Erratic "Search" function

[nhawlman]

Only occasionally will Windows 7 find a file,
even though my search string is the full case-recognized file name,
rather than being embedded in the file name.

90% ? of the time it returns the message;
"No items match your search"

Help !

 

[zigzag3143]

Have you rebuilt the search index? It is in control panel>indexing>modify>rebuild

 

[TrainableMan]

While you are in there you might check out what folders are excluded. Hit the Modify button and make sure the folders you wish to search are included in the search index.

 

[Digerati]

While you are in there you might check out what folders are excluded. Hit the Modify button and make sure the folders you wish to search are included in the search index.

Yeah. It is surprising how many are not selected by default. The idea (I am guessing) is MS chose only locations where the user might save something - in order to make searches fast, but also so you don't get 1000s of hits.

It is a tricky balance. There are 3rd party search programs you can install - but to be faster, they have to consume more resources.

control panel>indexing>modify>rebuild

Hmmm, in mine, Rebuild is under Advanced, not Modify.