Start10/Start11 cannot find some programs in search

from Stardock Forums

I had this issue with Start11, but I just retried with Start10 and ran into the same thing, so I am making a dedicated thread.

Situation:

Some programs cannot be found in Start10 or Start11 search.

I know the normal response to this is "Start10 just uses the Windows Search service", however, these programs DO show up in the regular Windows search (Win+S).  They also show up in Open Shell Menu, I tried that too.  So, Start10/Start11 is not doing something quite the same.

The missing programs seem to be anything from C:\Users\aaron\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs (where "aaron" is my Windows account name).  I can search and find programs at the root level but I cannot find anything from subfolders of this folder.  I don't have a problem finding the "global" Start menu shortcuts located in C:\ProgramData\...

Example:

Visual Studio Code

Already tried:

  • Uninstall/reinstall (using purge script in between)
  • I verified that the folder above is covered under the Windows search index
  • I rebuilt the Windows Search index & waited 48 hours, that didn't help

This may be similar to previous unresolved issues experienced by Start10 users.

https://forums.stardock.com/489574/page/1/
https://forums.stardock.com/504805/shortcut-search-broken

 

What information can I provide to help the engineers figure out this issue?

I recently purchased two licenses for Start11 but I'll have to request refunds if this can't be figured out.

Thanks,
Aaron

1,943 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Start11 is due to have significant changes to how search works in the next few weeks so if it is acceptable it might be wise to hold off further investigations until that is in the betas,

Over the years a few machines have shown this issue, but this isn't the case on the vast majority of setups.  It certainly sounds like what happens is the sub folders are not being included and yet the folders are all added exactly the same way.  My gut says it is something to do with the indexer and the folder we are requesting, perhaps there is an entry for the start menu on its own thats not set to include subfolders.

We request FOLDERID_StartMenu, FOLDERID_CommonStartMenu and pinned items folder

As I say as the search is being radically changed this may well resolve itself in a few weeks time.

With regards to OpenShell, I don't think that uses the indexing service for app searches but rather searches the all programs list it built earlier by looking at the shortcuts.  The Windows Search in Windows 10 is also not using the indexing service in the same way.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 1
We request FOLDERID_StartMenu, FOLDERID_CommonStartMenu and pinned items folder
End of Neil's quote

Thank you for the details.  I might try to write a simple program to query Windows Search and see if I can reproduce this issue separately from Start10/11.  (Might be a step towards figuring out why it is messed up on my system.)  Otherwise, I'll wait and see what happens with Start11 over the next few weeks.

Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.