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

This answer did not work for me.

I typed troubleshooter per the instructions and no"Troubleshooting" came up.

I would show you what happened on my computer but Windows snpping and screen capture tools won't capture text from that part of the environment.

I am used to being able to find things in Excel documents by searching for them

I can no longer do this with Windows 7. I have followed instructions for turning on more options.

I am not interested in reading a book about the wonders of indexing etc. to find information that used to be readily available.

I got an easy fix from a user after trying all their suggestions that never work.  This worked for me

.

 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.

The paragraph above is just how he explained it. His exact words. I followed these instructions and I finally found all my doc files and individual doc files.  Why this was set not to search the libraries is absolutety stunningly stupid to me.  I did not hit "restore defaults"  because I was afraid it would go back the way it was. 

It is easy enough to do and very logical so give it a try.

Joan

P.S. The guys name was Paul - that is all I know.

This answer did not work for me.

I typed troubleshooter per the instructions and no"Troubleshooting" came up.

I would show you what happened on my computer but Windows snpping and screen capture tools won't capture text from that part of the environment.

I am used to being able to find things in Excel documents by searching for them

I can no longer do this with Windows 7. I have followed instructions for turning on more options.

I am not interested in reading a book about the wonders of indexing etc. to find information that used to be readily available.

Hello White-Alligator,

Are you performing a search from the Start menu?  When you open Windows Explorer, what location is selected? (example: Libraries)   Are you able to find documents if you do a search in the Search Libraries field? 

 

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

 

 Please let us know status.

I have had this issue for 3 mons now---have tried the above and everything else MS and others have suggested. NOthing works, Please advise. 

Windows Search TroubleshooterPublisher details

      Issues found

      Windows Search is crashing or failingWindows Search is crashing or failing

      Windows Search crashes or fails after it has started. Additionally, an 

      event ID 7042, 100, or 1000 is logged in the Windows event log, or the 

      Windows Search service is not running.Not fixed

            Reset Windows SearchSucceeded

      Windows Search does not start and gives an error messageWindows Search 

      does not start and gives an error message

      Windows Search does not show any search results and there is an error 

      message on startup. An Event ID 1006 or 3024 is logged in the Windows 

      event log, or Windows Search service is not running.Not fixed

            Reset Windows SearchSucceeded

      Windows Search does not show any resultsWindows Search does not show any 

      results

      Windows Search does not show any results. Additioanlly, an event ID 7040 

      is logged in the Windows event log, or Windows Search service is not 

      running.Not fixed

            Reset Windows SearchSucceeded

      Issues foundDetection details

            6Windows Search is crashing or failingNot fixed

      Windows Search crashes or fails after it has started. Additionally, an 

      event ID 7042, 100, or 1000 is logged in the Windows event log, or the 

      Windows Search service is not running.

                  Reset Windows SearchSucceeded

            This resolver will reset the search database and restart the Windows 

            Search service. This enables Windows to re-index all files and 

            resolve this problem.

            6Windows Search does not start and gives an error messageNot fixed

      Windows Search does not show any search results and there is an error 

      message on startup. An Event ID 1006 or 3024 is logged in the Windows 

      event log, or Windows Search service is not running.

                  Reset Windows SearchSucceeded

            This resolver will reset the search database and restart the Windows 

            Search service. This enables Windows to re-index all files and 

            resolve this problem.

            6Windows Search does not show any resultsNot fixed

      Windows Search does not show any results. Additioanlly, an event ID 7040 

      is logged in the Windows event log, or Windows Search service is not 

      running.

                  Reset Windows SearchSucceeded

            This resolver will reset the search database and restart the Windows 

            Search service. This enables Windows to re-index all files and 

            resolve this problem.

      Detection details

      Collection information

      Computer Name: JULIA-PC

      Windows Version:6.1

      Architecture:amd64

      Time:Saturday, December 03, 2011 9:22:48 AM

      Publisher details

      Windows Search Troubleshooter

      Automatically repair Windows Search problems, such as database corruption, 

      crashes and startup failures.

      Package Version:1.0

      Publisher:Microsoft Corporation

i'm the administor. this is administrator account.. it says I must be administrator to do this.

windows 7 really and truly is not very good in many regards.

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

Remember - This is a public forum so never post private information such as email or phone numbers!

Ideas:

• Programs you are having problems with
• Error messages
• Recent changes you made to your computer
• What you have already tried to fix the problem

It has never worked for me.. i just gave up on the concept of search with windows 7.... no fix works.  it is just terrible.

I think there might be a shareware or somthing that does search in windwos 7.  I liked xp much better.