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Stopping Microsoft Search from eating my hard drive

Fresh6 days ago
Mar 15, 2026166432 views
Confidence Score1%
1%

Problem

I have Windows Vista on a machine and I noticed quite a bit of hard drive was disappearing. I ran a utility to show me where it all went. I found the following directory consumes over 2GB of space: . The Microsoft Search service is now disabled, but I want it removed completely. I see nothing on Add/Remove Programs. Also, will I get blue screens if I delete this directory?

Error Output

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows

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1 Fix

Canonical Fix
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New Fix – Awaiting Verification

Fix for: Stopping Microsoft Search from eating my hard drive

Low Risk

Here's what I had to do: open Stop the Windows Search service (I was this far already). Rename Start the Windows Search service The directory rebuilds (34 MB initial size in my case) Open Control Panel / Indexing Options Wait a long time for buttons to become enabled Click Modify Uncheck directory or whatever else you don't want indexed (I left enabled because it's so small) Click Ok Stand on your head and count to three while drinking water with a straw. (not sure if this part is necessary but…

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