Problem with Windows Explorer (Not Internet Explorer)

[Johnk]

Russell, while I was doing some research on stuff for my tutorial, I came across two items of interest. The first may just be the answer:

Source:

Windows XP can be a little too over organized sometimes. It will keep an index for files on your computer. This is supposed to be a quick way for windows to access files. If u dont open and close or search for files very often, or are running low on free space this can have the opposite effect, besides it takes fractons of a second for the computer to locate a file on your hard drive. Follow the next five easy steps to disable disk indexing and free up some space.

1. Open "my computer"
2. Right click on the drive you wish to disable, typically "C"
3. Select "properties"
4. At the bottom of the window un-check the box labeled "Allow Indexing Service
to index this disk for fast file searching"
5. Click "apply"

- note, if you would like some files index follow the next seven steps

1. Right click on desired file
2. Click "Properties"
3. Click the "General" tab
4. Select "Advanced"
5. In the table labeled "Archive and Index attributes" check the box labeled "For fast searching, allow Indexing Service to index this file"
6. Click "Ok"
7. Repeat for any other file you wish to be indexed

- my 80GB hard drive was full of media, cleared just over 2GB and a noticeable speed improvement
When I looked at my machine, the feature was on. When I turned it off, an indexing window I've never seen before appeared. I just switched it off. Everything seems to be working okay still.

And from Microsoft, this possible solution.

 

[SuperFudd]

Hi Johnk

So if I turn off indexing of the drive, do you supose Trainz might suffer? If so, which Trainz files should I set for indexing?

 

[Johnk]

Hi Johnk

So if I turn off indexing of the drive, do you supose Trainz might suffer? If so, which Trainz files should I set for indexing?

I wouldn't have a clue. If you don't have a problem, I guess you don't do it. It's not the end of the world. If it does cause problems, turn it back on again. Alternatively, just index the entire Trainz folder.

 

[Stagefright]

Hi Johnk

So if I turn off indexing of the drive, do you supose Trainz might suffer? If so, which Trainz files should I set for indexing?

I wouldn't worry too much about Indexing Service in Vista or 7. XP, otoh, had a real problem with it. I would suggest turning it off altogether, then reboot. AFAIK it has no real effect on file operations, just on the search function.

Good catch, John. I had forgotten all about the indexing service in XP; it's been a while since I've run XP.

Darrel

 

[SuperFudd]

I tried it on one of my two drives and LOST 4 meg of free space.

 

[Johnk]

4 meg is the size of a song or 10 photos on the Screenshots page. Hardly enough to worry about, but it's interesting that the guy who wrote the article gained 2 gig. Did you let that little window with pretty pictures flying from one side to the other run its course or did you cancel it as suggested?

 

[SuperFudd]

It ran uninterupted.

 

[Johnk]

I'm only guessing, but it probably made a backup of your previous index. With Windows, it's very much a "For me to know and for you to find out" situation. I've never seen that style of copy icon (if that's what it was) before so I can't comment. If you can't live without the missing 2 meg, I suggest you remove a few unwanted programs. I just removed all my redundant restore points because my machine is running fine at the moment and I'll only need the last restore point in an emergency. That saved me 2 gig.

 

[rmdk]

Thanks Johnk,

I tried both methods of stopping the indexing. Using your method, the option to activate or deactivate was not present. So I went to the second Microsoft method - that didn't work either.

I was hoping this would fix my problem.

Ill wait for your tutorial, unless you suggest something else before hand.

Regards

Russell

 

[Johnk]

Russell, it's definitely there if you're running XP. here's a simplified version:

• Open My Computer
• Right Click C:\ or Programs (C) or whatever
• From the dropdown, click Properties
• In the window that appears, complete with Pie Chart, go to the bottom. There are two boxes
• Untick the bottom one "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching"
• If a funny window pops up with pages flying from right to left, click Cancel. That's what I did.
• Someone said reboot. Sounds good to me.

Note, if the disk keeps running, you will have to do it with each drive/partition.

It should take two minutes so get back and we'll look at other things if it doesn't work. I can't tell if it works on my machine because I don't have the problem.

John

 

[rmdk]

John,

I have done as you have explained but the option to turn off the indexing doesn't appear. I can see the pie chart etc. The option is not present and is not even showing as 'Greyed out'.

I have followed your suggestion on my laptop and have been able to turn off the indexing.

Russell

 

[Johnk]

Hi Russell,

You have me baffled. Here is a screenie of my window:

If you can't see this, I don't have an answer except that you may not be the Administrator. You may need to switch users to Administrator in Start/Log on or do the changes in safe mode.

I'm still working on the tutorial, but I'm getting further and further behind.

 

[rmdk]

Hello John,

I really appreciate the time you have given me. Thanks.

The screen that you show above is what I see EXCEPT for the two squares at the bottom, one of which you have highlighted. They are not shown on my desktop computer.

I have been able to turn off indexing on my laptop after following your suggestions.

I don't know enough about the inner workings so I'll wait for your tutorial - hopefully I'll have some success after using it.

Thanks, again.

Russell