Windows 10 File search works awfully slow...?!?

SEHRUM said:

I have a relatively new asus-computer (i7-6700 HQ-CPU, 2,6 Ghz, 8 GB RAM, 64 Bit) + W 10 Home.

Suddenly it works really slow, searching files, f.e on both of my external harddrives (each 1,8 TB / each 1,4 TB free). It finds results but sometimes it searches "forever"...?!?

Wyh is that so and what can i do about it?

I would appreciate potential help, because it makes me "sick"! THANKS!

Click to expand...

Hi,
hard drives can slow up for a number of reasons although with regular maintenance this can be avoided. Defragging the disks can help and the following link explains how to keep your drives nippy:
Six Reasons Why Your External Drive May Get Slow

You could also ensure your USB drivers are the latest and if you post the make and model of your machine (or just motherboard) we can help you find them.

kemical said:

Hi,
hard drives can slow up for a number of reasons although with regular maintenance this can be avoided. Defragging the disks can help and the following link explains how to keep your drives nippy:
Six Reasons Why Your External Drive May Get Slow

You could also ensure your USB drivers are the latest and if you post the make and model of your machine (or just motherboard) we can help you find them.

Click to expand...

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Thanks for the quick reaction

ASUS N752-VX

I checked the link with the six reasons and have to say that I´m quite aware of them: There is a weekly derfragmentation in work, I use this laptop very rarely online (no games whatsovever, no torrents), the external harddisks (Toshiba DTB-320 / 2TB) are equaly new as the laptop (6 months) and treated with great care and respect, when I work with the search function, no other application is active (except antivirus + the regular programs in the background (~ CPU 12-20%, Memory 37 %, Disk 10% while searching files, Network 0%)), no bad sectors...


One further aspect/change (?!?) I would like to emphasize (assuming that this might be a reason for the slowing down?!?): I have the impression that now the search function looks not only for specified file names (which would be my main goal and I assume it did so before the slow down), but where the file is located/saved, relating to the specified searching file names (and even "hidden" data inside the file). Therefore it shows a lot of actually irrelevant results, because as mentioned, I´am interested only in looking for file names...! Did "something" (WHAT?) possibly changed the regular search mechanism. I looked all over the serach properties, not finding a key parameter that might have switched and which I could turned back... Using "name:" in front of the seyrched file name makes the result coming much quicker. But it is inconinient to insert that all the time, and I never used that technique before. I just discoverd it when the speed problems started and googling for alternatives... How can I make windows just search for filenames, and therefore reducing the effort of the computer...?!?

SEHRUM said:

" How can I make windows just search for filenames, and therefore reducing the effort of the computer...?!? "

Click to expand...

for purpose of this quick discussion … i wish to search c:-drive for all file-names that contain "microsoft".

open file-explorer:

• click destination c:-drive
  
• click magnifying-glass in search-field
• top of file-explorer window, click "search-tools" … choose "other properties" … now, in pull-down menu, select "name"
• back to the magnifying-glass … type in the file-name after "name:" expression … as in name:microsoft

let the search commence.

now … if "name:" does not precede the file-name typed in … default behavior mandates microsoft will search the expression within the file-contents.



feel free to view the two screen-caps above by clicking thumbnails.

pnamajck said:

for purpose of this quick discussion … i wish to search c:-drive for all file-names that contain "microsoft".

open file-explorer:

• click destination c:-drive
  
• click magnifying-glass in search-field
• top of file-explorer window, click "search-tools" … choose "other properties" … now, in pull-down menu, select "name"
• back to the magnifying-glass … type in the file-name after "name:" expression … as in name:microsoft

let the search commence.

now … if "name:" does not precede the file-name typed in … default behavior mandates microsoft will search the expression within the file-contents.

View attachment 34862 View attachment 34863

feel free to view the two screen-caps above by clicking thumbnails.

Click to expand...

Thanks for answering!

I probably wrote too much so you obviously didn´t read everything.

I specificly wrote about the "well" known searching method with the described "name"-aspect, empahsizing that to use it all the time is rather inconvinient AND that my computer did the job well before, without this "name"-aspect not knowing why its slowing down now...?!?