Question How to completely reset the Microsoft Seach/Indexing

[Balic Blackthorn]

I recently cloned my OS drive onto a larger one as an upgrade, then changed that to be my boot disk. I have everything running fine EXCEPT when I search for documents via the start menu search, it keeps bringing up my old drive (which I WAS keeping for a backup). I tried rebuilding the index multiple times, and even went so far as to wipe the other disk so it CAN'T bring up the old files, but it still does (in that the file path is still to the old drive, not the CURRENT C drive).

Is there some way I can fix this? It's not mission critical, but bloody annoying. Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

I recently cloned my OS drive onto a larger one as an upgrade, then changed that to be my boot disk. I have everything running fine EXCEPT when I search for documents via the start menu search, it keeps bringing up my old drive (which I WAS keeping for a backup). I tried rebuilding the index multiple times, and even went so far as to wipe the other disk so it CAN'T bring up the old files, but it still does (in that the file path is still to the old drive, not the CURRENT C drive).

Is there some way I can fix this? It's not mission critical, but bloody annoying. Thanks.

It looks like you did something wrong in the clone process.

Done correctly, whatever was on the original Source drive ends up on the Target drive.
Same path, same folders, same search, everything.

The old C drive should net even be connected.

 

[Balic Blackthorn]

It looks like you did something wrong in the clone process.

Done correctly, whatever was on the original Source drive ends up on the Target drive.
Same path, same folders, same search, everything.

The old C drive should net even be connected.

It's strange. The old C drive is now the D drive. Everything else is fine, but the search results point to the files on the D drive now (even though I wiped the drive).

My google searches turned up some stuff to try, but they are for windows 7. I don't want to mess with the registry based on information from two windows versions back.

 

[USAFRet]

It's strange. The old C drive is now the D drive. Everything else is fine, but the search results point to the files on the D drive now (even though I wiped the drive).

My google searches turned up some stuff to try, but they are for windows 7. I don't want to mess with the registry based on information from two windows versions back.

Done correctly, it can't do that after the clone.

As said, the entire contents of the new drive is exactly the same as the original.

At the end of the clone process, did you physically disconnect the old drive and allow the system to boot up from only the new drive?


But since you've already wiped the old drive, I don't see a good path forward.


If possible, please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window.

 

[Balic Blackthorn]

I did not disconnect the drive. I just changed the system boot order so that it would boot from the new disk.

Apparently that is where I messed up.

Below is the requested screenshot.

Disk 0 is the old HD. Disk one is the current. Disk 2 is an external I have hooked up.

https://imgur.com/4KUizsK

View: https://imgur.com/4KUizsK

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

As @USAFRet said, this is a common problem. Without disconnecting the old drive immediately after clone, and before the next boot, this will cause issues.

 

[USAFRet]

Now that the original source drive has been wiped, I do not see a good way forward with this.


For future reference, this:
(and this speaks specifically to booting up the first time with ONLY the new drive. And, not wiping the old drive right away in case of issues)

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[lantis3]

Use Everything instead.

Free and super fast.

exclude folders
https://www.voidtools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12485

 

[Balic Blackthorn]

I understand that I messed up my clone operation.

Moving back to my original question, is there no known way to make windows dump it's old search results/indexing and start over (short of a reinstall, obviously)? I tried using the rebuild option in Indexing, but that didn't work. I found some stuff involving modifying the registry, but that was for windows *7*, and I don't want to go messing with the registry using information meant for two versions of windows ago.

 

[USAFRet]

I understand that I messed up my clone operation.

Moving back to my original question, is there no known way to make windows dump it's old search results/indexing and start over (short of a reinstall, obviously)? I tried using the rebuild option in Indexing, but that didn't work. I found some stuff involving modifying the registry, but that was for windows *7*, and I don't want to go messing with the registry using information meant for two versions of windows ago.

While there may be a way to fix it, I personally do not know.

 

[lantis3]

How to Delete and Rebuild the Windows 10 Search Index​

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtkqM7fDOdA
​