Administer fast searching

Fast searching extracts information from files and organizes it in a way that makes the files quicker and easier to find through Search.

Enable or disable fast searching

On Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows NT 4.0

1. In the Basic Search task pane, click Search options.

2. In the Indexing Service Settings dialog box, click Yes, enable Indexing Service. To disable fast searching, click No, do not enable Indexing Service.

Note  Fast searching is enabled by default when it is installed on Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows NT 4.0.

On Windows 2000

For help on enabling or disabling the index on Windows 2000:

1. On the Windows S tart menu, click Search, and choose For Files or Folders.

2. In the Windows Search task pane, under Search Options, click Indexing Service, and then click Help.

Specify which folders to index

On Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows NT 4.0

1. In the Basic Search task pane, click Search options.

2. In the Indexing Service Setting s dialog box, click Advanced.

3. Click Modify.

4. In the Select Folders dialog box, select one or more folders to index. Clicking a collapsed folder (a folder with an expand indicator  ) selects that folder and all of its subfolders.

On Windows 2000

For help on specifying which folders to index on Windows 2000:

1. On the Windows S tart menu, click Search, and choose For Files or Folders.

2. In the Windows Search task pane, under Search Options, click Indexing Service, and then click Help.

Update the index

On Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition

1. In the Basic Search task pane, click Search options.

2. In the Indexing Service Setting s dialog box, click Advanced.

3. Do one of the following:

   • To immediately update the index, click Update Now.

   • To specify how frequently in minutes to update the index, enter a value, and click Update the Search Catalog every n  minutes.

   • To specify that the index should be updated only when the computer is idle, click Do not update while the computer is in use.

On Windows 2000

For help on updating the index on Windows 2000:

1. On the Windows S tart menu, click Search, and choose For Files or Folders.

2. In the Windows Search task pane, under Search Options, click Indexing Service, and then click Help.

Delete the index

On Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows NT 4.0

1. In the Basic Search task pane, click Search options.

2. In the Indexing Service Setting s dialog box, click Advanced.

3. Click Delete.

On Windows 2000

For help on deleting the index on Windows 2000:

1. On the Windows S tart menu, click Search, and choose For Files or Folders.

2. In the Windows Search task pane, under Search Options, click Indexing Service, and then click Help.

View the status of the index

Some information about the status of the index is displayed in the Search task pane.

On Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows NT 4.0

1. In the Basic Search task pane, click Search options.

2. In the Indexing Service Setting s dialog box, click Advanced.

   The Indexing Service Settings dialog box displays the index's status, size, and other information.

On Windows 2000

For help on viewing the status of the index on Windows 2000:

1. On the Windows S tart menu, click Search, and choose For Files or Folders.

2. In the Windows Search task pane, under Search Options, click Indexing Service, and then click Help.