Windows 7: Search does not find files that it should, directory is indexed, and *.php included on the extension list

I'm getting confused now.  Are you, Brian100, and you, Oil Man, one and the same person?  Or do you both have the same problem?  Anyway, it's good that the file moving trick (1) worked OK.  I nearly suggested specifically deleting the original files from your hard drive before moving the copies back from the flash drive, in fact that's what I meant by "move", but then I thought surely copy/replace would do it.

Having the "read-only" attribute set should not affect the visibility of a file in Explorer.  Changing the trust of Word documents in Word Trust Center is an interesting idea (I guess you mean altering settings in Trusted Documents, Protected View, and File Block Settings), but again it should not make the files invisible, just alter how you can access them.

With regard to your note to Microsoft, I'm afraid your words are wasted.  MS has more important things to do with its time than read through its forums and help.  One of the forum purposes is to enable customers to sound off without Microsoft having to listen.

Pace ¡Firedog, there is no reason why one cannot put user folders in the C: drive root as long as the security permissions are set correctly and system folder permissions are not changed.  For instance, I set up a web server "by hand" in C:\Apache24, the PHP engine in C:\PHP, a C++ compiler in C:\MinGW, and so on.  I am puzzled by the reference to Windows surreptitiously moving a folder and leaving a link in the root.  This doesn't happen spontaneously; something (perhaps a program installation) has to do it.  There are however special hidden links in C:\Users, put there to make the system folders "My Documents", etc., work properly and for backward compatibility with XP programs.  But I digress.

Just out of interest, you can search any folders on the C: drive from the Explorer search box using basic file properties, including System32 and so on, even though they may not be indexed.  Search uses a mode rather like Linux's "grep" for this; it can take a long time.

Finally, for Oil Man, you can see the attributes on files by starting a command window, and typing "attrib", or "attrib w*" to see the attributes on all files starting with "w" for example.

iFiredog,

Its not truly at root.  I just didn't feel like typing the whole tree.  The tree starts at "My Documents" (aka Documents) and goes 2 or 3 layers deep.  Its in a normal place using a normal file structure.

If your folder is truly C:\folder, then it's not unlikely that you wouldn't be able to find the file. Windows 7 frowns on user folders in the system drive root for security reasons. If you do manage to create a folder there, Windows will certainly move it surreptitiously somewhere else that it regards as safer, leaving only a link in the root. User folders should always be placed in the user profile; folders to which all users need to have access can be placed in the Public folder.

JMWard,

1. Worked!!!  I copied a file to a USB drive and searched...File Explorer found it.  A second File Explorer box was opened to the original C:\folder location and it could not see the same file.  Copying the USB file from the USB drive to C:\local folder fixed the issue.  Oddly copy/replace didn't do it.  I actually had to delete the original and then copy from the USB drive.

I will try 2) if I get time today.

If Microsoft reads these:

It appears one of the Microsoft updates changed the way my PC manages file "attributes".  Whether the change was unintentional by Microsoft or for the greater good (security), I have wasted a lot of time "putting my computer back the way I had it."  (and I couldn't have done it without help.)  In my opinion this is not just inconvenient but LESS SECURE because a hacker could put a file in plain sight and I couldn't search for it.