Checking & Managing Index Server

When you first turn Indexing Service on from Search Companion, the service is configured with default options. Indexing Service monitors activity on your computer, and does most of its processing when your computer is otherwise idle. It may take several hours after it is first turned on before initial indexing has completed. The default options are OK - in most cases, you won't have to change any of them; but, the following is provided for those who want to know more about the configuration options available - and a sure-fire way to tell if Indexing Service is working.

 You can check, manage and customize how Indexing Service works on your system from Start-> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management.

Indexing Service can be turned on or off from this screen. You can also change what drives and directories are included or excluded from the index, and change other options.

IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND: Indexing service speeds up 2 different kinds of searches - filenames, and context. (Actually more, but let me keep it simple for now.) Context searches - finding a file based upon its contents - will only return files that are indexed for context searches. However, all files are included in the index for filename searches independent from your settings to index known or unknown file types.

The first option: Right-click Indexing Service, then click Properties:

These are your top-level settings, and unless you change the settings on levels below, these will apply. You need to understand and decide whether you want to Index files with unknown extensions, and whether to generate abstracts.

Remember - even if you don't index files with unknown extensions, the files will still be indexed for filename searches. What this option does is cause index server to attempt to add the contents of all files to the context index. 

Generate abstracts - this will increase the size of your index, and cannot be displayed using search companion. Abstracts enable search results to show a description or some of the contents of the file along with the filename - but not with XP's Search Companion.

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