3. Optimizing File Properties for Indexing
As with file contents, the Windows Search Service indexes
file properties to display search results of indexed files and folders
faster. All files have properties associated with them and the type of
file determines what the related properties are. Document files can have
properties such as:
Title
Subject
Tags
Rating
Categories
Comments
Authors
Last Saved By
Company
Manager
Data Last Saved
Photos and other types of image files can have special properties
in addition to standard document properties, such as:
Dimensions
Width
Height
Horizontal Resolution
Vertical Resolution
Bit Depth
Camera Maker
Camera Model
Exposure Time
ISO Speed
Focal Length
Music and other types of audio files can have special
properties in addition to standard document properties, such as:
Artists
Album Artist
Album
Year
Genre
Length
Bit Rate
Producers
Publisher
You can view and configure a file’s properties by completing the
following steps:
Right-click the file and then select Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, click the Details tab.
Click a property’s entry to select it for editing, and then
type the desired property value. Separate multiple values with a
semicolon. For example, if you want to add tags to a file, you would
click the Tags property, type the first tag, type a semicolon, type
the second tag, and so on.
Although additional properties can be useful, sometimes you won’t
want this information to be saved with a file. For example, if you are
publishing a file to a website or sending a file to someone as an
attachment, you might not want this additional and possibly sensitive
information to be associated with the file. You can remove extended
properties from a file by completing the following steps:
Right-click the file and then select Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, click the Details tab.
Click the Remove Properties and Personal Information
link.
Do one of the following:
In the Remove Properties dialog box, select “Create a copy
with all possible properties removed” to create a clean copy of
the file. When you click OK, the copy is created with the same
filename as the previously selected file, and the suffix
- Copy is added.
In the Remove Properties dialog box, select “Remove the
following properties from this file” to clean properties from
the original file without creating a copy. Either select
properties to remove or all Select All to remove all extended
properties. When you click OK, the selected extended properties
are removed on the original file.
4. Resolving Indexing Problems
In order for you to perform searches, the Windows Search
service must be running. It must also be running to index files. If you
suspect you are experiencing a problem with searching or indexing, you
should check the status of the Windows Search service.
Other problems you may experience with searching and indexing have
to do with:
- Corrupt indexes
An indicator of a corrupt index is when your searches do not
return the expected results or new documents are not being indexed
properly.
- Improper index settings
An indicator of improper index settings is when your
searches fail or the Windows Search service generates bad file
errors in the event logs.
- Index location running out of space
An indicator of the index location running out of space is
when indexing of new documents fails and there are
out-of-disk-space reports in the event logs for the Windows Search
service.
The Windows Search service does a good job of correcting some
problems with indexes automatically. For other types of problems, you’ll
find error reports in the form of Windows events in the system event
logs. You can correct most problems with searching and indexing by
completing the following steps:
Click Start and then click Control Panel. In the Control
Panel, click Large Icons or Small Icons on the View By list (to
return to the original view, click the View by list and select
Category). Finally, click Indexing Options.
In the Indexing Options dialog box, click Advanced to display
the Advanced Options dialog box shown previously in Figure 6-29.
If you suspect your computer’s indexes are corrupt, click
Rebuild. Windows 7 rebuilds the indexes on your computer by
stopping, clearing out indexes, and then starting the Windows Search
service. Indexes also may be rebuilt whenever you restart your
computer.
By default, the Windows Search service creates indexes in the
%SystemDrive%\ProgramData\Microsoft
folder. If the %SystemDrive%
folder is low on disk space or if you want to try to balance the
workload by using other hard disk drives, you may want to change the
index location. To do this, click Select New on the Index Location
panel. In the Browse for Folder dialog box, select the disk drive
and folder in which the index should be stored and then click OK.
The next time you restart your computer or the Window Search
service, indexes will be created in the new location.
Click OK. In the Indexing Options dialog box, you can track
the status of reindexing files by watching the number of indexed
items increase. The indexing status will indicate whether indexing
is complete or in progress.
