Windows 7 search doesn't work

Anonymous

Search box doesn't work. When I type for example 'notepad' it just finds follder where program stands 'Programs' and doesn't find the notepad exe.

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Anonymous

I found my answer here:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7files/thread/cc378149-8765-498a-9480-b1b494e1a1a9

In effect:

This issue can be caused if an invalid registry key for the Start Menu grouping values gets written to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes{ef87b4cb-f2ce-4785-8658-4ca6c63e38c6}\TopViews{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}

The incorrect registry value is the GroupBy value, the incorrect value is most often “System.Null” but can appear as other values. The correct value should be “System.StartMenu.Group”

You can resolve the issue by follow one of the methods below:

Method 1: Delete the entire key:

To browse to and delete the registry key follow the steps below:

1. Click Start

2. In the Search programs and files box, type regedit

3. In the Programs list, click regedit.exe

If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or click Continue.

4. Browse to and click to select the following registry subkey:

5. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes{ef87b4cb-f2ce-4785-8658-4ca6c63e38c6}

6. In the left side of the window right-click GroupByand click Modify

7. Change the value to System.StartMenu.Group and click OK, then close the registry editor

You'll need to reboot your computer for this change to take effect.

Method 2: Add the correct value of GroupBy value:

Follow the steps below to add the correct value to the GroupBy value:

1. Click Start

2. In the Search programs and files box, type regedit

3. In the Programs list, click regedit.exe

If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or click Continue.

4. Browse to and click to select the following registry subkey:

5. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes{ef87b4cb-f2ce-4785-8658-4ca6c63e38c6}\TopViews{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}

6. In the left side of the window right-click GroupByand click Modify

7. Change the value to System.StartMenu.Group and click OK, then close the registry editor

You'll need to reboot your computer for this change to take effect.

Ken Smith

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Anonymous

Shukixxx,

Have you always experienced this issue, or is this a recent problem? If so, did you make any changes prior to the issue?

You may want to verify that search is turned on:

Click the Start button, click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Turn Windows features on or off. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
To turn on a Windows feature on, select the check box next to the feature (in this case Windows Search). Click ok.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Lisa

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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Anonymous

You may want to try this

Open the Search and Indexing troubleshooter

If you're having problems locating specific files, folders, or other items on your computer, try using the Search and Indexing troubleshooter to fix the problem. It makes sure that the Windows Search service is running, and checks to see whether you have the correct permissions to search all the directories on your computer.

Note

To make sure you have the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting Service, your computer should be connected to the Internet. For more information, see Troubleshooting in Windows.

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106 additional answers

Anonymous

2010-09-02T18:00:24+00:00

I bought office 2007 with three licenses. Installed it on three computers and none of the installs worked. I spent two weeks searching the net and trying fixes, finally found an email addy for "support" and emailed. Spent good part of two days on the phone with techs and their great fix was to reinstall windows. That worked for about two months and since every now and then a new problem crops up that I have to put up with. And that was only on my main computer, I uninstalled it on the other two.

The forums were full of people that had fought the same problem in older office versions and MS has not fixed their problem in several years of knowing of it.

I had to uninstall my MS web software to get Office to work. They can't even get their own software to work with their own software on their own system.

Personally I am slowly replacing MS software with freebies and getting along quite fine. Will continue to do so any time that I can.

exscentric
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Anonymous

2010-09-02T01:58:24+00:00

I had problems before with windows 7 search to find text inside files but we all know by now that we have to learn complicated commands. I've learned them 2 or 3 times by now and can't remember them anymore. I though Windows had a GUI but I guess Unix style is cool these days. It's nice to remember work when you're at home.

Now I have another problem with search.

I knew that there was some default outlook.pst file somewhere under C:\Users\x\AppData or whatever so I searched C:\Users\x for *.pst ("x" is my username).

The search returned nothing, so I search manually and I can see Outlook.pst in C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.

So I tried searching in the folder where the file is. It found it. Cool. But useless.

I then decided to start searching each folder up the path to see when the search would fail.

It worked fine in \Microsoft, then in \Local and \AppData I got results but strange ones, and in \x the search failed as before.

In \Local, I got something like this:

Outook.pst   Outlook(C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Microsoft)

Outook.pst   Outlook(C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Microsoft)

Outook.pst   Outlook(C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Application Data\Application Data\Microsoft)

Outook.pst   Outlook(C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Application Data\Microsoft)

Outook.pst   Outlook(C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Microsoft)

The search just kept going, findind the same file at every other minute, each time with one more \Application Data folder in it's path. I quit the search after it found 13 matches. This is the location of the 13th file found, as indicated in the file's properties:

C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Yeah right... It seems it got stuck in some recursive process.

Finally, in \AppData, in additon to the same problem found in the search in \Local, there's something else I don't understand. It returned matches for .pst files in C:\Users\x\My Documents, a location which I did not search. Is it because it is an indexed location? I don't care, I didn't tell it to search in My Documents, if I wanted to search in My Document I would do so. Why did this happen in \AppData and not in the other folders down the path?

In conclusion, the more I know about searching in Windows 7, the more problems I find in it that only lead me to the conclusion that it is totally flawed.

Rebuilding the index, turning on and off the feature, changing registry keys, libraries, symbolic links... Honestly I don't need to hear about that cr**. In XP it worked fine. It took a while when searching folders with lots of files, sure, but... IT WORKED. And it didn't require a manual.

I'm not going to ask my money back on Windows 7 because I'm afraid Microsoft won't be able to find it...

search tool for windows 7

1.140.000.000 results (0,37 seconds)
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