How To Turn Off Windows Indexing Service

Do you know that when you work on Windows, it silently indexes your files? And, do you know that this process takes a certain amount of memory? Do you know why they do this? Do you know how to stop it?

Windows normally indexes your files in the background, so that it will be easier to search them. If you have already indexed the files, the system do not have to search all the files one by one. It will only go through the index (its like a list) and give you the results. So, if your a person who don’t search through your files that much, if your a person who have a good 8 GB memory inside you, which will keep the index inside your brain, then this feature will be useless for you!

This indexing will make our searching faster. But it will also bring down the performance of some PCs. Why did I say some? Actually, if you have a very good, fast system, you won’t feel the difference. But I can remember that my old PC becomes slower when search indexing is on.

So, How to Stop Search Indexing?

• Its a bit tricky. First go to your control panel (Start > Control Panel)

Windows XP :

• In the control panel, select “switch to classic view” (on the left side)
• Select Administrative Tools > Services
• Now in the services list check for “Indexing Service“
• Right click on it and select “Properties”
• Now in the properties box, set the “Startup type” to “Disabled” and click “OK”

Windows 7 :

• In the control panel, change “View by” settings to “Large Icons” (on the top right)
• Select Administrative Tools > Services
• Now in the services list check for “Windows Search“
• Right click on it and select “Properties”
• Now in the properties box, set the “Startup type” to “Disabled” and click “OK”