Windows 7 search does not work for documents, broken, no results

Anonymous

My search function does not pull up files, specifically Microsoft Works word documents, that contain words i entered into the search bar.

I've tried searching through the document libraries and through the start menu, but it says "no items match your search." I've tested this by writing the words "smart world" in a document and the search function still can't find this document.

NOTE: search is not completely broken. it will return results for programs and items in the control panel. Results also return ONE document, and always the same one, which is the first word document i created on this computer.

i've spent an hour finding my way to this forum. along the way, i've seen some complicated fixes on other forums that have not worked for all. i am not a programmer and do not want to try some complicated fix that could damage my already frail and prone to stupid errors hard drive.

I'm using a Dell Inspiron 15 with win 7 32bit that was a free upgrade with the computer.

make it work for me MS!

SO MY QUESTION IS: how can i fix my windows 7 search feature so that it will pull up ms works word document files containing the words that i typed into the search bar?

I am completely enervated by all of this.

Thank you so much for any help you can provide!

rob

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Anonymous

Hi rob,

If you are experiencing problems with searching, such as unusually slow searches or incomplete search results, run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter to see if it can diagnose the problem.

Open the Search and Indexing troubleshooter by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. Click View all, and then click Search and Indexing.

Depending on the severity of the problem, the Search and Indexing troubleshooter might need to restart the Windows Search service.

For further information, visit the below mentioned link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Improve-Windows-searches-using-the-index-frequently-asked-questions

You may also refer the below mentioned link.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Searching-in-Windows-frequently-asked-questions

If this not help, you may create a new user account and check if the issue persist.

For further information, visit the below mentioned link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/Windows7/Create-a-user-account

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile

Hope this information helped!

Thanks and regards

Fouzan – Microsoft support

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62 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-04-11T16:39:50+00:00

It looks like this is a bug in Win 7 SP1, no way to fix it other than a fresh install.
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Anonymous

2011-04-05T18:00:06+00:00

I am having the same problem. I tried this and it didn't work.

When I search from the start menu I get no results at all. I tried the hotfix mentioned elsewhere but it would not install on my version of Windows.

I am running Windows 7 x64 SP1. It is a relatively fresh install, only a few days old. Any help would be appreciated.
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Anonymous

2011-03-17T08:47:10+00:00
I am also experiencing this problem; after hours of trial and error, I narrowed it down to this:

Office files (created with Office 2003) and other files (pdf, etc.) that were imported from my old XP PC (tried both a non-MS backup-restore program, but also simple file copy via a FAT32 disk -no ACLs carried forward) are not found by Search, no matter the scope.

BUT :
- the same files moved to public folders are successfully found by Search !
- in private folders, if I simply open a "problematic" office file then close it, even without change/save), it becomes "visible" by Search !
This means that for me, to fix the search issue many seem to experiment, I could either 1) move all my files to public document folders or 2) open at least once all my existing docs (thousands !).

Clearly these two options are not acceptable.

I would be glad to see if someone can repro the above scenario.

(see http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-files/ms-office-files-not-seen-by-the-indexersearch-in/55638931-50fd-4022-954f-9cbb9e045764?tm=1300350622606)
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Anonymous

2011-02-11T16:08:18+00:00

Hi,

I know this thread is a little old, but I'm sure their are others who are having similar problems. If your search box works to bring up windows programs eg: services, then indexing is probably working and you just need to turn on the sections for searching files and folders. That's easy to do.

In windows 7, right click on the LOGO start button, select PROPERTIES, then select CUSTOMIZE on the start menu tab. Scroll down to "Search other files and libraries" and select either search with public or without public folders. (or hit RESTORE DEFAULTS) at the bottom. Apply hit ok and search away!

Hope this helps.

Paul
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