Disable Indexing
Indexing is one of those Microsoft features that is good in theory and not so good when the theory is tested by everyday life. The indexing feature was designed to speed up Windows search. Basically, it indexes all files and folders on your hard drive, so that the indexes can be used to find files and folders more quickly when the need arises. In theory, your files and folders should only be indexed when the computer is idle, so that there aren’t any performance issues. A good idea, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, the indexing feature is not perfect. Even though it’s not supposed to kick in when you are using your computer, it often does just that. This causes your hard drive to start making noises and slows everything down. So, if you don’t use Windows search all that often, it makes sense to either disable indexing altogether or modify indexing options, if you are on Windows 7.
Disabling indexing is easy. You can simply right-click on your hard drive in (My) Computer, go to Properties and uncheck Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching in Windows XP or Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties in Windows 7.
However, it’s best to disable the Indexing Service altogether. Here is how:
1. Click on Start and type services.msc in the Search box (XP users will need to click on Start – Run and type services.msc there). Hit Enter
2. Locate the Indexing Service (Windows XP) or Windows Search (Windows 7), change the service startup type to Disabled and then click on the Stop button
3. Click OK, close services.msc and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect
If you are running Windows 7, you can choose to adjust indexing options. This way you will make sure that Windows still indexes your frequently searched locations, but doesn’t hog your computer by indexing folders you never search. Here is how you can configure indexing on a Windows 7 computer:
1. Go to the Control Panel, type indexing options in the search box, and then click Indexing Options.
2. Click on Modify. Make sure you have Show All Locations enabled
3. Clear the checkboxes for the folders you rarely search and click OK when you are finished
Indexing is one of those Microsoft features that is good in theory and not so good when the theory is tested by everyday life. The indexing feature was designed to speed up Windows search. Basically, it indexes all files and folders on your hard drive, so that the indexes can be used to find files and folders more quickly when the need arises. In theory, your files and folders should only be indexed when the computer is idle, so that there aren’t any performance issues. A good idea, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, the indexing feature is not perfect. Even though it’s not supposed to kick in when you are using your computer, it often does just that. This causes your hard drive to start making noises and slows everything down. So, if you don’t use Windows search all that often, it makes sense to either disable indexing altogether or modify indexing options, if you are on Windows 7.
Disabling indexing is easy. You can simply right-click on your hard drive in (My) Computer, go to Properties and uncheck Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching in Windows XP or Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties in Windows 7.
However, it’s best to disable the Indexing Service altogether. Here is how:
1. Click on Start and type services.msc in the Search box (XP users will need to click on Start – Run and type services.msc there). Hit Enter
2. Locate the Indexing Service (Windows XP) or Windows Search (Windows 7), change the service startup type to Disabled and then click on the Stop button
3. Click OK, close services.msc and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect
If you are running Windows 7, you can choose to adjust indexing options. This way you will make sure that Windows still indexes your frequently searched locations, but doesn’t hog your computer by indexing folders you never search. Here is how you can configure indexing on a Windows 7 computer:
1. Go to the Control Panel, type indexing options in the search box, and then click Indexing Options.
2. Click on Modify. Make sure you have Show All Locations enabled
3. Clear the checkboxes for the folders you rarely search and click OK when you are finished