Search function not working at all in XP

by nahcjason32 Dec 7, 2006 5:45AM PST

For some time now I have not been able to use my Windows XP Search function. It doesn't even start up, from either of the two spots I use it. The first is by clicking the Start Menu, and clicking Search; the second is by right clicking My Computer and clicking Search. Both do nothing when clicked (at all, not even an hour glass or anything). It's almost as if teh executable for the function has disappeared. I have been pulling my hair out for a couple months now. I have searched many forums and have tried the fixes such as registry keys; running (regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\srchasst\srchui.dll); running sfc /scannow; kellys-korner help pages; etc..

So far nothing has worked and the only thing I have not yet tried was re-installing teh whole OS. I would like to avoid this if anyone can give me some direction or input.

Thanks again

JAY

Discussion is locked

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WINNER!!!

by King of Potatoes Jan 22, 2007 8:03AM PST

WINNER!!!! DING DING DING!!!

that fixed my problem, thanks so much!!

believe mine started on Kaspersky uninstall also...

*shakes imaginary fist at Kaspersky*

*owes andrea a hug*

thanks,
michael

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Missing search

by byerssha May 10, 2007 1:37AM PDT

I think I've followed all the suggestions in this thread and so far nothing works for me. I have XP SP2. My explorer search icon is there on the explorer toolbar but NOTHING HAPPENS when I click it.

I don't even have a search icon in my start menu.

Looking at the Start menu there's no place where Search even appears in advanced options where I can click it on. The options include: Print..., Run..., Scroll.., Set program access... NO SEARCH. I've looked at both the classic and new start menus. NO SEARCH.

I've tried the srchasst.inf install (both before and after Andrea's service registration instructions.

I use google desktop search, but don't want to use it for network drives.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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my problem is solved

by byerssha May 13, 2007 10:27PM PDT

My problem - the search feature missing from the start menu and not working from the toolbar has been solved.

run
gpedit.msc

user configuration --
administrative templates --
start menu and task bar --
remove search menu from start menu - make it not configured or disabled

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This worked for me

by ketansrihas Aug 5, 2011 5:30PM PDT

After backing up the registry! navigate to the folder, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\CabinetState.

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It's a problem of service registration.

by Bob24V May 26, 2007 11:08AM PDT

Andrea,

You stated:
"Open a shell (start -> run -> cmd):
regsvr32 /i C:\Windows\Srchasst\srchui.dll
regsvr32 /i urlmon
regsvr32 jscript
right-click windows/inf/srchasst.inf > install"

I was able follow all the steps except the last.
I wonder if "right-click" refers to the mouse. And to what do "windows/inf/srchasst.inf" refer?
If you refer to Windows Explorer files, I checked them on my computer and found the [windows] and [inf] folders but no srchasst.inf file in the latter even after having successfully run the first 3 steps you suggested in cmd. The only files I found in the [inf] folder near that part of the alphabet were sceregvl.PNF and scsi; no srch...'s.

Thanks for your help,
~ Bob V

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search assistant missing

by olneil Jan 25, 2009 11:32AM PST

Worked for me too.....

You are a whiz!

thanks so much

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Thanks a lot

by ginesoliver Sep 15, 2009 8:29PM PDT

Couldn't quite understand the last line either, but the rest made wonders.

Best !

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works like a charm

by cm2gj Jul 18, 2011 4:30AM PDT

this works perfect. the last line (install of search assistant) is key.

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Before reinstalling your OS

by faithfrank Jan 22, 2007 9:49AM PST

you might try using a 3rd party search engine such as the one that I use. http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/index.html. Its free and works much better than windows search. It even shows thumbnails of what is in folders.

Faith

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Problem solved

by Mick_Malkemus Oct 8, 2007 4:18AM PDT

I had this problem also, and found it to be a virus.

I know this, because after downloading the free AVG program, and detecting and eliminating five trojans, the problem was finally fixed.

I previously did everything in this forum, except a virus scan.

One particularly deceptive virus is scrnsave.exe, it masquerades as the windows screen saver program. After setting scrnsave.exe to 0 in the registry, I still had the program showing up in Windows Task Manager. AVG got rid of it.

I hope this solves your problem also.

Good luck,
Mick

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***HERE is the Solution**

by alw75 Dec 15, 2008 9:37PM PST

I had same issue!!!

All you need to do is reload internet explorer from Microsoft. I never use it anyways, I had 6.0 and updated to 7.0 and that fixed the problem. That is all you need to DO... Keep It Simple...

Aaron.. dispatch-tech

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a simple, commonsense solution that worked for me

by rholway Jul 8, 2009 1:40AM PDT

From: http://www.technologyquestions.com/technology/windows-xp/293080-windows-desktop-search-not-running.html

RE: Windows Desktop Search not running

I had the same problem with my WDS after I did a bit of service tweaking (see Black Viper's Web Site). I found that WDS needs the Windows Search service to run, which in turn requires the Terminal Services service to be running. If you find that one or both of those services are disable or stopped, try enabling and starting them: Right-click My Computer -> Manage -> Services and Appications -> Services. Find and right-click the service. Select properties and then make sure that the Start-up Type is set to Manual or Automatic. Then under Service Status, press the Start button.

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Search function not working in XP

by tedgrant2 Jun 19, 2010 7:21AM PDT

Hi,
I had the same problem, even after changing the NoFind data in the registry, as suggested by other contributors, then I realised there may be more than one entry in the Registry, so I used the registry search function (which sill worked!), looking for any instances of the word NoFind and found another one that had it's data set to 1, so I changed it to 0 then rebooted and now I can search again. The reason it had disappeared in the first place was that I was experimenting with a free tweaking program, which I later uninstalled and lost track of it's origin. One of the options was to remove Search from the Start Menu, something I never use; I always use the Right-Click Context menu. What I didn't know at the time was that it removed BOTH, which I didn't discover until a few days later, by which time it was too late to undo the change. Hope this helps. Regards tedgrant2 (you can find me on Youtube).

Search function not working at all in XP

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