Windows 8 Bible

Managing the Search Index

To get the best performance and value from the search index, you want to make sure it includes all of the files you regularly use in your work. But you don’t want to go overboard and also include files you never, or rarely, use. If you do, you’re forcing Windows to search through thousands of filenames and properties for no good reason. By default, Windows 8 maximizes the search index by including messages and documents from a limited number of folders.

Tip

Some indexing settings can be changed by regular users. Advanced settings can only be changed by a user with administrative rights. Of course, many people use multiple hard disks to store their files. If you want to include files from other drives and folders, you’ll need to add them to your search index. But do exercise some discretion. The larger the index, the more overhead involved in maintaining the index and the slower things go. Don’t add a folder to the index if it contains a bunch of non-document files or files you don’t open and use regularly.

What’s with the Offline Files?

Offline files are files that primarily exist on some other computer. You use Sync Center, described in Chapter 46, to copy them to and from a portable notebook in a way that prevents the copies on your computer from becoming out of sync with copies on the main computer. The files are included in the search index, by default, because they’re usually documents. And the search index is all about finding and opening ...