Deleted files are shown when performing a search in Windows Vista

Deleted Files Are Shown When Performing a Search in Windows Vista

When you perform a search in Windows Vista, files that were deleted earlier may show up in Search results. This is because the Indexing Service needs some time to update its records. The time frame may vary from one system to the other. In case search still continues to show deleted files, or if it does not show files that exist in the system, the indexing service may be out of date, and you may have to rebuild the search index to fix the problem.

Rebuilding the Search Index in Windows Vista

Rebuilding the index can take a long time to complete, depending upon the number of files and available resources in the system. Follow these steps to rebuild the Search Index in Windows Vista:

1. Click Start, type Indexing Options. Press ENTER

2. In the Indexing Options window, click Advanced

3. When the User Account Control prompt appears, click Continue

4. To rebuild the Search index, click the Rebuild button

5. Click OK when you see the following message:

This operation will completely re-build the indexed locations on your computer and might resolve problems if your search results often appear to be out of date. This operation might take a long time.

6. Click OK

Alternately, you can access the Indexing Options via Control Panel, or by running the following from Start, Search box:

control srchadmin.dll

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7 Comments

Reet

said this on Friday, September 4th 2009 11:11 pm

I tried all ths, it doesnt work.. I had deleted the file myself.. so actually it doent exist. Any other help on ths plzz
Allen

said this on Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 11:28 pm

I finally got rid of the nagging file “that did not exist…” The solution was so simple. I spent hours reindexing and a myriad of other suggestions. A recent post on Microsofts forum did the trick. I offer no guarantees for anyone else that this will work for you. Use as your own risk. (that’s to prevent angry people who mess up the instructions. Here is what he posted to me….
=============================
Can you delete the subdirectory?
If not, open a command prompt window, change directories to the subdirectory, and type this command:

del /p *

Answer Y when prompted to delete the file in question. DON’T ANSWER “Y” FOR ANYTHING ELSE!!!!
Steve Winograd Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)
Reet

said this on Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 1:20 pm

I deleted a file from my system, have done the reindexing but it still shows when searchin in advanced search, clicking search in non indexed location, system and hidden files. I dont want the file name to comeup while searching. how do I do that?
mio

said this on Saturday, March 14th 2009 1:36 pm

Have you tried disabling avg when trying to delete this file?
Allen

said this on Sunday, March 8th 2009 11:03 am

I ran chkdsk and it came up with no errors and the file that isn’t there, is still there. This morning I ran a full reindex of drive c: and that did get rid of a few sub folders that were giving the same message. I give up.

I needed that subdirectory for a lot of reasons and programs… so, I moved everything (except the file that isn’t there) to a new directory. Then renamed the directory with the bad file, then renamed the new folder back to the name it was originally. That put a “bandaid” on the problem and at least isolated the bad file and hopefully it will disappear as easily as it mysteriously as it appeared.

If you/anyone has other ideas, let me know how to get rid of the file. By the way, it has no extention and naturally I can’t rename it because Windows keeps telling me it isn’t there, but I can sure see it clearly for something that is not there.

Thanks for the help Ramesh
Ramesh Srinivasan

said this on Saturday, March 7th 2009 4:17 pm

@Allen: Try running Chkdsk as they may be some file system errors.
Allen

said this on Saturday, March 7th 2009 2:01 pm

I’ve had the same problem, running Vista home Premium. I’ve searched and done all the recommended fixes. I still have a file that shows on file manager, but can’t be deleted because “file does not exist” error.

I have a backup program, “SyncBack” that won’t do a backup in the sub directory with the file that isn’t there. It stops the backup because it can’t find the file that Vista says doesn’t exist. I have reindexed everything. (Yes, it did take a long time) and immediately shut down and rebooted. The file name is still in the same place. It still can’t be deleted. It has been several days and I can’t get rid of it. I even tried a “file wipe” program and it said the file didn’t exist. How do I get it out of my subdirectory so other programs that access that sub directory won’t keep coming up with that error.

Thanks for any help

Allen

Running Vista Home Premium, Gateway GT5428, 2gigs memory, dual core processor. 250gig HD with 180gig free space. No firewall, other than AVG Virus Software. Not on a network. Not using a router. Hope that’s enough data.