reboot (user interaction) to complete the install/refresh. I am not sure this can be ‘fixed’ without some type of user interaction. Curious to know if that is indeed the case and how MS would handle that. Hopefully, I’m wrong …

      2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2135279

        MS hasn’t said anything about it. If they ever do, I don’t think I’ll believe them.

        Sure hope Panos Panay can straighten this garbage out. Windows customers deserve better.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135277

      Just tested and Windows search is working fine for me on 3 machines, all running 1909.

      Desktop Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, CPU: Intel Core i7-7820X Skylake-X 8-Core 3.6 GHz, RAM: 32GB, GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti 4GB. Display: Four 27" 1080p screens 2 over 2 quad.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135310

      Is it possible an update to Security Intelligence Update for Windows Defender Antivirus (KB2267602), specifically v1.309.345.0, triggered the issue? Windows System Event logs reported this version installed just before the issue appeared. Restarting alone didn’t resolve it, but on multiple Win 10 1903 computers updating manually to a more recent version and then restarting resolved the issue: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/defenderupdates.

    • #2135315

      This is now working for me after a cold boot at about 1:05 pm EST (yes, I have “fast startup” turned off).

      Win 10 Pro 1903 build 18362.418. That’s not the most recent CU; I think it’s the November 2019 one. Machine is joined to a local AD domain. No Microsoft account, no Office 365, Cortana is turned off in every way I can find. All updates are blocked every way I can find in Windows, and patching is blocked via a ConnectWise/Labtech agent.

      Search build is now: 2020.02.04.6238073

      So that’s changed from the last time I checked it yesterday.

      Some notes:

      I had tried the Bing registry hack and it did not work. Since I ordinarily run as a standard domain user I logged into a local admin account to edit the registry and did a cold boot to get back to my domain user account. A few minutes ago just for grins I ran Run in that domain user account and went to look at the registry hive. My newly-created BingSearchEnabled key was not there! So I shut down and logged back in as local admin. First thing I did was try the Search bar. Still blank. I looked at the registry again. The key was there. Hm…

      There are opportunities to create the same key in the LOCAL_MACHINE and USERS hives. I didn’t try it but maybe there’s something about CURRENT_USER.

      So by this time I had been poking around the registry for about ten minutes. I tried the Search bar again. This time it worked.

      So I cold-booted and went back to my domain user account. I tried the Search bar again. After about a minute of blankness, I got what I expected, and I could type in the blank and get results.

      Checked the registry again from the domain user account; the BingSearchEnabled key is still not visible. (I don’t expect to be able to edit the registry from a standard domain user account, but I do expect to see everything in the registry that applies to all accounts.)

      So this is “fixed”. I do see the news reports on alleged Microsoft server outages related to this. Might be the cause–but that does not make it right that my ability to search for something solely on my computer must be made dependent on _anything_ on the internet. That’s just not acceptable, IMO.

       

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2139846

        This is a good point. A restart isn’t a cold reboot in Windows 10 unless Fast Startup is disabled. Unfortunately for some of us, we already had Fast Startup disabled before the issue showed up.

        -- rc primak

        1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135413

      It works here, Win 10 Pro 1909, build 18363.592 vs. your reported 18362.592.  (Tangent alert!  Why the $&@#^% does Microsoft not have text-select and copy available on the About page?  Ugh!)

      My system just rebooted this morning to install the January KB4532938 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8

       

      I’m on the same build and search works for me even though I hardly ever use it.  I’ve not done anything special with respect to Bing and Cortona which I never use.  Patch updates are delayed for 15 days on my PC.

    • #2135418

      ‘Bing off’ is one of my first steps setting up a Win 10 computer. No problems here with Windows search but who uses Windows search! Microsoft ruined Windows search years ago. Everything or alternatives do it far better.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2135421

      Two computers both with 1903.18362.592 and both with the black box since morning.  Just did second cold reboot of the day (first was around 4 hours ago) and search functions are now back.

    • #2135449

      I’m still clinging to Windows 7 (got my ESU), so a perhaps silly question: does this mean that under Windows 10, you would NOT be able to search files on your local drives if Microsoft’s servers were having problems?

      Win 7 Pro, 64-Bit, Group B ESU,Ivy Bridge i3-3110M, 2.4GHz, 4GB, XP Mode VM, WordPerfect
    • #2135502

      Windows 7 here: this looks, at least on the surface, same as the very recently discovered Black Wallpaper Blight problem in the now out of support Grand OS.

      I hope that MS releases patches for this and for 7, and it does not take too long before doing that. In fact, I imagine that this problem in Win 10 might make it more likely that the patch-to-a-broken-patch for 7 will be out as well and not too far into the future.

      But the actual bug behind the black screens is probably a quite different one for each OS. Unlike the one for 7, this one seems to happen spontaneously, unrelated to anything the users have been doing, at least as far as anyone here seems to know.

      Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

      MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
      Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
      macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

    • #2135534

      I have managed to get it working try using the following powershell script:

      $Path = “HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search\”
      New-ItemProperty -Path $Path -Name “BingSearchEnabled” -Value 0 -PropertyType DWORD -Force | Out-Null
      New-ItemProperty -Path $Path -Name “CortanaConsent” -Value 0 -PropertyType DWORD -Force | Out-Null
      Get-Process searchui | Stop-Process

      this should get it working again.

      Regards,

      Dion

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2139847

        For me that brings only temporary relief. I’m beginning to think this whole thing may involve some sort of corruption of the Cortana Store App.

        -- rc primak

        1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2136455

      Eh.  FileSearchEX works better for most local searches anyway.

      i7-10700k - ASROCK Z590 Pro4 - 1TB 970 EVO Plus M.2 - DDR4 3200 x 32GB - GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FTW - Windows 10 Pro

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2138432

      Is this a trick question?  That search box has never worked for me, mostly against me.  Blank results is an improvement.  Finding a bunch of irrelevant garbage is more frustrating.

      • #2139848

        Relevance improves the more you use Search. It was lousy for me until I had used it for awhile.

        -- rc primak

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        • #2139849

          Yes, but only with occassional fiddling when it breaks occassionally. It breaks inexplicably every few months. The most recent breakage wasn’t solved by the Registry hack that another site suggested. I don’t recall what solved it, but it was probably stopping, starting and resetting the Windows Search Indexer engine.

          Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

          • #2139851

            Or, an update of the MS Store Cortana App? (This “silent update” some folks here are reporting?)

            -- rc primak

      • #2139861

        I just downloaded FileSearchEX to try it, and thank you for mentioning it, AmbularD. Although I feel that US$100 for its license is too steep for a utility which should have already been functioning, and a native feature of Windows 10.

        It was only in September 2018 that I finally abandoned my faithful Windows 7 box, seeing that the backflips I’d have to do to maintain it (because Microsoft wants to sell me things I neither want nor need) would start to exceed the occassional annoyance which using Windows 10 would bring me.

        Because of the nature of my local and web Windows 10 search results it’s clear to me that my local search functions have been intentionally commoditized by Microsoft. Through its click-wrap licensing Microsoft will perform unauthorized, surreptitious surveillance of my local drive and web searches whenever they please — which is of course none of their business — and to which I never agreed and would never agree.

        Othwerwise, for example, my third-party security software wouldn’t keep reporting that the Microsoft Store’s security certs, as accessed via Edge are woefully outdated or broken. Microsoft could hardly care less about its click-wrap “licensing” of my personal and business data. They’ll do whatever they think they can get away with.

        In making these observations I’m uninterested in convincing anyone of anything. Qualified geeks can have a look at the machines in their own care, and compare their notes with sources like or including Shoshana Zuboff’s book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.  But just like with PG&E’s and SoCal Edison’s now legendary and studious indifference to causing heinous social damage, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

        Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

        • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Mr. Austin.
        • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Mr. Austin.
        • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Mr. Austin.
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