search companion not working

[linuxboy]

When I am Accessing search .It is telling that ur search companion is not working plz run the setup.

What must i do now

[Play_The_0dds]

ok, you will need to list the name of the program that is or created the search companion that you mentioned...is it aol?

[linuxboy]

My search comapanion which is gefault from windows is not working

[Harnic]

I have lost my windows explorer search too. When I open the search window it comes up blank. It has just happened & I suspect it's a result of one of the recent "security" patches or that rather annoying Antispyware beta I was foolish enough to try... any ideas how to reset the explorer search utility anyone?

[Play_The_0dds]

just open the search of IE and set the options from the "change preferences" link, can do the same with windows search in the start menu, they are the same search so either one you go to will get you to the same results.
may want to do a spyware scan and a on-line virus scan, these are usually good signs that spyware has invaded.
online virus scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/actives..._principal.htm

spyware remover
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10...age&tag=button

[Harnic]

I tried using the IE search option but when I switch to searching my drives, it goes blank the same as from the search option in the start menu. I've pretty well narrowed the problem down to Microsoft's new Antispyware program. A number of anomalies have occured since I installed it including not being able to update the ref files for Adaware & the search function. I have my hardrive partitioned with all data on virtual drives & only programs on my boot drive (C:\), so my best option is to format C:\ & reinstall everything. Thanks for your input & be careful of "free" offerings from any company, especially Microsloth.

[RetiredGuru]

You have a corrupt Search Companion file.
To prevent this problem from occurring, make sure the Search Companion is closed before you connect to your ISP.
To fix it -
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q319949

In the unlikely event that the M$ fix doesn't work (!) the registry key you need to fix is
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Explorer
Desktop
NameSpace
{e17d4fc0-5564-11d1-83f2-00a0c90dc849}
Default Value Data is Search Results Folder

Enjoy!

[Harnic]

Thanks for coming out of retirement Guru. I tried all the ideas in your post with no change in my problem apparent afterwards. I have found (before I tried your suggestions) if I click "On The Internet" in the search utility, then from in that window select "Search this computer for files" I can run a "normal" search, but if I go directly to the "For files or folders" option I just get a blank search window, no text or icons visible. I will eventually just reinstall XP Pro, SP2, but for now this workaround is acceptable.

[RetiredGuru]

So, in other words - you reinstalled the companion by right clicking on the Srchasst.inf file and after rebooting, your problem wasn't solved? Was the registry key {e17d4fc0-5564-11d1-83f2-00a0c90dc849} already present or did you add it?
Bill

[Harnic]

Bill, yes, I did reinstall by right clicking on the Srchasst.inf & selecting "Install". When I checked the registry the key was already present.

Harry.

[RetiredGuru]

15% of my clients had BIG problems with sp2 "upgrade". The benefits of sp2 are security fixes but you don't need sp2 - you can make all the changes manually using admin services, continuous sp1 fixes and firewall settings ....... SO for those clients I used System Restore to remove sp2 and everything returned to normal with no problems. (Some pcs and configs simply can't handle the sp2 "upgrade" without MAJOR tweaking and life's too short to spend 3 days fixing 1 pc!) You may want to consider a rollback. However, if not: -
As you know, M$ installer will not automatically replace a newer file with an older version of the same name file. But frequently it won't tell you that it's not doing it. What version of srchasst.inf did you use? (Aug 29/2002, Sept 3/2002 or something more recent) If you've got a newer version I'd suggest a rollback. Create a new system restore point just in case you don't like the result. Delete the SRCHASST folder (and all of its subfolders). Open srchasst.inf with Notepad, make a note of all of the files it tells you therein that affected by the installation and manually delete them. Do not empty the Recycle Bin just in case. Then reinstall all the older version files using the old version of srchasst.inf. I'd also recommend running a good registry editor such as Registry Mechanic to assist you in quickly/easily identifying missing or incorrect keys or pointers.
There is a VERY remote chance that you have a browser problem - BHO or otherwise - I doubt it but it wouldn't hurt to run cwshredder and hijackthis. Fwiw none of my clients are permitted to use Internet Explorer - because of security holes, resource use and other problems I recommend Firefox, Crazy Browser or Opera. Smaller footprints and better browsers than IE.
Bill

[RetiredGuru]

Oh, one other thing if you're thinking about reformatting or something else serious! Before you go throwing the baby out with the bathwater, if your ONLY concern with your current config is that you don't have a good Search Companion, then I'll give you a better answer
IMNSHO, the Find and File Manager utilities of the old M$ OSs were much better than Search Companion and Explorer. IF you are an expert/power user and want to have a much better Explorer than the one Microsoft gives you, get OnTrack's PowerDesk. Not only is it quicker to set up for ongoing file manipulation, but it's more powerful and faster at finding content (whether it be finding files or folders or finding text inside those files). The Pro version is excellent but IMO even the free version (4.0.8.0) is better than M$; see http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...id,3491,00.asp
Alternatively, here's a link to an article on another option that may interest you -
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1749957,00.asp

AND while I'm on the subject of finding files, because I've got thousands of zipped files, one of the most irritating M$ "features" to me is its default behaviour of automatically searching thru all zipped files. Talk about SLOW!!!! If you feel the same way, you can stop that nonsense by issuing the following command -
regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll
Bill

[Harnic]

Thanks Bill, you're right... it'd be foolish & an intense waste of time to reformat & reinstall over a less than perfect search utility. I've downloaded Powerdesk & will give it a look. As far as your other suggestions go... well, when I get time! We are on the same page for the most part. I have used Mozilla's Firefox & Thunderbird for some time now because of the well documented security issues with the microsloth offerings. My current PC (a Pentium 4 on an Asus P4P800-VM motherboard, etc.) equiped with all the bells & whistles, has XP Pro SP2 so a roll-back might be a bit more difficult because SP2 is embedded. For the most part it's working very well, much less problematic than a lot of the PCs I work on with earlier renditions. I also understand your frustration with organising tons of files, as well as a PC tech, my job description is first & foremost a digital imaging artist. I work with my wife (a professional photographer) and am responsible for all the editting, colour correcting, restoration & our "favorite" job... cataloging! It is tough keeping track of thousands of files be they images or zip files. Thanks again for your input Bill, you are a storehouse of info!
Harry.

[Harnic]

Bill, I installed PowerDesk 5... it looks interesting. Very handy, but.... the search companion in it does EXACTLY the same thing as in Windows Start search... it's a blank window, no text & no icons. Whatever has messed up is systemic. The new problem is since I installed PD5, my workaround using IE to search my computer stopped working! I should have left well enough alone! This is going to be a great brain-twister... I'll keep you posted on my progress or lack thereof.
Harry

[RetiredGuru]

Well I've never had that problem! (As I don't have any clients with new pcs loaded with sp2 right out of the box.) Did you not create a new restore point before you installed PowerDesk? If not, did Windows create one for you the same day? Even though I've changed my default setting to 2% (666 MB on this particular laptop I'm on today) I still have 5 automatic and 2 manual ones to choose from - so if you haven't tweaked the settings down to virtually nothing (or turned off SR?) you should have a restore date you'll like. For future installations you may want to consider using a non-M$ uninstall utility (like Norton or Total Uninstall) but usually Windows Restore will do the job. I've used it successfully a lot on my clients (and friends) pcs. For other utilities that I deem everyone should have, take a look at my old site http://www.wghartford.com/ I haven't been updating it since I retired but the links/tools are still valid.
Bill