Windows 7 Search - how to make it better

[Spectre]

Guys,

by default files and folders on other partitions apart from system drive doesn't show up in quick search (in the start menu)

There is an option to turn on indexing for D:, E: etc. I think once this is done, all files from other partitions will show up in search

my question is, does turning on the indexing for different partitions slow down the system or cause performance issues

 

[Konquerror]

Turning on indexing does impact the system speed as it uses resources...I personally turned indexing off as I know where my files are...and I don't want to let any 3rd person to snoop around my laptop using that search

 

[ShAD0W]

indexing only takes place when the os is in idle state. once indexed you will find the searches to be much more quicker than before. its recommended for a system having huge storage space. If disabled, searching small stuff everytime will be more time consuming.

 

[gauSs]

Turning on indexing will make your searches faster. It's a one time process. So, it might take time when you include those locations in the search for the first time. Otherwise, it won't affect system performance.

Indexing is a feature taken from Web based search engines like Google. Google maintains an index of all Web sites that it has access to. It does not search the internet for information every time you type a query. It just looks up it's own index tables. Though the algorithm used does make a difference. But indexing makes searches faster. And everytime, there is an update, only the particular entry in the index table has to be updated.