Microsoft windows search indexer stopped working and was closed vista

I contacted Dell, where I purchased my laptop and they were of no use and they deleted my Outlook and Works which did not solve anything. All of these computer languages are not helping. One posting listed instructions for copying a bunch of stuff.

A safe and solid answer from Microsoft would be great like a solution within an update rather quick! As I have to say I have read through the threads and I am not happy to mess about in the reg key as I am not that proficient and it seems that in some cases it has made it worse?!!!

So Microsoft ; please put us out of our misery, it is wasting hours and hours of precious time and causing much angst.

I did some poking around and found a solution that worked for me. I will copy it below, it is from a post on techsupportforums. I just want to say, for the sake of anybody who finds this on Google, that I fixed it. Then, change the service back to starting automatically.

You still can't start the service until you reboot, at which time Windows will rebuild the index. Finally I am able to post to this forum. I had posted my complaint in the past also, and somehow I was blocked: I could not log in to post a reply until now.

I followed the instructions posted here on where to look for and copy these files: gathrprm, msscolmn, schema:. And copy those three files and put them in a secure folder somewhere else in your computer where they are very accesible. Dont close this window yet, since sometimes the Windows Service starts automatically. If that happens, you wont continue with the next steps and going back to the Services window will allow you to stop the service again, if necessary. Make sure to delete all the "gathrprm, msscolmn, schema" occurences and any other file or folder that are not called: Config, Data, Applications, Windows, Temp and usgthrsvc.

Everything else you can delete. If you have many files, these data files may be very very large, just take your time deleting them. Temp is ussually empty, but check it any ways. On the right, you will get details of the Windows Search Registry. These are the most important places you should look for: from the 13 files in that window, make sure that:. Match with the information in this folder: Gathering Manager, which is a folder located on the left.

In the registry keys of the Windows Search folder the 1st one you can make changes, but not in the keys of the Gathering Manager. Create folders in the data destination folders mentioned above if they do not exist, following the break-down from the keys on Gathering Manager, this is pretty much a fixed map, and the info on the Windows Search folder does not match, you will have problems with the software.

After you have made your changes and corrections, go back to the Windows Search folder the 1st one , click on SetupCompletedSuccessfully and make sure it says 0, not one. Make sure it says that it is not working or that it has been stopped and that all of the boxes are grayed-out. Now, open the roots of the data locations for WS, like mentioned above, and paste those files back into those empty folders, following the same break-down:.

Your WS, in theory, should start working perfectly fine I have done this many times and it works. The key is to match in the info from the WS registry and that those files and folders exist for real in the correct locations. Again, you can't change the info on Gathering Manager but you can in Windows Search.

Tried a restore to a known good point - that did not work. Tried copying schema and other files as directed got this mesage in the event viewer:. Please can you help me resolve this.

Checked my restore points and noticed that there were a couple of Windows updates after the point at which things seemed to work on 2 Aug I get the search indexer working - it goes for a couple of daysthen stops again. The latest event viewer error is:.

Works perfectly. Saved me from reformatting. Can you imagine? HP told me to reformat. I hope the MS guys are taking note on this forum so they can find a way to debug this problem! Anyways, for those who have the same problem as Miguel and cannot reboot Search Indexer here's step by step what to do: Sorry Eric, some steps are missing in your answer and took me time to get it.

But if the llittle yellow or green or red light is on light near the startup button or flashing that means your computer is working and don't try to reboot. Give it time to assess the changes. After that you can open the Indexed Options in the control Panel for Classic View or follow the steps described above to get to Indexed Options and you will see the Indexer indexing all your files.

Better not close the computer and let the indexer index ALL your files 'till the end. For now, it solved alot of problems. Error message does not appear anymore. But for how long? I will keep you posted. I had the same problem. As posted earlier in this forum, here are the steps to reboot the search indexer.

Try this it should work. That was an easy fix, and so far no error messages. Mine started after I ran Max Registry Cleaner, so it was a self-inflicted wound, as so often happens. Yes, there has been known issues with registry cleaners deleting registry keys that we require. It is not quite clear for me what directory is a sub-directory You have an exception status code of cc. This is most likely a hardware failure. It works fine now!! Hi David, same problem here for over weeks now- the "modify" and "advanced" option selections are grey in the indexing options page, therefore unaccessible.

Is there some other way to activate access to them. Please help me, the problem seems to be getting progressively worse with my system. If you ask me The "windows search indexer has stopped working" error keeps coming over and over -- even though I did the proceedures recommended here.

No matter what external hard drive I use, I get the error. Not only are we burdend by the SLOW copy file functions Windows explorer needs a rework. After having most of the symptoms other users had regarding problems getting the search engine activate here is a quick summary.

Thanks heaps for the help, saved ripping my remaining hair out No, this is not exclusive to Dell, I have an Aspire and I have had this message for a month, it's pissing me off to be quite frank.

I was able to fix it once and now it's started again. This is what Natasha posted on page 3 of this forum, and it has worked for me, although I have had to repeat it about every third week. I have the same probl. Protokollname: Application Quelle: Outlook Datum: The content you requested has been removed.

Ask a question. Quick access. Search related threads. Remove From My Forums. Answered by:. Archived Forums. Windows Desktop Search Help. Sign in to vote. Hello, Having major propblems with the Indexer, Its causing major system performance issues and problems This happens when Deleting a file. Opening Outlook.

Office Moving Files. Pracatly anything to do with the Indexer. While deleting or moving files system performance slows to a trail. Outlook stops completely. Opening controll panel, then indexing options States that Indexing is not running. Basicly it wont stop crashing. Any workaround or fix? Sunday, March 4, PM. Try to reset search by going to Indexing Options then to the advanced options. Click on the "Restore Defaults" button and reboot your machine. Let me know if that solves it.

Tuesday, March 6, AM. Yes, Thanks, Seems to be resolved. Even the advanced options button, But, Looks like it wasnt that time. All fixed, Thanks. Hi John, could you please help me explaining how did you resolve the issue of the unselectable options. I'm having the same problem. The indexing options appear to be unselectable, but still I'm getting the Windows Indexing error. Thanks for any advice, Miguel. Wednesday, March 7, PM. If you do not see these folders, you need to turn on viewing for hidden folders by going to Windows Explorer or My Computer and then choosing Tools , Folder Options.

Go to the View tab and scroll down till you see Show hidden files and folders. You should now be able to see the ProgramData folder. In Windows 10, just click on the View tab and check the Hidden Items box.

Again, make a backup of the files in the directories before deleting them just in case, but they really are not that important. If you get an Access is Denied message when trying to delete the files, you will first need to stop the Window Search Index service by going to Control Panel , then Administrative Tools , and then clicking on Services.

The service should be called Windows Search or Windows Searcher. Double click on the service and click Stop. After you delete the files, restart the computer and the index will be rebuilt and hopefully your error will be gone!

Founder of Online Tech Tips and managing editor. He began blogging in and quit his job in to blog full-time. I rebuilt the index 5 hours ago and no search indexer errors since. This thread is locked. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. I have the same question Report abuse. Details required :. Cancel Submit. Vaseem Ahmed. Method 3 : Run System File Checker tool and check for missing or corrupted files. Follow these steps to rebuild index: a.

Method 5 : If the above step fails, restart computer in clean boot and disable third party application and check if you get the error message. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. Search in your whole computer.