In the Windows Explorer window there is a folder named Searches which contains a folder named Recently Changed. This folder shows every file that I have ever recently changed. These are not shortcuts so if I try to remove this evidence of my work by deleting a file in this folder the actual file is deleted from the folder it actually sits in. I need to be able to empty the contents of this Recently Changed folder (obviously without losing any files) and then disable it permanently. This is a terrible feature that denies the main user of a computer security and privacy.  All other users have access to the Recently Changed folder.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Les

Answer: Hey, Les. This is an easy one–just right-click the Recently Changed folder and then click Delete.

These are saved searches, and they’re kinda useful–basically they’re shortcuts to searches that you could do manually with a little more work. Windows Vista doesn’t stop you from deleting the default ones. To find them, open My Computer, expand your username, and then expand Searches.

Since you’re concerned about privacy, you really should just create separate user accounts for every person who might use your computer, password protect your user account, and have other users log on with their own accounts when they use the computer. Otherwise, they stillcan figure out what you’ve been working on.

Hi there, i’m having some trouble with my Vista search function. it has suddenly stopped working. When i use the search in the start menu, i get this message “search failed to initialize”. When i try opening the the “search window”, nothing happens when i press enter. Please help!

Answer:

Hi, Elliott. While I haven’t seen that problem and I can’t find any known solutions, this will probably work:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2.  Click System And Maintenance.

3. Click Indexing Options.

4. Click the Advanced buttons, and respond to the User Account Control prompt.

5. On the Advanced Options dialog, click Rebuild. Then, click OK.

I hope that fixes your problem. If not, let me know–there’s a couple other things we can try.

So, if you play by the rules and store everything in Documents, Pictures, or the other standard folders, you’re all set. If you’re a stubborn old coot who insists on storing your files at C:MyFiles or something like that, well, it’s not being index. BTW, I’m a stubborn old coot.

To add a custom folder to the index, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2. Click System And Maintenance.

3. Click Indexing Options.

4. Click Modify.

5. The Indexed Locations dialog appears. Click Show all locations, and then provide administrative credentials at the UAC prompt.

5. In the Change selected locations list, select the check box for the folder you want to add to the index. Don’t overdo it and select your whole C: drive–indexing will take too long, and you’ll get a lot of garbage results. Try to be as precise as possible. Click OK.

6. Click Close.

If you’re indexing unusual file types (like log files), be sure to index that file type.

To disable indexing for a file, just follow these steps:

1. Right-click it, and then click Properties.

2. On the General tab, click the Advanced button.

3. Clear the Index this file for faster searching check box.

4. Click OK twice.

Now, Search won’t index it, and it won’t appear in your search results.

Search will index most common file types (based on their file extension), but it might not index all file types that are important to you. For example, it doesn’t index .log files, like those generated by Mirc. It does index .XML log files, like those generated by Windows Live Messenger.

To index .LOG files or any other type of file, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2. Click System And Maintenance.

3. Click Indexing Options.

4. Click Advanced, and provide administrative credentials at the UAC prompt.

5. The Advanced Options dialog appears. Note that the Index Encrypted Files check box doesn’t let you search EFS encrypted files–nothing does, because Search indexes files as the system rather than your user account, and therefore can’t decrypt your files.

6. Click the File Types tab. Scroll through the list to find your file type (for example, .log) and click it. Then, select the check box. Click Index Properties And File Contents at the bottom of the dialog box. Finally, click OK.

7. If prompted to rebuild the index, click OK.

8. Click Close.

Windows Vista begins rebuilding your index, including the newly selected file type. Give it a couple of hours. Then, when you search, your file type will be included in the results.

If your custom file types aren’t in your user profile (you know, like your Documents or Pictures folders), configure the folder to be indexed.