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    Accidentally Installed "Windows Search 4.0" in XP - Safe to Uninstall?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by HTWingNut, Apr 6, 2009.

  1. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    I did a stupid thing and during one MS update installed Windows Search. I have now installed many other programs since then. When I go to uninstall Windows Search it says such and such a program has been installed since Search, and may not work correctly if Search is uninstalled.

    Is it safe to uninstall it or am I screwed?
     
    HTWingNut, Apr 6, 2009
    #1
  2. diggy

    diggy Notebook Deity

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    Its safe to remove it
     
    diggy, Apr 6, 2009
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  3. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Thanks, just did. So far no ill effects...

    Go Decepticons!
     
    HTWingNut, Apr 7, 2009
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  4. McGrady

    McGrady Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yeah, it's not necessary. Useless tool as well.
     
    McGrady, Apr 7, 2009
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  5. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

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    I don't know on if Windows Search 4.0 is "useless". It does index quite well once you give it a chance to do it. You could leave the computer on overnight while it indexes all your files, and then reap the benefits in super-fast searches.

    If you don't like Microsoft search engines, you could give Google Desktop or Yahoo Desktop a whirl. All have worked pretty good for me once they had a chance to fully index your hard-drive.

    Anyway, just thought I'd give my 2 cents on this.
     
    dbam987, Apr 7, 2009
    #5
  6. McGrady

    McGrady Notebook Virtuoso

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    I've disabled indexing and have noticed it not being any slower or faster when indexing is enabled.
     
    McGrady, Apr 7, 2009
    #6
  7. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    Indexing is only useful if you use the search box frequently.

    Search 4.0's biggest feature was it took advantage of the remote host's index files when it went to search files located in a remote location, like a network drive.
     
    surfasb, Apr 7, 2009
    #7
  8. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    The PC it was installed on (home server) is on 24/7 with indexing enabled. When I went to search with Search 4.0, it couldn't find things half the time. So went to the old fashioned search and found it every time.
     
    HTWingNut, Apr 7, 2009
    #8
  9. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    Useless? Hardly. As I have said many times, if you have a client on the phone needing an immediate answer to some obscure question you know you answered in a document a year and a half ago, this sort of search can be invaluable. Index searches that allow you quick context searching inside documents are the very sort of thing many of us buy computers for.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Apr 7, 2009
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  10. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    So why would you recommend disabling it, when CLEARLY the time it would take to search for a document is light years faster with indexing turned on?

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Apr 7, 2009
    #10