How do you disable SearchApp.exe from running so that you can enable SLI in the Nvidia Control Panel?

Anonymous

I'm unable to shut down SearchApp.exe in task manager so that I can enable SLI in the Nvidia control panel. I've performed a clean boot and stopped the Windows Search service.

However as soon as I end task on SearchApp.exe, it automatically restarts. Because of this I'm unable to enable SLI in the Nvidia control panel.

SearchApp.exe is located in C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy

I'm unable to enable SLI if I boot into safe mode. I already tried that.

When I had a version of Windows 10 pre version 2004, I had no problems ending task on everything running that prevented SLI from begin enabled. I did a clean install of Windows 10 last night to fix a problem and now that the problem is fixed, I have a new one. I really hope I don't have to install an older version of Windows 10 and upgrade to get around this problem.

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Anonymous

The previous answer is unlikely to work because Cortana keeps searchapp.exe running all the time (causing cpus to get hot).

The following commands worked for me. You have to paste them into in Administrator-level Command Prompt again and again until the timing is right and the "move" works.

cd %windir%\SystemApps

taskkill /f /im SearchApp.exe

move Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy.old

Optional: to remove Cortana completely (in addition to stopping searchapp.exe), run the following command in Administrator-level Powershell:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage

David Spector

Springtime Software

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67 additional answers

Anonymous

2020-10-24T10:13:46+00:00

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yes for me the difference was shocking. All the stuttering I've had for years with dual monitors magically disappeared!

Almost like they are getting paid by the processing companies in order to get people to buy faster processors......
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Anonymous

2021-03-18T19:55:29+00:00

Yes, Microsoft seems unable to design stuff right the first time, or recognize their mistakes afterward. So long as they are making profit on new hardware and devices, why should they waste time fixing bugs? Fixing bugs only makes customers happy with a company, and Microsoft doesn't care if they are disliked, since it apparently doesn't cut into their profits. Sorry to be so harsh, but it's the truth so far as I can see. I hope everyone discovers Everything, the free file search tool that works the way Microsoft can't do it: instantly.
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Anonymous

2021-02-02T18:48:04+00:00

The easiest method i've found is to create empty file disable.txt in SystemApps -> Windows.Search folder.

ex: *C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy*

SearchApp.exe will always start when clicking on Windows Start button but it will be immediately closed.

Works on 20H2. Also windows search will not work anymore but for switching SLI on it's enough.
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Anonymous

2020-11-06T09:01:41+00:00

David, does it work if you download a separate program for indexing and searching files?

Like this tool: https://www.voidtools.com/

If you don't know, maybe you could try and come back to us with the results!
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