Windows 10: search won't work in anniversary update of windows 10

a menu comes up which includes "search". i click on that and cortana appears. i still cannot enter anything into the window at the bottom of cortana, which is where, i assume, the data it be searched is entered.

how do i turn cortana off properly?

 

You can't turn off Cortana in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update | PCWorld

 

That is not their problem. The problem is that as they stated when they installed the Anniversary OS, it caused search to become disabled.

 

You are not by chance running any third party Security software are you? That can cause odd behaviors like that.

 

i use ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Maywarebytes Antimalware

 

Hi, Considering only searching for files on your PC:
Cortana search for files only searches what's indexed, and does not find executable files. As such it's very limited. There are much much better ways to do this.

Using search in explorer is better, but slowish for regions not indexed.
(Note that explorer search can be specified to search content too).

Much more convenient for finding files and much much faster are these free programs:
Ultrasearch
Everything (if you use this, get v1.4 beta)
Locate32 (older)

Instant find as you type results on file and folder names anywhere that has been scanned. Scanning is very quick.

 

That could be your problem. One of them may have caused the issue. Your Eset has the Firewall with it, doesn't it? Try disabling of Eset while you troubleshoot, which will mean stopping the service. Now if you do not have another account on your computer, you can create a local one and compare it's behavior to the behavior on the other account.

If Cortona works with Eset disabled during Troubleshooting, then most likely it has your network set as a Public to connect to, so it is blocking any outbound and inbound requests that use specific ports, instead of keeping them in stealth and only opening them up when needed.

If Eset and Malware Bytes were installed during the upgrade, you may have to uninstall them and any other software having issues and reinstall. First run sfc /scannow in a Command Window as Administrator and see if it finds any issues.

 

cortana wins. search is no more. i will be using "everything search" to find files. thanks for all your replies and help.

 

Wise choice! Wiser people than I have reached that conclusion.

If you're using Everything look for 1.4 beta as it adds useful 'Advanced search' GUI options. In that respect, UltraSearch is better, just looking at it (I've been using Locate32 which has had these options for years).

 

That is usually how it ends. I keep everything on a NAS, so I never use any type of search on a workstation. There are better tools for searching, especially media files.