How to Remove Indexing From the Start Menu
By Kevin Lee
Indexing occurs when Windows catalogs your files and stores them in its database. This helps you get results quickly when you search for files. Windows does not index every location on your hard drive by default. Instead, it only scans locations in a list you maintain. If your Windows version has a Start menu, you can remove it from that Indexed Locations list and make indexing run a bit faster.
Click the Start button and type "Indexing" without the quotes.
Click "Indexing Options" when you see it in the search results list to view the Indexing Options window.
Click "Modify" and the Indexed Locations window. Click "Show All Locations" and click the "Start Menu" icon in the window's Summary of Selected Locations panel.
Move to the Change Selected Locations panel and remove the check mark from "Start Menu." Click "OK" and then click "Close" to apply your changes.
Tips
If you'd like to check your indexing system to ensure that no problems exist, visit Microsoft's Searching in Windows support page and follow the instructions to run a wizard that troubleshoots the Windows indexing component (link in Resources).
While you are reviewing locations in the panel that lists indexed locations, remove check marks from locations that you never search. For instance, if you don’t use the Windows search to find Outlook items, you can remove the check mark from that entry to prevent Windows from indexing it.
References
Resources
Writer Bio
After majoring in physics, Kevin Lee began writing professionally in 1989 when, as a software developer, he also created technical articles for the Johnson Space Center. Today this urban Texas cowboy continues to crank out high-quality software as well as non-technical articles covering a multitude of diverse topics ranging from gaming to current affairs.