WDS 3.01 Troubleshooting Guide
The Troubleshooting Guide describes troubleshooting tips and lists current known issues with WDS 3.01 and differences from WDS 2.66 that might cause support issues.
You can also get information by visiting the Windows Desktop Search Forum (https://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=127\&SiteID=1). If your issue has not been discussed in the forum, you can post your questions, issues, or concerns.
Note
The Windows Desktop Search Forum is a peer-to-peer communication vehicle aimed at enhancing user experience, knowledge, and development-related efforts. Whenever possible, Microsoft employees participate by answering questions. However, posting a question or comment in the Windows Desktop Search Forum does not guarantee a reply by a Microsoft employee or Microsoft representative. Microsoft does not guarantee as correct any post made within this forum by its employees, representatives, or forum users, and confers no rights to these replies.
Troubleshooting
This section categorizes issues by type or related technology:
Finding Items I Know Exist on My Computer
Using Advanced Query Syntax (AQS)
Searching Email
Indexing Different Locations
Installing or Upgrading WDS
Errors and Warnings
Slow or CPU-Intensive Performance
Viewing Search Results
Setting Group Policy
Creating Shortcut Keys
Working with Add-ins
Indexing with EFS Encryption
Finding Items I Know Exist on My Computer
The following are troubleshooting tips to help you find items that WDS seems to miss.
When I search on a full file name, nothing is found.
I enter the exact and full name of a file I know exists on my computer, but WDS does not find it. Example: myfile.doc
You should surround the file name in quotation marks. Example: “myfile.doc”
When I search using the Documents filter, nothing is found.
On Vista x64, Office 12 file types (for example, docx and pptx) are not registered as Kind=Documents, and therefore are not being filtered correctly.
To resolve, manually register the files types under the following registry key:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\KindMap
| Name | Type | Data |
|---|---|---|
.docx |
REG_SZ |
document |
.dotx |
REG_SZ |
document |
.pptx |
REG_SZ |
document |
.xlsx |
REG_SZ |
document |
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The file is not in the location that you are currently searching.
If the file is not in the location you are currently searching:
Under Did you find what you were looking for? at the bottom of the search results window, click Advanced Search.
Select Everywhere from the Location list.
Select the Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files check box.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The file is not in an indexed location.
If the file is not in an indexed location:
From Control Panel, open Indexing Options.
Click the Modify button.
Click the Show all locations button.
Select the check boxes of all locations you want included in the index.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The file is located in a system folder.
If the file is in a system folder (Program Files or Windows folders):
Open Windows Explorer.
Select the system folder you want to search.
Enter your search in the Search box.
Or:
In Explorer, click Organize and select Folder and Search Options.
On the Search tab, select the Include system directories checkbox.
Give the indexer time to index the new folders and start your search again.
Or:
Under Did you find what you were looking for? at the bottom of the search results window, click Advanced Search.
Select Everywhere from the Location list.
Select the Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files checkbox.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The file is a hidden file.
If the file is a hidden file:
Under Did you find what you were looking for? at the bottom of the search results window, click Advanced Search.
Select Everywhere from the Location list.
Select the Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files checkbox.
Or,
In Explorer, click Organize and select Folder and Search Options.
On the View tab, select the Show hidden files and folders checkbox.
Give the indexer time to index the new folders and start your search again.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The file contains the search term in one of its properties and not in the file name.
If the file contains the search term in a property rather than the file name:
In Explorer, click Organize and select Folder and Search Options.
On the Search tab, select the Always search filenames and contents checkbox.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The file type of the file is not indexed.
If the file type of the file is not indexed:
From Control Panel, open Indexing Options.
Click the Advanced button.
On the File Types tab, verify whether the file type you want is listed and selected.
If it is listed but not selected, select the file extension’s check box.
If it is not listed, enter the file extension in the text box at the bottom of the dialog and click the Add new extension button.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The file has properties that prevent it from being indexed.
If the file has properties that prevent it from being indexed:
Right-click the file and select Properties to change the file’s properties to allow indexing.
Clear the Hidden check box, or click Advanced and select the Index this file for faster searching check box.
Or,
Under Did you find what you were looking for? at the bottom of the search results window, click Advanced Search.
Select the Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files check box.
Or,
In Explorer, click Organize and select Folder and Search Options.
On the Search tab, select Don’t use the Index when searching the file system.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The indexer has not yet indexed the file.
If the indexer has not yet indexed the file:
From Control Panel, open Indexing Options.
Verify whether indexing is complete.
WDS indexes files when there is low user activity, so if you add lots of new files or locations, the indexer may need time to catch up.
WDS doesn't find the files that I expect. The indexer is overlooking the file.
If the indexer is overlooking the file, rebuild the index:
From Control Panel, open Indexing Options.
Click the Advanced button.
Click the Rebuild button and then OK.
Rebuilding the index may take some time to complete.
Troubleshooting
Using Advanced Query Syntax (AQS)
This section suggests ways to resolve problems working with Windows Desktop Search's implementation of the Advanced Query Syntax.
When I search using the AQS keyword fileext, nothing is found.
I search for files with a specific extension, but WDS does not find it. Example: fileext:doc
Use the ext keyword instead. Example: ext:doc
When I search using the AQS keyword subject, nothing is found.
I search for files with a specific subject, but WDS does not find it. Example: subject:vacation
Use the name keyword instead. Example: name:vacation
When I search using the AQS keyword lyrics, nothing is found.
No workaround available.
Troubleshooting
Searching Email
This section suggests ways to resolve problems related to searching mail.
Outlook stops indexing mail after a domain alias is changed (for example, the user name is changed or is moved to another domain).
You need to reset your Outlook entry with your new alias or domain:
From Control Panel, select Indexing Options.
Click Modify.
Clear the checkbox next to your Outlook entry and click OK.
Click Modify again.
Reselect your Outlook entry and click OK.
I get error (0x80004005, 183) when trying to index an Outlook Express messages.
The full message reads:
Outlook Express could not be started. The application was unable to open the Outlook Express message store. Your computer may be out of memory or your disk is full. Contact Microsoft support for further assistance. (0x80004005, 183)
Outlook Express fails when the Hotmail synchronization for a folder is set to download headers only. To fix this, change the synchronization to download messages:
In Outlook Express, right-click your inbox and select Synchronization Settings.
Select either Download Messages or Don’t Synchronize.
I installed Outlook 2007 and Business Contacts Manager and I now get this error message: “Microsoft Windows Search Protocol Host has encountered a problem and needs to close.”
Refer to the Knowledge Base article 923319 for more information.
Outlook appears twice in the Indexing Options dialog but I only have one profile or mailbox.
If you have online folders manually stored locally in an OST and can switch between working online and offline, you are in “Classic OST” mode. If you normally work online but have at one time ever clicked "Work Offline", then you are also probably in this mode. In the Indexing Options dialog, one store represents the online data and one the offline data.
We recommend not using Classic Offline mode for Outlook. Either use online mode, or switch to cached mode which is very similar to using online mode in conjunction with Classic Offline mode.
Outlook Express items aren’t indexed on 64-bit machines.
No workaround.
For environments that do not use multiple Windows accounts for multi-user machines, password protection of personal folders will not prevent discovery of information from other users’ Personal Folders files (.pst files).
Once Outlook loads a .pst, Windows Desktop Search has no way of knowing the file is password protected as this is managed by Outlook.
To secure user profiles, you must use single-user accounts on Windows.
Profiles in Outlook have no relation to hardware and software profiles in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. So although you can assign a password to individual folders within a Personal Folders file (.pst), you cannot protect Outlook profiles by using a password. To help protect your Outlook data, use a password-protected Windows user account. For more information, see Using Outlook on a computer you share with other people.
Outlook is not indexing my emails.
There are two possible causes of this problem. First, WDS cannot index new mail if you have multiple Outlook sessions open on Windows Server 2003. You must close all but one session.
Second, there could be a problem with the Registry:
Open the Registry Editor.
Verify that mssphtb is not listed as one of the items at the registry locations:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Resiliency\DisabledItems
Or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Resiliency\DisabledItems
If it is listed, remove mssphtb from these registry entries.
Troubleshooting
Indexing Different Locations
This section suggests solution to problems indexing certain file system and other locations.
Some locations are listed twice in my Indexing Options dialog.
No workaround. Installing the “Add-in for Files on Microsoft Networks” causes FAT32 drives to appear twice in the Indexing Options dialog.
I cannot index hard links.
No workaround. Windows Desktop Search does not support traversing hard links and indexing their content.
I deselect My Documents folder in the Indexing Options dialog, but when I reboot, it gets selected again. (XP only)
You need to change the HandleRedirection setting in the Registry:
Open the Registry Editor.
Under HKLM/Microsoft/Windows Search, create a new registry key, FolderRedirection.
In this key, create a new DWORD value, HandleRedirection, and set the DWORD to 0.
This will allow you to deselect your documents.
I cannot search UNC shares on a server from the Vista Start menu.
You have to take the share offline to search it from the Start menu. You should not do this for large shares that are bigger than your hard drive.
Alternately, you can search UNC shares by navigating to the share in Windows Explorer and typing in the word wheel. This will be slower than normal search.
I cannot search Sharepoint document libraries in Vista.
Sharepoint document libraries can be translated to a UNC share path and searched that way.
For example. this URL:
https://Company/Team/Contoso/Project
translates to this UNC share path:
\\company\team\Contoso\Project
In Vista, you can navigate to this UNC path in Windows Explorer and search using the word wheel. It will be slower than searching against indexed locations. To make this easier, you can also map a network drive to the location.
I cannot add a UNC file path on a 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating system.
No workaround. The UNC protocol handler doesn’t currently support 64-bit versions of Windows.
Troubleshooting
Installing or Upgrading WDS
This section suggests ways to resolve problems encountered when installing or upgrading Windows Desktop Search.
None of my old locations are indexed after upgrading to 3.01 from 2.x or 3.0. Upgrading wipes out my entire crawl scope.
Re-add the locations you want indexed:
From Control Panel, open Indexing Options.
Click the Modify button.
Click the Show all locations button.
Select the checkboxes of all the locations and folders you want indexed.
Troubleshooting
Errors and Warnings
This section suggests ways to resolve error messages and application failures.
I get error 0x80070002 (File Not Found).
Cause: Registry entries for Crawl Scope Manager are corrupt.
You must reinitialize the scope rules and restart the service:
From an elevated Command Prompt window, enter net stop wsearch and press the Enter key.
In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows Search\SetupCompletedSuccessfully.
Change the REG_DWORD value to 0.
In the Command Prompt window, enter net start wsearch and press the Enter key.
I receive a warning message that the protocol handler Search.Mapi2Handler.1 cannot be loaded.
This is a known issue on 64-bit Windows XP and Windows 2003 operating systems because there currently is no 64-bit Outlook MAPI provider. The warning message is a notification only and has no impact on indexing or searching
Indexing fails with Event 3100 in event log (SearchFilterHost.exe fails to start).
The search service needs to interact with Vista desktop:
From the Start menu, open Control Panel.
Open Administrative Tools.
Double click Services.
Double click Windows Search from the list of services.
On the Log On tab, clear the Allow service to interact with desktop check box.
Troubleshooting
Slow or CPU-Intensive Performance
This section describes ways to resolve performance-related issues.
The indexer is permanently backed off due to “Low Battery” even on desktops and on laptops that are plugged in.
Reset your power profile is set to High Performance:
From Control Panel, open Power Options.
Select High Performance.
Some laptops may automatically change the setting to Power Saver mode whenever the battery is low and may not change the setting back when plugged in.
Large XML files take a long time to index and/or consume up to 100% CPU.
This happens when the large XML file is frequently changing. You can prevent the specific file from being indexed:
In Windows Explorer, right click the file.
Select Properties.
Click the Advanced button
Clear the Index this file for faster searching option, and click OK.
Troubleshooting
Viewing Search Results
Items listed in the search results view don’t appear correctly.
Items listed in the search results view don’t appear correctly:
Icons do not appear
Context menus don’t appear when I right-click items
Items don’t open when I click or double-click on them.
Some 3rd-party integrations with Windows Desktop Search are not complete and therefore don’t have a full set of features.
Troubleshooting
Setting Group Policy
This section suggests ways to resolve problems with WDS and Group Policy.
I want to prohibit indexing certain file types, but those file types are still selectable in the Indexing Options dialog.
This is a known issue. Even though prohibited file types are selectable in the dialog, the indexer does NOT index them.
I can’t prevent the indexing of Outlook Express.
If you look in the Indexing Options Control Panel and Outlook Express is a selectable option, then the Group Policy is not correctly applied.
Add the following path to the “Prevent Indexing Certain Paths” policy:
outlookexpress://{*}/*
I want to enable\disable the indexing of mapped network drives.
Open the Indexing Options Control Panel. If the mapped drive is selected (and you are trying to enable indexing) or grayed out (and you are trying to disable indexing), the appropriate policy has been selected.
Be sure the correct syntax is used for inputting a mapped network drive:
otfs://{*}/<drive letter>/*
An example using the P drive is the following:
otfs://{*}/p/*
Troubleshooting
Creating Shortcut Keys
To create shortcut keys to access the Deskbar on WDS 3.01, you must manually add the hotkey combination in the registry using the UseWinKey and HotKey settings:
| Name | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|
UseWinKey |
Enables and disables the Windows key in the keyboard short cut. |
1=enabled 0=disabled |
HotKey |
Identifies the extended key(s) and the ASCII character to use as the hotkey combination. The default is 146, where: 1 = shift key 46=F key |
Hex numbers The high order bits identify the extended key(s) and the low order bits identify the ASCII character. High order: 0: No extended key 1: Shift 2: Ctrl 4: Alt Low order bits: any ASCII character's hex value. |
To combine multiple keys, add the hex numbers. For example, to use Ctrl+Shift+F, the HotKey value is 346 and the UseWinKey value is 0.
Troubleshooting
Working with Add-ins
This section suggests ways to resolve problems working with WDS add-ins.
With the Lotus Notes Add-in installed, I occasionally cannot launch Lotus Notes.
Open Task Manager and make sure all Lotus Notes processes are closed. Then, re-launch Lotus Notes.
With the Lotus Notes Add-in installed, I can’t single click on Lotus Notes items in the deskbar and have them open.
This is being fixed in the next release of the Lotus Notes Add-in.
To workaround the issue, you can either:
Right-click the item in the deskbar, and select Open, or
Use the main WDS UI to search for the item and double-click it to open.
Troubleshooting
Indexing with EFS Encryption
WDS 3.01 does not support EFS encryption. If you require this, you will need to use WDS 2.66.
Troubleshooting
See Also
Concepts
WDS 3.01 Administrator's Guide
WDS System Requirements
WDS Group Policy
Other Resources
Windows Desktop Search Forums on MSDN
Windows Desktop Search Product Page