Delay to search Windows 7 Start Menu

Question

I have a Windows 7 desktop with multiple hard drives.

My main drive is an SSD while the secondary drives are standard HDD.

After not using the computer for >15 minutes I will: 1. Tap the space bar to turn on the screen 2. Tap the Windows Key 3. Start typing to perform a Start menu search to launch a program.

There is a 2-5 second delay before the letters that I type begin showing up in the search box.

I believe this delay is caused because Windows is waiting for my secondary hard drive to stop idling and spin up to be ready for any searches.

Is this analysis correct?

If so, can I configure Windows search to not care about the secondary hard drive?

Computer Specs: Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit Core i7 860 16 GB DDR3 RAM

Answer 1

This is really hard to tell. But I wouldn't assume that delay in letters showing up is caused by what you say. The fact that the search string itself is not showing, probably means that the windows search engine is waiting for a response from somewhere else. But most likely its own database. Where is that located? Is the software you use (including windows) installed on both disks?

From what I remember, when you type, windows search will first look for stuff in the start menu folder (how big is that if it's too big that can explain the slow down). And then would look for other folders. Is there a setting in the start menu properties to change where it looks for stuff?

Also, because the search is made as you type, this can also be caused by just having too many results from the few letters you begin to type, and then it only shows you the result when it's a relatively small set.

I would also recommend for you to clean your registry. You could use good alternative software to look for stuff really fast, like Everything .