"Search" freezes up ... explorer.exe restarts

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Hi - as per subject, I have a client who runs WinXP Pro SP2 with all the
latest Windows Update patches as of last week - the OS is a new(ish)
installation on new(ish) hardware. Standalone, not part of a domain.

Recently, his Search feature has been wigging out. It will begin to run -
you'll see the files it's finding, and then the search window will freeze,
and the only way to recover / get back is end task on it in task manager -
which in turn restarts explorer.exe. This happens no matter how you launch
search - from Explorer, or from the start menu.

Event logs don't mention *why* this is happening, just that explorer.exe
restarted. Before I disabled drwtsn32, was also seeing events indicating
that Dr. Watson had frozen, as well - I don't have the exact error messages,
sorry, although I did look at the drwtsn log to look for clues, in vain.

His event logs are really pretty d__d clean overall, anyway.

It seems to work fine if we log into his account in safe mode - can search
away, as far as I know, with impunity. After seeing this, I started up
normally again after disabling all startup items in msconfig, and it froze
again -same deal. I didn't try logging in as another user in normal mode as
I didn't have time.

Any ideas? This guy really relies on search, as he has a boatload of
files/subfolders. I am loath to create a new user profile for him, as you
wouldn't believe how customized his existing one is.

 

[Guest]

update the search companion file
click start, and then click run, type %systemroot%\inf, and then click ok.
locate the Srchasst.inf file
right click the Srchasst.inf and then click install.

or go to http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q319949

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

update the search companion file
click start, and then click run, type %systemroot%\inf, and then
click ok. locate the Srchasst.inf file
right click the Srchasst.inf and then click install.

or go to
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q319949

Hi - tried it, but no dice, unfortunately. Same freezing.

Re the hotfix in the article - he's on XP SP2, so I doubt that can be it.

And it does work in safe mode!

Any other ideas?