When trying to search in Windows 7 Start Menu, no related program is found

07
2014-07
  • Sithu

    I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate. Whenever I click on the "Start" button and then in the search box type anything such as "calc", "notepad", "mstsc", etc., no related program found and nothing is launched when press "Enter".
    It always shows

    • Programs
    • Control Panel
    • Documents
    • Microsoft Office Outlook
    • Files

    enter image description here

    • Answers
  • TheTurkey

    You could try rebuilding the Windows Search index.

    1. Open Control Panel
2. Click Indexing Options
3. Click Advanced (accept UAC if prompted)
4. Click 'Rebuild'

    Note this will take a while to process, and will cause slow hard drive response in the meantime.

  • Sithu

    I got a fix from the Microsoft support article The "Search programs and files" box does not display search results correctly in Windows 7 and in Windows 2008 R2.
    Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products.

    WORKAROUND

    Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
    To work around this issue, use the following method:

    Delete the whole registry subkey

    • Press the Windows logo key + R on your keyboard.
    • In the Run box, type regedit and then press ENTER.
    • Locate the following registry subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{ef87b4cb-f2ce-4785-8658-4ca6c63e38c6}
    • Right-click this subkey, and then select Delete.
    • Restart the computer.

    This workaround did work for me.


    • Related Question

    Search behavior of Windows 7 start menu
  • Kevin Ivarsen

    I'm coming to Windows 7 from XP, and there are aspects of the start menu search that I like. However, there are some behaviors that seem either inconsistent or surprising to me. For example:

    • If I type "Pa" into the search bar, Paint is the first result (under the "Programs" heading), and it is selected for me. I can just hit Enter to start the program

    • If I have a standalone exe "testing" on my desktop, and I type "test", the program comes up as the first item (under the "Files" heading), but it is not selected for me. I have to hit down-down-down-enter to open it from the keyboard. The same appears to be true for shortcuts and folders.

    What classifies something as a "Program" verses a "File"? Is there any way to configure the start menu so that the first search result is always selected? As a heavy keyboard user, it seems insane for the behavior to be inconsistent, and to require so many keypresses to select the top result.

    Also, are there resources that document the details, limitations, and tricks of the start menu search? (For example, a "Proc Exp" search will match "Process Explorer", but not "ProcessExplorer")

    EDIT: I've found that instead of hitting down-down-down to select the first item (when no Programs are in the list), you can just hit tab. This helps a bit, but the inconsistent behavior still makes this search feature more awkward and frustrating than necessary.


    • Related Answers
  • Seasoned Advice (cooking)

    Programs are classified as such because they have an actual shortcut in the start menu programs (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs).

    Your exe is found under the secondary search for files because it is on your desktop. If you were to create a shortcut to your exe in the start menu, then it would appear under the Programs section. Or right click the exe and select Pin to Start Menu or Taskbar.

    I am sure there are some good resources of the inner workings of the start menu, but I tend to try and figure out why things work the way they do thru trial and error, so I do not know of any off hand. Regarding your specific Proc Exp example, it appears that it searches individual words, and if there is no space in ProcessExplorer, it would be considered one word and would not be a match for Proc Exp.