Vista Search Problem: “Search Failed to Initialize”
Question:
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!
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.
For more information, read the Windows Vista Resource Kit (co-authored by your very own Tony Northrup). Got a question for Tony? Send an e-mail to qa@vistaclues.com.
Posted: July 30th, 2007 under Reader Questions, Troubleshoot, Search.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Vir
Time: August 31, 2007, 10:39 am
I’m having the same problem, however when i try to follow the steps you outlined and i open the Indexing Options menu, the Advanced button is greyed out… only the close button is active, and it says “Waiting to receive indexing status…” on top…
any recommendations?
Comment from maqsimus
Time: September 15, 2007, 8:11 am
i have the same problem… I did as you said, took a long time to index everything on my hard drive but it still didn’t work. everytime I use search or try to go somewhere from the start button by typing in, it says that search failed to initialize…
Comment from chibits
Time: October 27, 2007, 7:09 pm
SAME PROBLEM! cannot search anymore! maybe virus? any solutions?
Comment from Kannon
Time: December 30, 2007, 12:24 pm
I am having the same problem. Windows search service refuses to start. I get a message ‘path not found’. Any ideas?
Comment from Julie
Time: May 4, 2008, 3:24 am
I tried to download the free antivirus4.0. from www.pctools.com/free-anitvirus. And it came up error 180-571 a0591d8a-3a2b-4d4e-93ef-5b90c78fd672. It won,t allow me to deleteit either, wasting my space. I don’t won’t to try and download it again until l can fix this one.
Also how do you delete blank pages that appear in word. I send a resume and they say some is missing due to blank pages arriving, but when l check, there are just blank pages appearing from nowhere. I scanned in 172 pages into documents and now have multitude blank pages. Ideas?
Comment from Gaurav Morol
Time: July 6, 2008, 3:56 pm
I just found out a solution for the problem( Vista Search Problem: “Search Failed to Initialize”),
first run the disk cheaking utility so that their are no errors on the hard disk..after that deleate all the user accounts.make a new account and transfer or back up all the documents.to the new user accounts (better make a new administrator account).and a reboot and problem solved….
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