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.

---

Great Plains Dexterity Programming ? Overview For Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Data Conversion & Migration Scenarios ? Overview for Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves multiple industries in the... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation ? Overview for IT Director/Controller

What is installation in the language of technology? Installation... Read More

Will Adobe Manage to Replace Industry Work Horse Quark Express by Giving Adobe InDesign for Free?

And kill the best layout software in the process of... Read More

How to Evaluate Staffing Software

If you are in the market for new staffing software,... Read More

Linux for Home Users

Hey Guys! Don't raise your eyebrows or fear by hearing... Read More

Microsoft CRM and No-Frills Cadillacs

In today's business world it's all but impossible to escape... Read More

Does Microsoft have any real competition?

Does Microsoft Have any Real Competition? Copyright (c) 2003 Gregory... Read More

RFID: Strengthen the Position for SAP; United States

SAP Inc., a global leader in client/server enterprise application software... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: carpet, textile, fabric, felt distributor ? implementation overview

In this small article we will show you the possible... Read More

10 Things You Can Do With Photoshop CS2 That You Couldnt Do Before Now

Is Photoshop CS2 worth the upgrade? You bet it is!... Read More

Microsoft Office Selecting Secrets

Stop the Runaway MouseWhat's the "runaway mouse?" You've seen it...you... Read More

Microsoft CRM Conversation Gateway: VoIP - Implementation & Customization

Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the... Read More

How a Bug Challenges to a Software Professional

It is really interesting that a bug can create problem... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains - Typical Problems And Fixes ? Overview For IT Administrators

How to delete the user? This is the first problem... Read More

Great Plains Bill of Materials Setup & Customization for Process Manufacturing ? Overview

Microsoft Great Plains has full-featured Manufacturing suite of modules: Capacity... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Payroll Module Customization Scenarios

It is now common thing when large corporation selects mid-market... Read More

Basic Steps To Optimize Your Internet Security

After seeing many people complain about their weak Internet security... Read More

Anti-Virus Software

Anti-virus software is used to find, remove or fix files... Read More

Change Your Word Docs in Record Time!

Anyone who has ever used Microsoft Word knows that it... Read More

Microsoft CRM Messaging through Lotus Domino eMail Server - Balanced Solution

Microsoft CRM and IBM Lotus Notes Domino seem to be... Read More

DVD Burning Tips

CD and DVD replication is a process that works by... Read More

Windows Screensavers Explained

In this article you will find some background information about... Read More

Exactly What Does FTP Stand for and What Can it do for Me?

FTP stands for "file transfer protocol". FTP is basically a... Read More

Are You Waiting for Microsoft Longhorn Operating System

I love new technology. I am still ready to wait... Read More

About Microsoft Sysprep (System Preparation) Utility (Windows 2000)

The Microsoft system preparation utility for Windows 2000 is a... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Manufacturing or Bill of Materials - Overview for IT Specialist

Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions product, targeted... Read More

Microsoft Update - 5 Reasons to Update Service Pack 2

Microsoft released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for the Windows XP... Read More

Need of Document Management System (DMS)

Document Management or Enterprise Information Management is perhaps one of... Read More

Navision Attain Database access via C/ODBC in ASP.NET Application

Navision Software was purchased by Microsoft and now it is... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation in Russia ? Overview for Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP platform... Read More

Lotus Notes Domino and Web: Application Development ? Tips for Programmers

Beginning with Domino version R4 it has integration with the... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Interest Calculation Example ? Stored Procedure for Crystal Report

This is intermediate level SQL scripting article for DB Administrator,... Read More