Configuring Indexing of Encrypted Files
Indexing files encrypted using EFS are disabled by default in Windows 7, but you can enable them by using Indexing Options in Control Panel or by using Group Policy. Beginning with Windows 7, indexing the contents of encrypted files is supported, which makes searching encrypted content as easy as searching unencrypted content. (In Windows 7, the non-encrypted properties of a file are always indexed, regardless of whether the file itself is encrypted.) The only limitation is that users can search only encrypted content stored on the local file systems of their computers, not encrypted content stored on network shares. Prior to Windows Vista SP2, only encrypted files that were made available for offline use could be indexed.
Important If you decide to enable indexing of encrypted content on a computer running Windows 7, Microsoft recommends that you use Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption to encrypt the disk volume on which the index resides on your computer. Microsoft does not recommend using EFS to encrypt the index.
In this tutorial:
- Managing Search
- Search and Indexing Enhancements
- Search in Windows XP
- Search in Windows Vista
- Search in Windows 7
- Understanding the Windows Search Versions
- Search Versions Included in Windows 7 and Windows Vista
- Search Versions Included in Windows Server 2008
- Search Versions Available for Earlier Versions of Windows
- How Windows Search Works
- Understanding Search Engine Terminology
- Windows Search Engine Processes
- Enabling the Indexing Service
- Windows Search Engine Architecture
- Understanding the Catalog
- Default System Exclusion Rules
- Understanding the FANCI Attribute
- Default Indexing Scopes
- Initial Configuration
- Understanding the Indexing Process
- Modifying IFilter Behavior
- How Indexing Works
- Rebuilding the index
- Viewing Indexing Progress
- Understanding Remote Search
- Managing Indexin
- Configuring the Index
- Configuring the Index Location Using Group Policy
- Configuring Indexing Scopes and Exclusions Using Group Policy
- Configuring Offline Files Indexing
- Configuring Indexing of Encrypted Files
- Configuring Indexing of Encrypted Files Using Control Panel
- Configuring Indexing of Similar Words
- Configuring Indexing of Text in TIFF Image Documents
- Other Index Policy Settings
- Using Search
- Configuring Search Using Folder Options
- Configuring What to Search
- Configuring How To Search
- Using Start Menu Search
- Searching Libraries
- Advanced Query Syntax
- Using Federated Search
- Deploying Search Connectors
- Troubleshooting Search and Indexing Using the Built-in Troubleshooter