Windows Search Service not working after Windows 8.1 Upgrade

GEO/Sergio - Thanks for posting.  This worked for me as well.  While I am flabbergasted that Microsoft Support has made such a feeble response to this problem that is clearly plaguing users across the board (I found multiple threads on this topic, all with ineffective suggestions / no follow-up by Microsoft Support ), I am grateful for your willingness to share the solution you found.

Now that I have bought X1 Search, I am considering disabling MS Search altogether, but we'll see!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thank you for the prompt and detailed response. Regrettably, the problem is not fixed.

To answer your initial questions,

1)       What troubleshooter did you run on the computer? Is it “Search and Indexing” Troubleshooter?--Yes.

2)       If yes, what exactly did you find in the troubleshooting report? Does it says that the “Windows Search” service has stopped working on the computer?--Yes. 

3)       Did it show any error message/code? If yes, what is the exact message/code?--No error message was displayed. It prompted you to try and let Windows resolve the problem, but that ended with a message screen showing the problem "Not fixed."

4)       Did you try any troubleshooting steps on the computer for this issue?--Yes, all that I could find. That said, there were no other viable options provided.

Regarding your trouble shooting steps above:

After attempting to start Windows Search using the Properties option, the following “Services” message pops up:  “Windows could not state the Window Search service on Local Computer. Error 2. They system cannot find the file specified."

I ran the SFC Scan and restarted. The problem persisted.

I performed a Clean Boot and the problem persisted.

Additionally, when trying to fix the problem using the "Indexing Options" in the Control Panel (both before and after the trouble shooting steps above), I see the status: "Indexing is not running."  When I click on the "Advanced" button to make changes, none of the options are functional.  I clicked "Delete and rebuild index" and receive a message "Rebuilding Index" "Rebuilding the index might take a ling time to complete.  Some views and search results might be incomplete until rebuilding is finished."  After clicking OK, it never appears to do anything and I left the system running all night and set it to never sleep.

Finally, I am also receiving a RunDLL error message:  "There was a problem starting C:\Windows\System32:LogiLDA/dll The specified module could not be found."  I had previously disabled it, but after the normal restart after the Clean Boot. It is back.

Thanks for any next steps that you can offer!

Hi James,

It would be great if you can provide more information regarding this issue:

1)       What troubleshooter did you run on the computer? Is it “Search and Indexing” Troubleshooter?

2)       If yes, what exactly did you find in the troubleshooting report? Does it says that the “Windows Search” service has stopped working on the computer?

3)       Did it show any error message/code? If yes, what is the exact message/code?

4)       Did you try any troubleshooting steps on the computer for this issue?

This issue could be due to some conflicts on the computer which has stopped the “Windows Search” service on the computer. This could also be due to some system file corruption on the computer. Let’s try the following troubleshooting methods and check if that helps:

Method 1: Start the “Windows Search” service manually from the Windows Service Console

Please try these steps and check if that works.

a)       Press “Windows Logo” + “R” keys on the keyboard to open the “Run” command box.

b)       Type “Services.msc” in the “Run” command box and press “Enter”.

c)       In the “Services” window, search for the Windows Search service, right click on it and the click on “Properties” from its context menu.

d)       In the properties window, check if the service is started, if not click on “Start”.

e)       Also, make sure that the “Startup Type” is set as “Automatic”.

f)        Click on “Apply” and then “OK” and restart the computer.

g)       Now, check if the issue still persists.

If you are unable to start the “Windows Search” service, then let’s check if it is due to some system file corruption. Let’s run the SFC Scan to check this.

Method 2: Run an SFC Scan

The “sfc /scannow” command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

a)       Press “Windows Logo” + “Q” keys on the keyboard and type “cmd” in the search box.

b)       Right click on the “Command Prompt” icon from the search results and select “Run as administrator”

c)       On the command prompt window, type the following command, and then press “Enter”

sfc /scannow

d)       Follow the on-screen instructions and complete the scan.

e)       Restart the computer, try starting the “Windows Search” service again and check if that resolves the issue.

If the issue still persists, let’s check if this occurs in Clean Boot. This is to check if the issue is caused by any conflicts from any other third party program on the computer.

Method 3: Perform a Clean Boot and find out which application/service is causing this issue.

A clean boot helps to eliminate software conflicts and to determine what is causing the problem. Perform a clean boot on the computer by following the steps given in the link:

***http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135***

Follow the steps given in this link to perform a clean boot on the computer. You may please note that performing a clean boot does not fix the actual issue. It just helps us in identifying the root cause of the issue.

If the issue does not occur in clean boot, then you may determine which application/service on the computer is causing this issue. This can be done by following the instructions given in the article “How to determine what is causing the problem by performing a clean boot” under the section “More information” from the same given link.

Important: After you have finished troubleshooting, refer to the article “How to reset the computer to start as usual after clean boot troubleshooting” for Windows 8, given under the section “More Information” to reset the computer to start as usual from the above link.

Hope this is helpful. Please get back to us with the results.