Search by Search

What is Search?

Read more

Overview

---

How do I clean Search?

Search may store excess, temporary data on your computer that can take up valuable space. It may also store private data such as passwords or browsing history in the registry or on the file system. The easiest way to erase this data is by downloading AppCleaner, it is 100% free and about 1MB in size. A portable version is also available.

Clean Search
with AppCleaner

If you want to clean Search manually, you can follow the steps outlined below. There are eight locations in the file system where Search stores data that can be cleaned. Additionally, Search stores private data in one registry key.

Registry

To clean the registry from data stored by Search, you can use the Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) which is installed by default on all Windows operating systems. First of all, open regedit.exe by carrying out these steps:

• Hit the Windows key , usually located in the lower left of your keyboard between the Ctrl and Alt keys.
• Windows XP/Vista/7: Click Run...
• Type regedit.exe
• Hit Enter

Now use regedit.exe to delete the registry key:

1. • Expand HKLM from the root of the tree in the left pane.
   • Expand SOFTWARE.
   • Expand Microsoft.
   • Expand Windows Search.
   • Right-click VolumeInfoCache.
   • Choose Delete from the context menu.
   • Click Yes.

Files

To clean your file system from files stored by Search and to gain free disk space, examine the following file system locations. First of all, open a command prompt window:

• Hit the Windows key , usually located in the lower left of your keyboard between the Ctrl and Alt keys.
• Windows XP/Vista/7: Click Run...
• Type cmd
• Hit Enter

Now list all the files stored by Search that can be cleaned:

1. Type dir %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb
   • Windows XP: Type dir %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb
2. Type dir /s %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\GatherLogs\SystemIndex\*
   • Windows XP: Type dir /s %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\GatherLogs\SystemIndex\*
3. Type dir /s %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\PropMap\*
   • Windows XP: Type dir /s %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\PropMap\*
4. Type dir /s %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\SecStore\*
   • Windows XP: Type dir /s %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\SecStore\*
5. Type dir %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb
   • Windows XP: Type dir %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb
6. Type dir /s %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\GatherLogs\SystemIndex\*
   • Windows XP: Type dir /s %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\GatherLogs\SystemIndex\*
7. Type dir /s %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\PropMap\*
   • Windows XP: Type dir /s %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\PropMap\*
8. Type dir /s %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\SecStore\*
   • Windows XP: Type dir /s %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\SecStore\*

Once you have identified the files stored by Search that you want to clean, delete them using the del command or Windows Explorer.

0 Comments