Search in XP does not show results

[David Kelsey]

Frequently, when I search for files using the index service, I get a typical
result saying '15 files found, did you find what you wanted?' But the
search panel contains no results, just a dotted rectangle. If I repeat the
search using the exact same parameters and method, they may be visible this
time. Is there a solution for this? Incidentally the same phenomenon
occurs on an XP Pro machine and an XP Home.

David Kelsey

 

[Bob I]

Display issues? Try Minimize and Restore the window. Install current
video adapter drivers from the manufacturer.

 

[David Kelsey]

Thanks Bob - I'll try the window trick when it next happens. I think the
video drivers are both up to date. I suspect that the fact it happens on
two different machines with different drivers means it is a fault within the
search routine or the indexing.

David

 

[Bob I]

You may want to see if "explorer.exe" is pegged(99 CPU) in Taskmanager
then. I've seen odd things happen when several applications are open on
a "256 MB" box and someone runs Search. The poor begger just kind of
runs out of steam.

 

[David Kelsey]

I've just tried the search for the same files as before. First time, no
results visible. Second time, using same filename (jeno*.*) the fifteen
results came up instantly, all at once. Then I tried a search for the same
files NOT using index search. This time 27 files came up, instantaneously,
including some .inf files and the like, and even a mention of part of the
filename in a Word document. Weird. In the past, I have found that,
contrary to intuition, the more parameters you give in the search the more
incorrect files turn up, seemingly because the search algorithm, like
Google, gives all instances of each and every word or part word of the
search term. Not very helpful, either in Google, where the results are
mostly totally irrelevant, or in XP. However, I think Google has ceased
indexing each word, as prairie dog now gives 3,520,000 results, while
prairie gives 39,500,000, and dog gives 220,000,000. When I first searched
this term soon after Google appeared on the scene, I got the results all
mixed up together, which suggested vastly more prairie dogs than actually
existed. XP still does much the same thing. Strangely, searching for 'a
word or phrase in the file' is much quicker than 'all or part of the file
name', which is again counter-intuitive. Welcome to the weird and wonderful
world of XP.

David