[wynnyelle]

I have Windows XP and am trying to remove several hundred thousand files by search and delete. Now when I call up the search window and key in anything at all it tells me the search is over and there are no results to display. It doesn't even take a second to run the search, just tells me this no matter what I search for or where. I really need to get this running again. What happened?

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What files are you trying to delete? Deleting through the Search isn't very effective, and you want to delete hundreds of thousands of files...

Also, I do not think the search brings up those files because they're hidden? Try enabling hidden files/folders.

Open My Computer.

Select Tools > Folder Options from the dropdown tab on top.

Select the View tab on top.

Look for the category Hidden files and folders.

Choose the option 'Show hidden files and folders'.

I hope that helps.

Note: If you're looking for a virus in your computer, please read here for more instruction on how to clean up your computer.

~Kelvin

[Kelvin]

What files are you trying to delete? Deleting through the Search isn't very effective, and you want to delete hundreds of thousands of files...

Also, I do not think the search brings up those files because they're hidden? Try enabling hidden files/folders.

Open My Computer.

Select Tools > Folder Options from the dropdown tab on top.

Select the View tab on top.

Look for the category Hidden files and folders.

Choose the option 'Show hidden files and folders'.

I hope that helps.

Note: If you're looking for a virus in your computer, please read here for more instruction on how to clean up your computer.

~Kelvin

[wynnyelle]

It was working at first and I managed to delete several thousand. Then it just stopped working altogether, all of a sudden. Restarting didn't help. They aren't hidden files, they are jpg images. Now search just doesn't work for anything. The files are in many, many different folders and it would take weeks to delete all of them by going into each folder and doing it.

[Kelvin]

Hmm... then follow the steps below.

Open Start > Run > regedit.

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoFind

Post the registry key's value here.

~Kelvin

[Kelvin]

Oh, yes. And it might be a corrupt .dll or a bad registry. To fix this:

# Restart Windows in Safe Mode.
# Open My Computer by double-clicking on the My Computer icon on your desktop.
# Right click on the disk drive you want to check.
# On the drop down menu, left click Properties.
# Select the Tools tab.
# In the Error-Checking section, click the Check Now button.
# In the Check Disk Options section, tick the Automatically Fix File System Errors and the Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors check box.

I think that'll suffice. If it's not either problem, then it might be a spyware corrupting the registry keys. If this fix doesn't work, try scanning your computer for spyware.

~Kelvin

[wynnyelle]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try it. How do I get my computer into safe mode? do I hit the space bar?

[wynnyelle]

Well, I could not get it to boot up in safe mode. I hit f8 repeatedly like the guide said to, but it only gave me one option, start in winXP pro, which is the only OS I have so I said yes. Then it started up normally. I went into my computer and did everything else like you said just in normal mode. It is currently running the C drive check and error fix and probably won't be complete until tomorrow. I will keep you updated. If this fails to fix my search function then do I have any recourse other than reformat {which would wipe my HD anyway so there'd be no point}?

[Kelvin]

Since F8 is not working for you, try this:
Removed this is not an effective way to troubleshoot safemode issues

If it doesn't work, run a sfc /scannow.
_

Reformatting is a last resort

Edited by don77, 10 December 2007 - 08:29 PM.

[wynnyelle]

The disk check/fix took two whole days.

Search still does not work. I cannot find ANYTHING on my computer! This is a minor crisis, really!

[Kelvin]

Then it might be malware. I think you should follow the instructions here.

Usually following the above steps should suffice, but now in this circumstance, I think it has something to do with an infected file you're looking for.

~Kelvin

[don77]

wynnyelle I would agree you should run through the malware forum it sounds as thought it very well could be a malware issue you have,

I hope you didn't use the earlier instructions posted by Kelvin for the safemode issue doing so could cause a bigger issue if safeboot is not working properly using the method posted will cause the machine to go into a constant loop as it wont be able to get to safe mode so it will just keep looping.