Uninstalling Windows Search 4.0

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alain Dekker
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A

Alain Dekker

Slight modification to previous post, but same essential problem.

After uninstalling Windows Search 4.0, Windows won't start very smoothly.
After logging, it used to take about 5-10 seconds to dispaly the taskbar and
generally start working correctly. No it takes about 3 minutes - I log in,
watch the background load, then just twiddle my thumbs for 3 minutes, then
everything works fine.

Whats going on here? How can I remedy this? Did MS try uninstalling Windows
Search 4.0 before releasing it? I'm using Windows XP SP 3 (I note that I
cannot uninstall SP3).

Thanks,
Alain

PS: I am a professional software developer who just wants the old
easy-to-use simple search from before. Please do not bother asking questions
like "Why would you want to uninstall this?". Thank you.
 
Alain Dekker said:
Slight modification to previous post, but same essential problem.

After uninstalling Windows Search 4.0, Windows won't start very smoothly.
After logging, it used to take about 5-10 seconds to dispaly the taskbar
and generally start working correctly. No it takes about 3 minutes - I log
in, watch the background load, then just twiddle my thumbs for 3 minutes,
then everything works fine.

Whats going on here? How can I remedy this? Did MS try uninstalling
Windows Search 4.0 before releasing it? I'm using Windows XP SP 3 (I note
that I cannot uninstall SP3).

Thanks,
Alain

PS: I am a professional software developer who just wants the old
easy-to-use simple search from before. Please do not bother asking
questions like "Why would you want to uninstall this?". Thank you.

I've inst/uninst Search 4.0 from several computers running XP Home and Pro
with SP2 & 3 but didn't notice any performance hits. I wonder if the
indexing service is the culprit in your case. I prefer the standard search
also. I was attracted to 4.0 by the 'incremental' feature, but it didn't
work that way.
Joe Arnold
 
I've inst/uninst Search 4.0 from several computers running XP Home and Pro
with SP2 & 3 but didn't notice any performance hits. I wonder if the
indexing service is the culprit in your case. I prefer the standard search
also. I was attracted to 4.0 by the 'incremental' feature, but it didn't
work that way.
Joe Arnold

Alain,
Your earlier post just now appeared here. You might try restoring your
machine to a date *prior* to the install date of 4.0 and it may correct both
problems. Windows should have created a restore point when you loaded 4.0
Joe
 
Err, sadly I turned off System Restore because I wanted my machine to run
even faster (System Restore includes a service which takes up system
resources). Silly, one might say, but thats where I am.

Right now I am turning off the option:
"Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching"
which is viewable when you right-click on C:\ and choose "Properties".

Its taking a while and I'll report back once thats completed and I reboot
the computer.

Thanks for the quick reply,
Alain
 
Sorted!

* Right-clicked on C:\ and chose "Properties"
* Windows Search 4.0 will have ticked a little box on the bottom of the
screen saying "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file
searching", untick this box and apply to all sub-folders (this can take a
few minutes to complete)
* Open up the Services and disable the "Indexing Service" - there are no
negative consequence to this, I always leave it disabled
* Reboot computer.

Now Windows XP loads up and shows the Taskbar in a few seconds instead of
waiting around for 3-4 minutes! Huzzah!

Right-click search is absolutely fine. I use the classic search and if its
slightly slower then the new-fangled way, its not much slower...and it works
nicely.

I have now hidden this ridiculous update so that hopefully it will never
darken my door again. I'll also be checking updates MS wants to install more
carefully in future so that this does not slip under the radar.

Thanks for the replies,
Alain
 
Slight modification to previous post, but same essential problem.

After uninstalling Windows Search 4.0, Windows won't start very smoothly.
After logging, it used to take about 5-10 seconds to dispaly the taskbar and
generally start working correctly. No it takes about 3 minutes - I log in,
watch the background load, then just twiddle my thumbs for 3 minutes, then
everything works fine.

Whats going on here? How can I remedy this? Did MS try uninstalling Windows
Search 4.0 before releasing it? I'm using Windows XP SP 3 (I note that I
cannot uninstall SP3).

Working perfectly here.
Thanks,
Alain

PS: I am a professional software developer who just wants the old
easy-to-use simple search from before. Please do not bother asking questions
like "Why would you want to uninstall this?". Thank you.

Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/290301

Absolute Uninstaller
http://www.glarysoft.com/au.html

Brute Force Uninstaller
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Brute_Force_Uninstaller_BFU_d4714.html

Revo Uninstaller
http://www.revouninstaller.com/

Not successful?
Re-install Windows Search 4.0 and then uninstall using one of the above
mentioned tools.
 
Alain Dekker said:
Sorted!

* Right-clicked on C:\ and chose "Properties"
* Windows Search 4.0 will have ticked a little box on the bottom of the
screen saying "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file
searching", untick this box and apply to all sub-folders (this can take a
few minutes to complete)
* Open up the Services and disable the "Indexing Service" - there are no
negative consequence to this, I always leave it disabled
* Reboot computer.

Now Windows XP loads up and shows the Taskbar in a few seconds instead of
waiting around for 3-4 minutes! Huzzah!

Right-click search is absolutely fine. I use the classic search and if its
slightly slower then the new-fangled way, its not much slower...and it
works nicely.

I have now hidden this ridiculous update so that hopefully it will never
darken my door again. I'll also be checking updates MS wants to install
more carefully in future so that this does not slip under the radar.

Good for you!
On the subject of System Restore, I strongly suggest you re-enable it. It's
gotten me out of some deep shit at times. Any performance hit (I've never
really noticed it) should only occur with system changes, and only briefly.
Otherwise it will set restore points only after periods of inactivity. It
even puts desktop icons back in place if they've been rearranged. Whatever
'slowdowns' it creates probably don't add up to a few seconds a day,
depending on your activity. That may matter when your company has a *lot* of
employees; the man-hours could add up. Add it up - how much time will you
have saved by the end of the day weighed against the benefits?
Joe
 
Err, sadly I turned off System Restore because I wanted my machine to run
even faster (System Restore includes a service which takes up system
resources). Silly, one might say, but thats where I am.


Your choice of course, and whether it's silly is your decision. But my view
is that you made a bad decision. Any effect on speed is very little, and
removing protection for for so little is a bad choice.

Right now I am turning off the option:
"Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching"
which is viewable when you right-click on C:\ and choose "Properties".


Once again your choice. Whether making that choice makes your machine faster
or slower depends on how much searching you do.
 
Hi Ken,

You might be right in general, but MS pushes solutions that are aimed at the
general low-skilled Joe who will not be able to edit the registry and stuff
like that. These System Restore and Indexing services are cases in point.
They cost system resources (physical disk space and their threads running on
the processor) draining away some precious performance when you're
developing high-speed applications.

And for what? If you have Indexing on, for example, you search maybe a
couple of seconds faster for each search you do, but how often do you
search? You're losing performance on your computer for EVERY SECOND this
silly service runs just so you can gain a second or two when you search once
or twice a day?

A related point are these "Office Startup" or "Adobe Speedlaunch" programs
that get added to the Registry (Windows\CurrentVersion\Run) and
Programs>Startup folder. They again drain some valuable system resources and
the upside is pathetic - you can gain maybe 0.5 seconds when you load Adobe
or Word. Big deal. If Word loads in 3.5s without the speed-launch and 3.0s
with it, who cares? The fact that it runs in the background, is a continual
drain on your processor.

Also, I feel System Restore is less benign then it pretends: If you restore
to a point too far back you may lose crucial system settings, such as
performance improvements, hardware drivers, etc. Our computers go into
machines which will almost never have access to the internet once they're
installed. MS touts System Restore as their "get-me-out-of-this-mess"
solution, but they really should get the Uninstall working properly - you
install something that disagrees with your system, you uninstall and away
you go with minimum fuss. Its an excuse for not understanding your PC.

I'm not knocking System Restore, I just don't think its suitable for all
users. And I reckon 99% of Windows users have no idea about their Startup
folder, what silly Services run continuously and the Run settings in the
registry. Just cleaning these up and pairing them down can turn a PC which
feels sluggish and takes a long time to boot up into a "new" machine that
feels fast and easy-to-use.

Anyway, thanks for the response. Its a good response, but no help for me
right now. And I have got it sorted by switching off Indexing and, even
better, search now works like it did before - nicely.

Thanks,
Alain
 

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