Windows 10: Windows Search and/or Indexing Broken

Hi,

I recently upgraded to Windows 10 and have encountered an interesting problem. I realized it initially when I would press start and begin to type a program's name in order to run it, as I was doing with Windows 7, but it would not find any results and would prompt me to Google the program. I found it strange but didn't think much of it.

Once I started looking into the issue, I noticed when I go to Indexing Options it says "Indexing is not running." When trying to rebuild indexing, it gives the message about how it will take a while, and then does nothing. So I decided to look into Windows Search.

Windows Search is not and will not run. First: If I go to services.msc and try to start the Windows Search service, it tells me that "The Windows Search service on Local Computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs."

So I tried through an elevated cmd prompt: "net start wsearch" gives me error 15:

"C:\WINDOWS\system32>net start wsearch
The Windows Search service is starting..
The Windows Search service could not be started.


A system error has occurred.


System error 15 has occurred.


The system cannot find the drive specified."

Finally, and perhaps the strangest thing, one post told me to go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows Search \ SetupCompletedSuccessfully and change the value to 0. However, the only thing in the registry under Windows Search is a Preferences folder. There are no keys there. So to me it looks as though Windows Search does not currently exist on my computer.

So of course I run sfc /scannow. Unfortunately, it tells me:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow


Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.


Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.


Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some
of them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For
example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not
supported in offline servicing scenarios.

Any help would be appreciated.

:)

 

Major problems after Anniversary Update

Type Indexing in Start search, open Indexing options. Under Advanced tab edit the locations you want indexed for fast search. Then choose Rebuild Index. This may take awhile I'd give it exclusive use to sort these faster.

Run the WIndows Search Troubleshooter:
Fix and Repair broken Windows Search in Windows 10/8/7

Go over the
Windows 10 Install Integrity Checklist.

Let us know if you have any questions and what you find.

 

Cortana not finding local documents

Thanks, did all the things. Also did sfc and dism. Also checked locations under Indexing Options. Also rebuilt index.

It is still broken. Broke after updating to Fall Creators Update.

This is seriously afu.

How do I stop Cortana and revert to plain Windows Search?

 

Have you performed clean install after the upgrade? It's highly recommended, because there have been known problems when upgrading to W10.

 

I have exactly the same problem. Can't start the Windows Search service. *Sad

As for the sfc /scannow error I can advise you to try running: dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

 

I managed to run the Windows Search service.
I had to delete the Key RebuildIndex and change value of key SetupCompletedSuccessfully to 1.





Now that the search service works I have another problem. The indexing is not working:





In Advanced options the Index Location is blank and the button Select New is grayed out.





When I run the troubleshooter I get : Incorrect permissions on Windows Search directories -- Not fixed





The owner of folders C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Search and C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Search\Data is SYSTEM. Administrator and my user name are added with Full Control.
What could be the problem?

 

Have exactly the same problem. Have been trying for months to fix this without success. Will be interested to see if you are able to find a solution.

 

Hi sirsurfer, zdzdz also posted here:
Windows Search and Indexing Broken - Windows 10 Forums

See if anything helps and post back as necessary.

 

Actually I managed to fix the indexing problem, but I got even major problem.

I made a different thread just for my case: Windows Search and Indexing Broken - Windows 10 Forums

It appears the root of my problem was wrong security permissions on my drive c:
Administrator was missing from user groups and I had some unknown accounts.
That's why indexer couldn't access it's default folder and therefore all other problems came from this.

I did something very stupid. I tried to add Administrator by hand and apply to all subfolders and files. Then stopped it halfway. That was my mistake.

Then I found a free software called Permissions Time Machine. It's a great program that fixes permissions. There is an option to restore the default permissions. I chose to fix permissions for the whole drive c: It took me 10 hours.




As a result the permissions were fixed. Indexing was working. But because of my mistake earlier my start menu and cortana got ruined. They didn't work any more. So I did a clean install of Windows.

So I strongly recommend you do a full backup before you try to do something. I don't know if the problem on your system is the same, but it is probably related to wrong permissions.

 

Interesting. One of the first things I do with Windows is to turn off indexing and Windows Search. To each it's own, I guess.

 

Yes, that's what I used to do in pre-Windows 10 versions of the system, when search was a fairly isolated and independent feature.

But in Windows 10 it became integrated much tighter into the system. Disabling indexing and search will result in "dead" search fields in such places as Settings window. Even if you never use the Search field there, it is still rather unpleasant to see it not working properly.

 

It also directly affects Cortana's 'My Stuff' search, which seems limited to what's indexed - not that I'd ever actually admit to using it..