Subscribe to How-To Geek

Recommended: Click Here to Run a Free Scan for Common PC Errors   [Sponsored Link]

Rebuilding the Search Index in Windows Vista

If you are encountering problems with the searching engine built into Windows Vista, your best bet is to tell the indexing service to completely rebuild the index. It will take a while to rebuild, but it's usually worth it.

It's important to note that the search indexing in Windows Vista also handles searching in Microsoft Outlook 2007, so if you are encountering errors there you have another troubleshooting step other than disabling instant search.

Type in indexing into the start menu search box to launch Indexing Options:

image

Once the dialog opens, you'll want to choose the "Advanced" button, which will give you a UAC prompt.

image

Now you can simply click the Rebuild button, and the search index will be wiped clean and regenerated.

image

This process does take a long time if you have many files being indexed, so you might want to consider trimming down the indexed locations.

The Geek is the founder of How-To Geek and a geek enthusiast. When he's not coming up with great how-to articles, he's probably writing at his personal blog. This article was written on 11/21/07 and tagged with: Windows Vista, Managing Files and Folders

Comments (2)

  1. Zath

    Many thanks for this! I've been having problems with bringing results back when I search ever since I stopped indexing and then turned it back on again, but now I'll try re-building it and see how I get on.

    Cheers!

  2. mimo

    Thank you for this tip!!!
    After this, my computer it's so faster, and now I can work better.


Leave a Comment




Leave your friendly comment here. If you have a computer help question, leave it on the forums instead.

Note: Your comment may not show up immediately on the site.

Copyright © 2006-2008 HowToGeek.com. All Rights Reserved.