{"id":74789,"date":"2024-04-12T10:37:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T05:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=74789"},"modified":"2024-07-18T09:24:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T03:54:12","slug":"error-21-windows-search-service-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-21-windows-search-service-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Error 21: Windows Search Service Could not Start on Local Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you attempt to start the Windows Search (WSearch) service via the Services MMC, the following error may occur:<\/p>\n

Windows could not start the Windows Search service on Local Computer\n\nError 21: The device is not ready.<\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
\"windows<\/p>\n
The result is the same when you run the net start wsearch<\/strong> command from a Command Prompt window. It returns the following error:<\/p>\n
The Windows Search service could not be started.\n\nA system error has occurred.\n\nSystem error 21 has occurred.\n\nThe device is not ready.<\/pre>\n
\"windows<\/p>\n
You may have tried running the Windows Search troubleshooter<\/a> already.<\/p>\n
Cause<\/h2>\n
This error occurs if the “DefaultApplicationsPath” or “TempPath” registry values point to a non-existent drive letter. A user on your computer may have redirected the Windows Search data folder to a removable (USB) drive and that drive letter (e.g., E:\\ ) may now be unavailable.<\/p>\n
In that case, the event log entries are created:<\/p>\n
The Windows Search Service has failed to create the new search index. Internal error <1, 0x80070003, Failed to create application directory: E:\\Search\\Data\\Applications>\" will be created.<\/pre>\n
The Windows Search service terminated with the following error:\nThe device is not ready.<\/pre>\n
Windows Search Error 21 can also happen if the Windows Search index database (Windows.edb) is locked. The error code 21 could also mean “ERROR_LOCK_VIOLATION” –\u00a0The process cannot access the file because another process has locked a portion of the file.<\/p>\n
Resolution<\/h2>\n
To resolve the Windows Search service error 21, follow the steps below:<\/p>\n
Step 1: Fix the Windows Search folder paths in the registry<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Download AdvancedRun<\/a> from Nirsoft.net and run it.<\/li>\n
  2. Using AdvancedRun, start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) as TrustedInstaller<\/strong>.
    \n\"advancedrun<\/p>\n
    RELATED:<\/strong> How to Run Programs as TrustedInstaller to Modify Certain Registry Keys<\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  3. In the Registry Editor, go to the following branch:\n
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows Search\\Gathering Manager<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  4. Double-click DefaultApplicationsPath<\/strong> and set its data as follows:\n
    %ProgramData%\\Microsoft\\Search\\Data\\Applications\\<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  5. Double-click TempPath<\/strong> and set its data as follows:\n
    %ProgramData%\\Microsoft\\Search\\Data\\Temp\\usgthrsvc<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  6. Go to the following branch:\n
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows Search<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  7. Double-click DataDirectory<\/strong> and set its data as follows:\n
    %ProgramData%\\Microsoft\\Search\\Data\\<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  8. Double-click DefaultDataDirectory<\/strong> and set its data as follows:\n
    %ProgramData%\\Microsoft\\Search\\Data\\<\/pre>\n
    Important:<\/strong> Make sure the registry value type of the above values is REG_EXPAND_SZ<\/strong>. If the value is REG_SZ, delete it and create a new value of type REG_EXPAND_SZ.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  9. Exit the Registry Editor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Attempt to start the Windows Search service now. If the same error occurs, proceed to Step 2 below.<\/p>\n
    \n
    Step 2: Delete the Windows Search index database<\/h3>\n
    Open Task Manager and kill searchindexer.exe if it exists. We need to delete or rename the file “Windows.edb” in the following folder:<\/p>\n
    C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Search\\Data\\Applications\\Windows\\<\/pre>\n
    Open admin Command Prompt<\/a> and run the following commands:<\/p>\n
    sc config wsearch start= disabled\n\nnet stop wsearch\n\nrd \/s \/q C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Search\\Data\\Temp\n\ncd \/d C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Search\\Data\\Applications\\Windows\\\n\nren Projects Projects.old\n\ndel windows.edb \/a\n\ndel windows.db \/a\n\nreg add \"HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows Search\" \/v SetupCompletedSuccessfully \/d 1 \/t reg_dword \/f\n\nsc config wsearch start= auto\n\nnet start wsearch<\/pre>\n
    This resets the Windows Search index.<\/p>\n
    RELATED:<\/strong> Reset & Rebuild Search Index using command-line or batch file<\/a><\/div>\n
    See if you’re able to start the Windows Search service now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    When you attempt to start the Windows Search (WSearch) service via the Services MMC, the following error may occur: Windows could not start the Windows Search service on Local Computer Error 21: The device is not ready.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,869],"tags":[191,441,490,683],"class_list":["post-74789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10","category-windows-11","tag-error-messages","tag-registry","tag-services","tag-windows-search"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":76184,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wsearch-error-1722-rpc-server-unavailable\/","url_meta":{"origin":74789,"position":0},"title":"Windows Search Error 1722: The RPC server is unavailable","author":"Ramesh","date":"July 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When you attempt to start the Windows Search service on your Windows 10 or 11 system, the following error may occur: Windows could not start the Windows Search service on Local Computer. Error 1722: The RPC server is unavailable. The net start wsearch command may show the same error: The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"windows search error 1722 - rpc server unavailable","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wsearch-rpc-error-1722.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wsearch-rpc-error-1722.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wsearch-rpc-error-1722.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wsearch-rpc-error-1722.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1038,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-search-service-error-1053-windows-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":74789,"position":1},"title":"Fix Windows Search Error 1053 “Service did not respond”","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I came across a problem where the Windows Search service failed to auto-start, and manually starting the service using Services MMC resulted in Error 1053, with the following error message verbatim. Windows could not start the Windows Search service on Local Computer. Error 1053: The service did not respond\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"wsearch error 1053 - indexing options grayed out","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/wsearch-error-1053-indexing-options-blank.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5850,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/reset-rebuild-windows-search-index-fix-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":74789,"position":2},"title":"How to Reset & Rebuild Windows Search Index Completely","author":"Ramesh","date":"November 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When you search for files on your computer using Windows Search via File Explorer or Cortana, the files you expect to find may not appear in the search results. 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