file indexing

[shlob]

hi,

how do i disable the file indexing? i can't find it in services.msc. any help would be appreciated.

[Glorious]

It is in Services, just under a different name. Disable the 'Windows Search' service.

[shlob]

It is in Services, just under a different name. Disable the 'Windows Search' service.

i allready tried that, but that service ain't on the list!

[+allan MVC]

You can go into each drive's properties and uncheck "index this drive"

[shlob]

You can go into each drive's properties and uncheck "index this drive"

there's no option like that anywhere in the properties. all i can uncheck is "allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" but this would not stop the service and would take many hours for million of files.

[+allan MVC]

Try this:

Control Panel - Programs and Features - Turn Windows Features on or off - "Indexing Service"

[Fraud OS 11]

What OS are you on? XP or later? There has to be a service called Windows Desktop Search or Windows Search. Disable that. Or just deselect the items you don't want to be indexed from Control Panel -> Indexing options. Or pause indexing using the Indexing Status nifty gadget (search online). Or keep indexing on but go to Folder Options -> Search and check Always search files names and contents AND Don't use the index when searching in file folders for system files.

[+allan MVC]

This is the Windows 7 forum and that's what he's using. My post above will resolve his issue.

Edited November 22, 2009 by allan

[Brandon Live Veteran]

You can go into each drive's properties and uncheck "index this drive"

Never, ever do this. That file attribute exists for developers to mark temp files or log files which aren't meant to be indexed.

If you want to disable indexing of a location, use the Indexing control panel.

Try this:

Control Panel - Programs and Features - Turn Windows Features on or off - "Indexing Service"

"Indexing Service" is a legacy component not installed by default, and has nothing to do with Windows 7's search indexing.

hi,

how do i disable the file indexing? i can't find it in services.msc. any help would be appreciated.

Why would you want to do this? Disabling random services is not supported or recommended.

[shlob]

Never, ever do this. That file attribute exists for developers to mark temp files or log files which aren't meant to be indexed.

If you want to disable indexing of a location, use the Indexing control panel.

"Indexing Service" is a legacy component not installed by default, and has nothing to do with Windows 7's search indexing.

Why would you want to do this? Disabling random services is not supported or recommended.

I can not find any indexing control panel, could you describe where exactly it is? i want to disable it because i don't have any use for it.

[+allan MVC]

Never, ever do this. That file attribute exists for developers to mark temp files or log files which aren't meant to be indexed.

If you want to disable indexing of a location, use the Indexing control panel.

What?

"Indexing Service" is a legacy component not installed by default, and has nothing to do with Windows 7's search indexing.

Didn't know that. Can you point me to the documentation on this please?

Why would you want to do this? Disabling random services is not supported or recommended.

When it comes to non-critical services, it's up to the user to decide what he or she wants to disable.

[Wilhelmus]

From elevated command prompt, run:

sc query wsearch

If you get valid response ("SERVICE_NAME: wsearch" etc.), then run:

sc config wsearch start= disabled

(There is space between "start=" and "disabled")

This will disable the service.

(sc config wsearch start= auto will put it back to default)

[soldier1st]

i agree with Brandom Live so just leave it alone,i found the more i messed with indexing and other certain things the more things would seem strange and not work right. also some things require indexing to enable certain features.

[+allan MVC]

Such as? Once again you are posting something that you cannot document. There is absolutely no reason NOT to disable indexing if that's what the user wants to do. Unless of course you can prove me wrong.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Such as? Once again you are posting something that you cannot document. There is absolutely no reason NOT to disable indexing if that's what the user wants to do. Unless of course you can prove me wrong.

Of course I can prove you wrong. Lots of applications depend on the system indexer. Outlook, IE 8, OneNote, WMP, most of Explorer, and many others. You can't just go around shutting off random services. What's the point?

All you're doing is disabling platform functionality which applications depend on, and reducing the overall performance of your system (since applications can no longer query metadata about files or other shell objects against the database, and instead they have to crack open files individually each time).

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Never, ever do this. That file attribute exists for developers to mark temp files or log files which aren't meant to be indexed.

If you want to disable indexing of a location, use the Indexing control panel.

What?

>>> Exactly what I said. The FANCI bit (File Attribute - Not Content Indexed) is designed for applications to mark temporary files or other frequently changed files which aren't meant to be user accessible. This flag doesn't even change whether a file is indexed, it just affects whether content is indexed or just properties.

>>> The user facing mechanism for changing indexing scopes is the Indexing Options control panel. Even then, users generally aren't expected to alter this configuration. Windows (and applications) determine which paths and data stores should be indexed.

"Indexing Service" is a legacy component not installed by default, and has nothing to do with Windows 7's search indexing.

Didn't know that. Can you point me to the documentation on this please?

>>> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library...698(WS.10).aspx

Why would you want to do this? Disabling random services is not supported or recommended.

When it comes to non-critical services, it's up to the user to decide what he or she wants to disable.

>>> Define "non-critical services." Services, like COM registrations or GAC'd assemblies, are not user-facing concepts in Windows. Tools are provided for developers and IT admins to interact with them, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to go around messing with them just because you can.

I can not find any indexing control panel, could you describe where exactly it is? i want to disable it because i don't have any use for it.

Type "index" into the start menu and it should be the first result.

If you use Explorer (or IE, WMP, Outlook, OneNote, Photo Gallery, Google Desktop, WL Mail, or several other applications) then you have a use for it.

What do you expect to gain by turning it off?

[+allan MVC]

Define "non-critical services." Services, like COM registrations or GAC'd assemblies, are not user-facing concepts in Windows. Tools are provided for developers and IT admins to interact with them, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to go around messing with them just because you can.

You know what I mean, as does anyone reading this thread. Look, I'm not SUGGESTING that non-technical users disable services arbitrarily, but there are certain services that can be disabled (or set to manual) without causing any negative side effects and if that's what someone wants to do, so be it. I do my best not to judge on these threads, but rather to suggest and provide intelligent advice (to whatever extent I'm capable of doing so ;) ).

Oh - and thanks for that link - never saw it before :)