Windows 10: Windows cannot search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing it

Discus and support Windows cannot search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing it in Windows 10 Support to solve the problem; Windows cannot search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing it. If I want my hard drive to be indexed on Windows, I can only search it after it... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Support' started by desbest, Oct 10, 2020.

  1. desbest Win User

    Windows cannot search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing it


    Windows cannot search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing it. If I want my hard drive to be indexed on Windows, I can only search it after it has been indexed.

    I don't want to remove my external hard drive from my index so I can search it. Surely there's a way to search a hard drive whilst it's being indexed.

    So how can I search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing?

    :)
     
    desbest, Oct 10, 2020
    #1

  2. External hard drive indexing information lost

    Hi,

    It would be great if you can provide me with this information for a better understanding.

    1. Did you add the external hard drive to the list of locations to be indexed from the Indexing Options?

    2. By mentioning “it's registered as an indexed location” do you mean that you have already done this?

    If you haven’t added the external hard disk in the Indexing Options, then I would suggest you to follow these instructions and let’s know the result.

    a) Press “windows Logo” + “W” keys on the keyboard to display the “Settings” search bar.

    b) Type “Indexing Options” in that search box and press “Enter” key on the keyboard.

    c) In the “Indexing Options” window, click on “Modify” button.

    d) Under “Change selected locations”, select the external hard disk and add it to the indexing location list.

    e) If you are unable to find the hard disk drive in that list, then click on “Show all locations” and check if the hard disk is shown up there.

    f) Click on “Ok” and then click on “Close”.

    Please let me know, if that helps.

    You may now check if the issue still happens or not. If the issue persists, you may get back to us with more information about the issue.

    Kind Regards:

    Engr. Malik Yasir
     
    MALIK YASIRNAWAZ, Oct 10, 2020
    #2
  3. Dalmango Win User
    Search Not Indexing Optical Drive

    Thanks,

    • When you mentioned D Drive, are you pertaining to a partition or a separate external drive? - D Drive = Solid State Drive; 1 of 2 internal drives (the other being an optical drive);
    • Were you able to check if indexing was already completed? - Indexing completed on each attempt of rectification;
    • In the meantime, we suggest that you run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter - Done prior to posting; useless! It does not find any problems.
     
    Dalmango, Oct 10, 2020
    #3
  4. Remon Ont Win User

    Windows cannot search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing it

    External Hard Drive

    Hi John,

    We suggest that you try the troubleshooting steps below:

    • Open your External Hard Drive file in File Explorer.
    • Type the name of the file you want to search on the search box and click Enter.
    The file will show up in Search Results and you will be able to move it to the correct folder.

    Let us know if you need further help.
     
    Remon Ont, Oct 10, 2020
    #4
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Windows cannot search my external hard drive whilst it is indexing it

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