Windows Indexing Service creates indexes of the contents and properties of all files on local and network drives in order to increase file searching speed. But the downside is that your PC’s general performance will slow down because it has to index files continuously. So if you are not very particular about the slight increase in search speed or if you use a third party search engine like the Google Desktop Search or Copernic, then you can safely disable the indexing service. There are more than one ways of doing that.
One way is to disable it at the drive level. To disable it for a particular drive, open My Computer -> right-click on a Drive icon -> Select Properties -> Remove the checkmark from “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching” -> Click Apply. Make sure to select “Apply changes to :\, subfolders and files.” before clicking OK in the new window.
Another way is to disable the service totally. To do that navigate to: Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services and stop the service.
If you are sure that you would not be using the Indexing Services at all, then you might consider uninstalling it from your system. To do that go to Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. Click the Add/Remove Window Components and Uncheck Indexing Services.
Note: Indexing Service is turned on by default for all NTFS partitions.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I need a question answered. A colleague and I are having an argument. I say that when the indexing Service is stopped Windows will no longer index your files. He is arguing that you still need to go to the drive level and uncheck the box to “Index this drive for faster file searching”. Who is correct?