Problem with XP Search "hanging"

[paulgj]

Hello,
I am experiencing a problem with a fully patched XP Pro SP3 system where
after I do a search the search shows the results box but the computer is
unresponsive. The task manager says that "Search Results" is "Not
responding", and I cannot click any icons in the quick launch bar or taskbar.
I end up having to end the search task with the task manager.

The Application event log says "The shell stopped unexpectedly and
Explorer.exe was restarted." after I get everything back to normal but no
other messages from what I can see.

 

[Gerry]

Paul

What is the CPU and how much RAM does your computer have? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties to get this
information.

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[paulgj]

Hi Gerry,

I have an old Tualatin Celeron that runs at 1.4Ghz, and I have a maxed out
768MB RAM (PC-100) This is a pretty old 1999 era Dell box that I have tweaked
to the bone and it runs XP quite nicely actually.

After the search results were displayed and the system response died the
task manager commit charge numbers were:
Total 170580
Limit 1918000
Peak 397084

The page file is set to System Managed and is currently 1151 MB

Just in case it helps I noticed that I could drag the task manager window
around and it would leave ghost images along the route similar to how the
winning screen in solitaire appears!

-Paul

 

[Gerry]

Paul

Is this Windows Desktop Search or the search function in Windows
Explorer?

The problem is not obvious from the Commit Charge figures. What are your
anti-virus and anti spyware arrangements? It could be malware.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[paulgj]

Gerry,

this is the search function in Windows explorer - Start, Search or Windows
Key + F

I'm 99.99% positive I have no malware, I run behind a NAT router and
religiously run manual scans periodically (rootkits included), monitor my
startups with Autoruns, processes with process explorer etc.

I wonder if there is some other kind of debugging tool that could indicate
what is going on in the system?

This install of XP is about four years old so it might have gotten a little
rusty over time. I'm planning a clean install soon on faster drives. I will
test the issue again when that is done. It'll be an interesting experiment.

Thanks for trying to find the source of this issue.

 

[Jaganpro]

Gerry,

this is the search function in Windows explorer - Start, Search or Windows
Key + F

I'm 99.99% positive I have no malware, I run behind a NAT router and
religiously run manual scans periodically (rootkits included), monitor my
startups with Autoruns, processes with process explorer etc.

I wonder if there is some other kind of debugging tool that could indicate
what is going on in the system?

This install of XP is about four years old so it might have gotten a little
rusty over time.  I'm planning a clean install soon on faster drives.  I will
test the issue again when that is done. It'll be an interesting experiment.

Thanks for trying to find the source of this issue.

try installing any software like tuneup utilities or CCleaner as
windows accumulates lot of junk over a period of time
and try removing the unnecessary files.

by doing this it will help you to speed up the system.

then experiment on searching.. if still it doesn't work then reinstall
as stated by you

 

[Gerry]

"try installing any software like tuneup utilities"

Not a good idea.

--



Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Gerry]

Paul

I use the search function fairly regularly and have no problems. The
time taken will depend on the search criteria. Searching within files
will take longer than than just searching for files. Search two drives
when you only need to search one is another way to save time.

An aspect of routine housekeeping will also help. Removing temporary
files will not only speed up search times but will also reduce scan
times by anti-virus and antispyware programmes.

An alternative to Disk CleanUp is cCleaner (freeware) which does a more
thorough job than Disk CleanUp. Disk CleanUp has to be run for each user
profile, whereas cCleaner only needs to be run once.
http://www.ccleaner.com/ccdownload.asp
http://www.ccleaner.com/

With any cleaner you need to proceed with caution. To be safe you
should create a restore point before using cCleaner. cCleaner also
offers backup before removal.

When using cCleaner think twice before checking Autocomplete Form
History under Internet Explorer. You do get a warning but this one has
irritating consequences. You may need to restore your system's
recollection of passwords after use so keep a record off computer so
that they can easily be re-entered.

Leave the Scan for Issues option alone.

cCleaner does not remove restore points. You need to use Disk CleanUp
for this. Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk
CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest
System Restore point.

Indexing can also help. However, some users argue indexing slows overall
performance, This is corrrect when you first turn on Indexing but once
the index has been established there should be no noticeable lessening
of system performance.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~