Search doesn't work properly for app starting

from Stardock Forums

I exclusively use the Start search menu to start apps.  However, for some reason most apps do not appear in the search result list.  For example:

I enter "Internet Explorer" in the search box and no apps or shortcuts are displayed, even though Internet Explorer is pinned to my start menu.  (Outlook, which is also pinned, does show up however). 

I enter "CCleaner" (a link I manually created and dropped into the Start8 All Programs menu) and I get the following:

  Documents

   CCleaner Folder

   CCleanerSkipUAC

   lang

   lang-1092.dll

Also sometimes results won't show until I've entered at least the first 6 characters.  To make things worse, sometimes the results do show after just a few first characters, but disappear after I've entered more characters.  For example, after I've entered "CCle", CCleaner64.exe shows in the results in addition to the other results under "Documents" as shown above.  But once I've entered the whole "CCleaner", CCleaner64.exe is removed from the search results entirely???

I'm using 1.1 RC and I have this issue regardless of whether "Search should include files outside the standard libraries" is checked or not.

start8
7,512 views 15 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

The problem you are having is certainly not normal.  I just checked here and if I start typing Internet Explorer the results show up instantly. 

If you are only getting a result under Documents for CCleaner that suggests it is not looking at the start menu at all.

Is this a foreign language install of Windows?  Do you ever get any results for installed applications?  Ths should appear under Programs at the top of the list.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 1
The problem you are having is certainly not normal.  I just checked here and if I start typing Internet Explorer the results show up instantly. 

If you are only getting a result under Documents for CCleaner that suggests it is not looking at the start menu at all.

Is this a foreign language install of Windows?  Do you ever get any results for installed applications?  Ths should appear under Programs at the top of the list.
End of Neil's quote

Windows 8 Pro US English.

Yes, some applications do get results.  Examples include Outlook, Calculator, Quicken.

Others show up differently depending on number of characters entered.  See these examples for "Putt" vs. "Putty" entered:

I cannot find any correlation as to why some show up and others don't.  For example if I enter "Notepad", Notepad++ shows up, but Notepad doesn't.

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

And the applications that show appear under a section called Programs?

The reason for the putt / putty search is PUTT is a whole word in many of the results in the first screenshot which is why they appear rather than putty.  Windows search gives whole word matches priority.

If you click the see more results link do you then get the programs you expect listed?

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 3
And the applications that show appear under a section called Programs?

The reason for the putt / putty search is PUTT is a whole word in many of the results in the first screenshot which is why they appear rather than putty.  Windows search gives whole word matches priority.

If you click the see more results link do you then get the programs you expect listed?
End of Neil's quote

 

Yes, the applications that do show, show up under a section called "Programs":

And here is the search for CClea vs CCleaner:

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting AStardockUser, reply 5
Quoting Neil Banfield, reply 3And the applications that show appear under a section called Programs?

The reason for the putt / putty search is PUTT is a whole word in many of the results in the first screenshot which is why they appear rather than putty.  Windows search gives whole word matches priority.

If you click the see more results link do you then get the programs you expect listed?

 

Yes, the applications that do show, show up under a section called "Programs":



And here is the search for CClea vs CCleaner:



End of AStardockUser's quote

And if you click on see more results what are those searches showing?

Also is this an upgrade install of Win8 over Win7 or a clean install.  Right now my best guess is a corrupted OS indexing file.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

More Results for CCleaner:

I'll try deleting/rebuilding the index and will report results tomorrow.

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Sorry, forgot to answer:  It is a clean install.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Under "Desktop" Tab of "Start8" Uncheck "Search Should Include files outside the Standard Libraries". Or you could always turn of the Windows Indexing Service. I know I do. I don't have a need for it as all my data is stored on another partition anyway.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting EyeCandy101, reply 9
Desktop" Tab of "Start8" Uncheck "Search Should Include files outside the Standard Libraries". Or you could always turn of the Windows Indexing Service. I know I do. I don't have a need for it as all my data is stored on another partition anyway.
End of EyeCandy101's quote

I tried with both "Searched Should Include files outside the Standard Libraries" both checked and unchecked.  Neither give correct results.

Unfortunately I do need Windows Search running, I'm always searching for files.

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 6
Right now my best guess is a corrupted OS indexing file.
End of Neil's quote

Finished rebuilding the index from scratch.  Unfortunately I'm getting the exact same search results for all the aforementioned searches.

Also noticed 1.1 was released, so upgraded and retested.  Same results again.

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

I can confirm that I have the same issue.

I type "cc" and get ccleaner under the heading "programs".

I type "inte" and get some items from intel and from internet explorer, but the are all settings related and come under the heading "control panel".

 

Thanks,

 

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

One more thing I just tried:

I disabled Start8 and installed Vistart8 instead to test, since that program also uses the Windows Index for search results, just to see if the issue is with my system or something else.  All searches in Vistart 8 worked perfectly, pretty much exactly the same as when I was running Windows 7.  (Not switching though, would much rather get this issue resolved with Start8 as the customization options are much better.)

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

It sounds like it must be a case of not looking in the right place then.

Could you find the shortcut to CCleaner in all programs and right click it, pick properties and see where the shortcut itself (not the app) is stored.  This should be on the general page I think.

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 14
It sounds like it must be a case of not looking in the right place then.

Could you find the shortcut to CCleaner in all programs and right click it, pick properties and see where the shortcut itself (not the app) is stored.  This should be on the general page I think.
End of Neil's quote

 

That was a good idea.  I see a clear pattern below:

SEARCH DOES NOT WORK:
Internet Explorer.lnk - C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
CCleaner.lnk - C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Notepad.lnk -  C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories

Skydrive.lnk - C:\Users\Default\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
 

SEARCH DOES WORK (But the search results often include extra links under the "Programs" heading - links to the program EXE, INI, Help File, pretty much anything with the same name and in the target directory):
Outlook.lnk - C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
Calculator.lnk - C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories
Chrome.lnk - C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Google Chrome
 

MY INDEX SETTINGS:
Included Locations                                   Excluded
Main (C:)                                                ProgramData;CSC
Microsoft Office Outlook
Start Menu 

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi Neil,

Now that we've identified the issue, is this something that will be fixed in an update?


Thanks,
Kash