Step 4 Scroll through the list of active services to find "Windows Search. Step 5 Select "Properties" from the menu yo view a set of options for this service. Icons in the services list are sorted alphabetically by default. Windows services are programs that Windows runs automatically and provide many of the core functions of the operating system.
You need to be logged into an account with Administrator privileges to disable Windows Search. Many times, Windows Update will turn Windows Search back on; you should check the Services list periodically to see if this has happened. It was installed by XP's Automatic Update software. All that I get, after clicking on the "Show updates," is a bunch of the "Hot fixes", "Security Updates" and regular "Updates".
But each of these have some nonsense number code with no description that makes any sense. All I want to do is remove this "Window Desktop Search" as it is being such a resource hog, and making my system just bog done. How does one get rid of this software that in all frankness, is rubbish when compared to the earlier version of "Search" that comes with windows?
I had to chuckle at your post. Now it's not running any longer on your system and the option to remove is gone from control panel. As an IT Specialist, have you considered that maybe it's been removed? I think that part of the confusion about this is that there are at least 3 different flavors of WDS that are delivered in at least as many ways. Then depending what OS you are running things change a little there as well. Vista comes with WDS as the windows search option, for example.
I have to say that I have been lucky. I've never seen the system hits or uninstall issues and have pushed it out to several systems. I know I'd be interested in what utilities, OS etc you are running on the systems that are having these issues and the MS guys probably wouldn't mind seeing it either. I am an IT consultant with 20 years of experience supporting Microsoft and mixed environments. The uninstall failed to remove WDS. And yes, I realize that the standard search can be invoked with a single extra mouse click.
It should really be a trivial matter to uninstall this product, and it isn't. This makes the Microsoft WDS team look bad, and they should address this. Trying the install 3. I find it very frustrating when other programs remove themselves quite easily and quickly that I am spending hours trying to find out how to remove this software that runs constantly.
I have no luck trying to uninstall WDS 3. There is no such directory on the computer. I've downloaded the KB None of these folders exist for me. I finally got it off. The problem is for some reason, it isn't creating the uninstall directory which is mentioned in the log file. Thank you RClayH! That did the trick for me. Even better it was very simple and definitely preferrable to trying a manual uninstall. Same problem here.
I installed WDS 3. Anyway, since I don't have the luxury of being able to install it on another machine nor would I want to, cos I might get stuck with it there too User above gave the best info for removing this program. Went to Microsoft update and did a history search of installed updates and there it was.
I don't remember the version or if it was even provided. Running the spuninst as recommended did the trick. Thank you! I have got wds and it tells me it is not running and to remove and reinstall, I dont know how to do this and my machine is running so slow, it is difficult to use.
Please help. I just wanted to say thanks. I did not read all the posts here, however, I believe Office helped me to install WDS in the first place. Note: I knew there was a reason I did not use this program before now; it's very annoying - the regular Windows Search works just fine for me, thank you very much!
Thanks again for your post. Coyette's method works absolute wonders. Thanks Coyette! Hope MS makes sure that uninstallation won't be flawed in the future. I am sorry, but this is a bunch of bs. I also didn't install this product like many people here. I did how ever install the Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta, and unchecked all additional software, and even read on the Photo Gallery Blog that this component was not needed. There is no excuse for this, so don't try to defend why this happened, an apology would be better than giving excuses as to why this software installed.
Hey the person who typed in bold red , this is not right. If you can abuse the designers like this, why not design something better than WDS and show us? Nevertheless, turning on "show updates" did the trick. I would have used WDS if it wasn't that flashy. It kind of had a too "flashy" feeling: as if the UI was designed for a kid. The application is no doubt a great one, but it should have been a bit more subtle and hidden, appearing as if it is a part of the normal windows.
Thanks for that Coyette, but the search pane in explorer has now changed. I'm having a frustrating time trying and failing to remove the MSN Toolbar.
Then an error message window pops up again and again until I finally exit the desktop search from the right mouse button menu exit command in the tray that reads, " Windows Desktop Search Tool Tray Admin has encountered a problem All generated the same problem and failed to remove the program.
So now I'm stuck with a failed Microsoft Add in causing endless grief whenever I start my computer. How can I solve this? I am a system builder and a Microsoft partner.
I custom build Gaming Systems and extreme technology. I never use indexing of any sort since Windos XP as it degrades performance and burns up hared drives just as over scanning for viruses can overheat a hard drive. I have wds 3. Add remove tool gives me the handle is invalid. Extra info; i have MSN Mess. I am running office Enterprise that came wit my Action Pack.
This may be a nifty utility for a business server with a huge inventory and a wide client base but for common users and game junkies it is really a mute point. Computers now a days are fast enough that even if you have several thousand emails a non-indexed search takes less than a minute.
Indexing wants to run when the computer boots using up resources that would be better put to booting windows and runs in the background suposedly using very little processor time. This is a true statementr however you guys never seem to realize that harddrives are not truly multi tasking equipment and while indexing is using the drive the swapfile or paging file is creating a traffice jam because it has to be accessed at the same time.
So when are you guys going to learn how to hyper thread or better hyper port? Please remove the newer updates first".
How can i avoid this or what should i do to unistall it without problems? When running the Uninstall process for WDS. It also turns off Quick Launch bar on our client desktops. The clients don't have admin rights and this has become a big issue with our users. Has anyone found a work-around? In our instance by creating the user profile it brought back the Quich Launch toolbar.
Every time we log on, the VERY first thing we do is 'snooze indexing' since the indexer consumes so many resources on our systems we cannot do anything else. WDS starts a bunch of programs running. I could see maybe one; the indexer. Everything else is the result of poor software design. When WDS gets installed, it 'hides' the Search Assistant; there is no longer any direct access to it. We have removed WDS from all our systems. They now run faster all the time, and we can find stuff more quickly.
Windows Desktop Search is affecting MY performance. I don't need to find documents. I organize documents so that I know where to look for them. What I do need to find is text in the documents, so that when information changes, I can find the documents that reference that information. Worse, the default window size seems to be tied to the Windows Explorer window size. If that is too small, you can't see the Search Companion option. There isn't even a way to scroll down in that pane.
I have to expand the window in order to get to the link that will take me where I want to go. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I did not set up this computer. It came from our IT department this way. Windows Desktop Search 3. However, when I click on it, I get after a confirmation "This action is only valid for products that are currently installed. You can do this using WDS finding words, text etc. As for how to get rid of this if you find that you'd rather use the old search companion and wait while it does it's brute force search, you can contact your IT team and they should have no problems removing it.
However, I'd suggest you give WDS a try. I do similar work where I need to find specific words or phrases in one of many subfolders and I find that WDS makes finding what I need a lot faster and easier then using the companion tool. But that's just me The search tool doesn't find half of the things the old search finds. Running XP pro and its this sort of irremovable "features" that I'm not touching vista without vlite.
I too am trying to uninstall WDS and I'm getting the same error Rather than further encouragement not to uninstall the product I'd prefer clear instructions on how to resolve this problem. The options in WDS that I see are: author, date, size, file name, folder. Which of these mean "A word or phrase in the file:"?
Oh, I get it. Even though I'm searching for files on our network file server, I'm supposed to type what I'm looking for next to the button that says "Desktop. What a brilliant design. Ya know, good Web site designers read Web Pages That Suck, and good interface designers used to read the Interface Hall of Shame before the Webmaster had a kid and stopped updating it, more's the pity. Well, WDS won't run on the file server, because I'm not indexing it. Geez, maybe I don't want to index 15 years worth of documents unrelated to what I'm doing.
WDS tells me to use Search Companion. Maybe it could even, ya know, pass along a few parameters. Can you help her out? Suggestion 2: If WDS is smart enough to know that where I'm searching isn't indexed, how about a one-click option to index the folder I told it to search. How about making "Index for WDS" an option when right-clicking on a folder? The process of adding a folder to the index is too cumbersome. Hmm, maybe the one I just highlighted. Who is testing the interface over there at Microsoft?
I'm guessing in an effort to make the software clueless-user friendly, Microsoft is testing with people who have the lowest level of computer knowledge. They don't question you when you say "Because. See, you build to the clueless, but alpha test on the L33T, and so ordinary working people get very, very frustrated. All hail Scott Hanselman! I must agree with you on all points of your statements.
The Desktop search thing is about the most useless program I have run into in a long time. I do not remember ever being asked and do know when or where Windows Desktop Search installed itself but it sure magically replaced the Search Companion that works with the Desktop search thing. Your post may not be the most helpful but it is true! This happened to me twice on different computers..
I've found a very easy way to remove the Microsoft Search Tool. Re-install the newly downloaded application. Click uninstall. Enjoy how much faster your machine is without all the system resource drain. I downloaded "Windiows Search 4.
It was not part of a bundle, but a stand alone install. Re-install the offending program WDS and then immediately remove it before restarting the computer. Problem solved. When you click on search network places for a computer, it brings up this stupid desktop that has no way to search for a computer. I removed it from my client's computer. Doesn't Microsoft ever vet their products on real people??? One day I saw it as an icon of it next to the 'start' button, wondered what it was and left it, not knowing if deleting it would cause problems.
Your cannot uninstall Windows Desktop Search 4. It should remove all entry of WDS 4. Reboot after uninstall and it should work great.
Bill, This is your reply for a request to "simple" uninstall???? Good grief do you not know that the bulk of people out here are not computer techies? I have read all the posts here and i must say Microsoft would never put out a package without a uninstall package?? For that not to be a lie in many peopples eyes they will have to learn to be as savy as you to uninstall this. Not installed without our consent??
I suppose in the strictest sense this is true as you "do" label it in the "auto" updates installer. As an IT administrator for a number of companies I am increasingly disappointed in MS ploys and directives aimed at "pushing" people into products they dont want.
As difficult as you have made it to uninstall and as elusive as the surprise install of this product, adding to that the dismal explanations for MS policy here Microsoft is thinking small to think we the customers will continue to put up with their deceptive ploys This removes WDS but does not remove the indexing service that was installed along with the update.
The indexing icon still appears in the system tray and shows that the application is still running upon restarting the system. Is there a way to remove this application or completly disable it without searching removing the system binaries? Here is how to uninstall the Microsoft Desktop 4. This makes finding these things much easier. Sure it includes an uninstaller, but clearly lots of people are having difficulty with it.
One thing I've learned is to listen to my users. If a lot of people tell me something, then there's something to it, even if the users aren't using exactly the right language. To the WDS team, who seems to be truly in love with their own product, it probably seems unthinkable that anyone would even want to uninstall WDS, but they do. Microsoft seems unwilling to provide this. I have accidently installed Google toolbar or desktop before and it is easy to uninstall.
Try it sometime. If Microsoft really wants to compete with Google they have to be as user friendly as Google, instead of trying to be like big brother and trying to force stuff on you and make it difficult to remove. I disabled the WindowsSearch. I can't see anyway around it.
It looks as though the old ideal where F3 provides a file search is replaced with the less effective, over-bloated copy of search called WDS. I am trying everything I can to keep it from running on my systems because, as from my tone, it is not something I like having on my system.
If a future release of Windows comes out, I am hoping they either improve the search tool or provide a way for use to use the older, less bloated file search engine that has been on every copy of windows since nt4 came out perhaps earlier, I don't remember if 3.
When XP came out, it became more difficult to configure the F3 button to work properly until one learns that searching with F3 is and Advanced search feature apparently Microsoft did not want people searching for files? That's my take anyway. It is one new feature that Microsoft has come out with which has not only become a huge disappointment but moreover, a huge reconfiguration nightmare. We are still curious to understand better the circumstances where this can happen - we know this can happen with certain registry cleaners but if people are experiencing this problem for another reason we 'd like to know the details.
It is very much not the search team's desire to make Windows Search hard or impossible to uninstall. This will make the installer believe no Windows Search 4 is on the system. Let me if this works for you or anyone else. I think this may be a bit simpler than some of other methods people have detailed on these forums. I don't want it, and I want my old search assistant functionality back by default.
I only have a Default key value not set and a Version key I don't have a clue how it got installed on my machine other than through XP Service Pack 3. I looked for the WDS in add remove and then did the Reg search and uninstall but.. Then noticed the Windows Search 4. To remove the lastest version of Windows Search 4. Back to the old search. Worked a treat, the file name was slightly different but your post was several years ago.
I had a situation where I was stuck with 3. I could not upgrade to 4. I came to the conclusion that being 3. After deleting the key because I only found the first one I reinstalled version 3. My machine is back to good old search.
I hope that works for other people out there so you don't have to spend 3 hours searching and trying stuff like I did. Don't forget to reboot your machine afterwards just to make things "official", lol To the creators of this feature: I love Microsoft, I really do, but I think I will stick with Google for Search functionality, at least for now In my case my problem with the tool was not speed even though I did notice some change but the intrusiveness of it.
I have news for you Bill! WDS also installed itself on my laptop without my authority - it just appeared one day! I also will be glad to see the back of it. As far as I am concerned there is too much unsolicited software junk sent out by many companies. I do not want extra add-ons, registry cleaners, video converters, automatic updates etc. If I want them, I'll go looking for them. That includes SP3, which is documented on the web as causing all sorts of problems.
I spend a lot of time removing all this garbage from friends and customer registries aft it slowing down their PC's. Never had this problem with DOS. My mottos is 'don't fix something if it aint broke'. Peter Scott wrote:. It's not listed as a either a stand-alone program nor as a KB update.
I think Microsoft definately needs to get their programmers together and create a more user-friendly uninstall option for this product as there are a lot of people that are struggling with this issue. I'm lucky as I clone my hard drive very often so that I have a very simple and fast restoration process if something goes awry and in 10 mins I'm back to where I was prior to the installation.
I don't have the registry entries listed in my registry and I have no easy uninstall option. I'm not interested in spending the next week or two looking for a solution so I'm simply going to back up my files, reclone from my most recent image and copy my files back over - 10 mins tops and Windows Search 4 is gone forever - never to be tried again. MS Search 4. Which has made it very slow. We want to remove MS Search 4. Tried to reinstall wds 4. Now how do you uninstall and update that you did not select.
Or at least give us a step by step manuel uninstall. There is a problem here look at all of the posts! We need to get this problem not issue fixed. You can get the missing uninstaller from here.
I cannot locate the original link that led me to this, but I tried it and it worked perfectly on my production servers. I'm sorry but I experience the same. Whithout any notification I know of my laptop is slowed down to it's minimum performance by Windows Desktop Search.
In one hour it reads 2 Gb of data which must also be checked by the virus scanner. You are right but it did! Don't know ask windows update. The simple DOS based utility programs of about through had that capability, and then, ever since "Windows Explorer" appeared, finding a file by its extension became "outlawed".
Who makes such decisions? Mr Grinch? Dear MS, I own my computer. How much do I have to pay you to get permission to use my computer? Ever wonder how much. There is no info about lead programmers, project managers, etc. It has all the feel of a. No one wants to be responsible for it. You need a degree in computer science to may be, just may be, figure out how to.
Never mind that with web technology. That would have been nice, but never mind. It boggles the mind. Like it or not. This can be good or bad. You can learn more about switching between windows in the Moving and Sizing Windows lesson. More than one person can use your computer. For example, many family members might use the same computer at home, while several coworkers may be able to access your computer on a computer network. Windows XP allows everyone who uses your computer to have separate computer accounts.
A computer account tracks each person's unique settings, documents, and email accounts. Windows XP even enables you to log off the computer so someone else can log in without having to restart the computer. When you've finished using Windows XP, be sure to turn off or shut down the computer correctly. If you're experiencing computer problems or have installed something new, you can simply restart your computer.
It's generally safest tor turn off or restart your computer using the methods above. However, many computers are designed to safely shut down when the power button is pressed. Consult your manual to read about the recommended shutdown procedure. Introduction Windows XP is an operating system that lets you use different types of applications or software. By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: Discuss the parts of the Windows XP desktop Discuss the parts of the Start menu Locate the taskbar Locate the Recycle Bin Log off and switch users Restart and turn off the computer properly.
The desktop contains: Start button : This is one of the most important tools you will use while working with Windows XP. The Start button allows you to open menus and start applications. Taskbar : This is primarily used to switch between open windows and applications. Learn more about using the taskbar in a later lesson. Icons or graphical pictures : This represent applications, files, and other parts of the operating system.
Learn more about the Recycle Bin in a later lesson. In the example below, the Word program has been selected. To explore the Start menu: Click the Start button. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Help keep this website running! Thanks for any support! If you purchase something through a link, this site may earn a small share of the sale.
Learn More. The normal method given to turn off Active Desktop is: 1.
0コメント