did you disable windows search on your w7 or w8/8.1?

As DoctorPC said, you don't really need service running. You will not lose any features, only prevent constant reindexing happening in background. Search will work the same, maybe slightly slower.

hqsec

 

I disagree.

 

I disabled service on many systems and didn't see any feature missing. What feature gets lost if I disable this service?

hqsec

 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-happens-if-i-turn-off-windows-search

 

Yes that is true if you remove Windows Search as a Windows feature. Leaving feature on and disabling only service AFAIK only disables indexing.

hqsec

 

SSD's are so fast indexes dont matter. You can find something within a matter of seconds even without indexing. Id be willing to bet that my search times with a SSD and indexing services turned off I would find the same file faster than a 5400 or 7200 RPM standard HDD with indexing on.

 

True.

When I compare my SSD with indexing disabled and HDD (5400 RPM) with indexing enabled, SSD is much faster. But indexing disabled od HDD prolongs search noticeably (at least in Outlook).

hqsec

 

My searching Outlook is almost instant as well. My inbox, trash, sent items are roughly 110Mb.

 

Correct, simply disable the SERVICE to remove indexing. The searches, search boxes, and search features are ALL still present everywhere, and all programs that depend on search will not notice the absence of the service, they will merely resort to a normal search mode sans indexing.

 

but i guess there 2 services
windows search and indexing

or am i wrong?

 

No, there is only one service named Windows Search. Here is a description of service:

hqsec

 

Windows 8 only has the Windows Search service but Windows 7 has both Indexing Service and Windows Search services.

 

Yes, you are right. I was checking it in my Windows 8.1 installation. Thanks for correction.

hqsec

 

under w7 Indexing Service is not installed by default

can be disabled via Windows Features->Indexing Service only?

not with services.msc

thanks

 

See https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2345244&postcount=24

Same result on two computers.

 

Interesting. Thankfully systems I have done this to over the years, aren't HTPC's or streaming units. Now we know, there is one thing it impacts, but probably not something the majority of people will run into.

 

I missed you previous post... So it looks like disabling the service can break some other features. I've never used Media Server thus never got this problem.

hqsec

 

This is true. If you go to the Windows Features section, there is an indexing service (which it calls the one that was in previous versions of Windows) that is not installed, but can be enabled. I don't know how they are different, or why you'd want to enable that one - maybe compatibility with XP or something?

As for SSDs, sure you wouldn't really benefit from indexing if you are actually searching on that drive. However, SSDs aren't cost-effective yet (IMHO) for things like media files and backups, so some of us still have a HDD or two. I search for things like documents and media files much more often than the programs on the SSD.

That said, I disable indexing because I don't do searches often enough to care if they finish faster.

 

I keep it on but have it index only the Start menu. Also, Disable Indexing of Internet Explorer Web History By Windows Search.

I use UltraSearch and Cathy for searching.

 

hi
but does w8.1 pro include Win8 Media Server ?

 

Update: Just been a couple days but I've found that Agent Ransack as a search replacement is so much faster, easier & better than Windows Search.

 

I have no reason to disable it. I really like that I can go to the start menu, type part of the name of a program installed on my computer and then press enter to launch the program. I don't even have to wait for the search result to come up before I press enter.

I also use it search for MP3s from the start menu.

 

So I did indeed have the Index Service disabled since I built this a couple of years ago since it was recommended to do that for SSD longevity. This morning I noticed this thread had gone multi-page and then disabled indexing through the properties of my "C" drive too after reading that recommendation, however, I chose the "files and folders" option also, after which for about 60 seconds or so it buzzed through my whole PC disabling it. My question is, should I turn it back on and just disable the drive only (or use an AX64 snapshot to recover which wouldn't take much longer)? Point is, does it matter that indexing is now turned off "everywhere?" Thanks!

 

If you're using SSD it doesn't matter. I would leave indexing turned off.

hqsec

 

OK thank you!