Software Information

Configure Windows Indexing Service for Performance


The Windows Indexing Service provides you with the ability to perform advanced searches on directories located on your computer and on shared directories on the network. The Indexing Service was introduced with IIS (Internet Information Services) and is now installed with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

The Indexing Service is not started by default on a Windows 2000 professional computer. If you want the Indexing service to start automatically, select "Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools" and open the "Computer Management" application. In the left pane of the "Computer Management" window, select "Services", then in the right pane, right-click on "Indexing Service". The "Indexing Services Properties" dialog box will appear.

In the "Indexing Services Properties" dialog box, on the "General" tab select "Automatic" from the "Startup type:" drop-down list. Under "Service stautus:" click on the "Start" button. A flurry of hard disk activity may begin as the Indexing Service builds or updates the index. The Indexing service creates an index (also called a catalog) organized in a way that makes it quick and easy to search. The Indexing Service also records the documents properties, for example its date of creation and last modified date.

The Search application can be accessed by right-clicking on any folder and selecting "Search..." in the popup menu. You can search for file names or you can search for text within files using keywords, or phases. Queries can use wildcards (?, *) and boolean operators (AND OR and NOT). When a user searches an NTFS volume, the Indexing service will return in the results only the files the user has permission to see.

The documents created by most applications contain formatting and control information, for example a webpage contains html tags, a Word document contains rtf tags. The Indexing Service uses filters to extract the content from the formatting and control information. Documents with extensions for which filters are not installed will not be indexed by default. If you want to index everything, open the "Computer Management" application as described above, and select "Services ...", then right-click on "Indexing Service" and select "Properties" in the popup menu. In the "Indexing Services Properties" dialog box which appears, on the "Generation" tab, check the checkbox next to "Index Files With Unknown Extensions".

The Indexing service is designed to run continuously and requires no maintenance. After it is setup, it will automatically update the index. When a file changes, the OS sends a change notification to the Indexing Service, causing it to update the index. Folders on remote computers are scanned periodically.

The Windows Indexing Service uses a fair amount of disk space (approximately 30% the amount of the original files). If the shared directories on the network are large, it can consume a considerable portion of the computer's memory and processor cycles. There are several options for configuring the Indexing Service to improve performance.

To configure the Indexing Service select "Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools" and open the "Computer Management" application. In the left pane of the "Computer Management" window, click the plus sign next to "Services and Applications", then right-click on the "Indexing Service" icon. In the popup menu, select "All Tasks | Tune Performance". The "Indexing Service Usage" dialog box will appear.

The "Indexing Service Usage" dialog box provides three radio button options that let Windows set the Indexing Service Performance for you; "Used often", "Used occasionally", and "Never Used". If you want to provide your own custom setting, set the "Customize" radio button and click on the "Customize..." button. The "Desired Performance" dialog box will appear.

The "Desired Performance" dialog box contains two slider controls. The "Indexing" slider control sets how quickly the catalog will be updated. Adjust it to the left to reduce the amount of system resources used to update the catalog. The "Querying" slider control sets how quickly search results will be returned. Adjusting it to the left will reduce the amount of system resources used, but search results will take longer to return.

You can also control the Indexing Service by configuring the specific folders to be indexed. When you click on the "Indexing Service" icon in the "Computer Management" window, the right pane should list a catalog named "System". When you double-click on a catalog, you will find three folders, "Directories", "Properties", and "Query The Catalog".

Note: If Internet Information Server (IIS) is installed on your computer, you should also see a catalog named "Web". The Web catalog scans the C:Inetpub directory.

To add a folder to be indexed, right-click on the "Directories" folder and select "New | Directory" in the popup menu. In the "Add Directory" dialog box that appears, enter the path of the new directory. To remove a folder, left-click on the "Directories" folder to display the list of directories in the right pane. Then left-click on a directory and select "Delete" in the popup menu.

Copyright(C) Bucaro TecHelp.

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

About The Author

Stephen Bucaro

To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com. To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp.


MORE RESOURCES:

ChattahBox

Facebook Co-Founder To Leave For Own Software Startup
InformationWeek, NY - 1 hour ago
Now, he plans to launch a software startup, according to reports on the Valleywag.com Web site. The Silicon Valley publication said that CEO Mark Zuckerberg ...
Facebook Cofounder Leaving To Start New Company NewsFactor Network
Facebook co-founder quits Siliconrepublic.com
Facebook co-founder calls it quits ITWeb
LinuxInsider.com - VentureBeat
all 51 news articles


ZDNet

Sales of RealDVD movie copying software halted by judge
Dallas Morning News, TX - 4 hours ago
Software to do that has existed almost as long as DVD discs, but this is one of the first efforts by a mainstream American company to try to make such ...
RealDVD Sales Suspended In Tinseltown Showdown CRN
RealNetworks Halts Sales of RealDVD PC Magazine
RealDVD sales suspended under court request ITworld.com
Forbes - ZDNet
all 29 news articles


Patterson Cos. acquires supplier, software maker
CNNMoney.com - 1 hour ago
based Patterson said it was acquiring software company Odyssey Veterinary Software LLC. Patterson shares fell $1.20, or 4.1 percent, to $27.67 in afternoon ...
Patterson Companies Acquires Leading, Value-Added Distributor of ... MarketWatch
Patterson Cos. acquires Columbus Serum Bizjournals.com
Patterson buys Ohio veterinary company Bizjournals.com
all 23 news articles


Callidus Software Names Jimmy Duan Senior Vice President of Mid ...
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
There are tens of thousands of companies in the mid-market segment, which represents a great opportunity for Callidus Software. We are pleased to have Jimmy ...
Callidus Software Schedules Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results ... Business Wire (press release)
Callidus Software Names Jimmy Duan Senior Vice President of Mid ... TMC Net
all 19 news articles


Visual Analytics Achieves Protection Level 3 Certification for its ...
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
The certification allows the software to operate under DoDDIS, which is managed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Under the certification process, ...
Tableau Software Provides Visual Data Analysis Solution for AHIMA TMCnet
Tableau Software and AHIMA to Offer Visual Analytics Software to ... MarketWatch
all 19 news articles


Dividend.com

SAP Announces 2008 Third Quarter Preliminary Software and Software ...
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
announced today that after a preliminary review of its 2008 third quarter revenues, it expects third quarter 2008 US GAAP software and software-related ...
Europe's largest software company SAP warns on profits guardian.co.uk
SAP's Third-Quarter Revenue Growth Trails Forecast (Update2) Bloomberg
SAP: first to hit the buffers ZDNet
Reuters UK - guardian.co.uk
all 156 news articles


TopCoder Joins Lineups for SD Best Practices and Software Business ...
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
TopCoder, Inc. today announced its participation in two premier software industry conferences scheduled for the end of October. In Boston, TopCoder will ...


Snap-on Announces New Diagnostic Software for Navistar(R) Engines
MarketWatch - 1 hour ago
NAVPAK replaces the current Navistar MD32 Master Diagnostics Fleet software. Technicians using NAVPAK will benefit from a PC-based application that supports ...


Given Imaging Launches RAPID(R) 5 Access Software
CNNMoney.com - 7 hours ago
Given Imaging Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIVN) today announced the launch of RAPID 5 Access, new software that facilitates physicians' reading PillCam videos anytime, ...
Given Imaging Launches RAPID(R) 5 Access Software MarketWatch
Given Imaging Launches RAPID(R) 5 Access Software International Business Times
all 11 news articles


Healy Hudson Teams With IBM for Software as a Service Solution
MarketWatch - 4 hours ago
have signed a five-year, five million euro Software as a Service contract. As part of the agreement, IBM will support Healy Hudson's e-placing solution ...
Healy Hudson Teams With IBM for Software as a Service Solution International Business Times
IBM opens Scottish data centre CRN - UK
IBM Invests £2 Million in Scotland for New UK Services Business ... International Business Times
all 22 news articles

Software - Google News

home | site map
© 2006