Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Configuring the Index

Administrative tasks for configuring the index include:

• Moving the index to a new location.
• Changing the locations indexed (modifying indexing scopes and exclusion rules for indexing).
• Rebuilding the index.
• Changing how file types are indexed.

Note For information on how to rebuild the index, see the section titled "How Indexing Works" earlier in this tutorial. For information on changing the way that file types are indexed, see the section titled "Types of Files Indexed" earlier in this tutorial.

Configuring the Index Location Using Control Panel

You may need to change the location of the index if the system drive is running low on free space. To change the location of the index using the Indexing Options item in Control Panel, follow these steps:

1. Click Advanced to open the Advanced Options properties dialog box.
2. Click Select New and choose a new volume or folder for storing the index on the system.
3. Restart the Windows Search service on the computer.

Note The index can be located only on a fixed disk. You cannot move the index to a removable or network-attached disk. In addition, any volume or folder to which the index is moved should be set to read-only for non-administrators. Specifically, be sure to verify that \Search\Data\Applications\Windows only provides access to BUILTIN\Administrators and NT Authority\System. Access for any other users, such as Users or Authenticated Users, should be removed.