The University of Texas at Austin

Windows Software Update Service (WSUS)

Disabling Windows Desktop Search

Disabling this service should be considered a temporary measure. Windows Desktop Search (by default) replaced the previous style of Windows search. Disabling this service prevents it from fully performing its indexing process, leading to slower file searches.

Note: You must be logged in as an administrator to complete either of these procedures.

Temporarily Stop the Windows Search Service

This procedure allows you to temporarily stop the Windows Search service until the next time you reboot the machine.

  • Run the following command at a command prompt:
    Net stop wsearch

Permanently Stop the Windows Search Service

This procedure allows you to permanently disable the Windows Search service.

  1. Run the following command at a command prompt:
    sc config wsearch start= disabled

    Note: There is a space between "start=" and "disabled".

  2. Stop the service or reboot the machine.

Note: This can be done via Group Policy. Using the Group Policy Management console, create a Group Policy Object (GPO) that sets the "Windows Search" service start mode to "Disabled".

Last updated March 9, 2012 @ 10:02 am

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