Your computer problems solved with Jay Lee

Indexing is slowing me down


Q. I only use my computer for things like surfing the Web and reading email message. Somehow an icon for “Indexing” has appeared on my PC. It really slows down my machine and seem to take a lot of time doing whatever it is doing. Is there a way to turn off indexing and speed up my computer?

A. Indexing is a feature of the Windows operating system that is designed to speed up the ability to search your hard drive.

By default, Windows indexing caches this information from your hard drive to memory to speed up the built-in search utility. If you have a slower computer and you don’t really need this feature, turning it off will free up system resources and may well significantly improve the performance of your PC.

The process for disabling Indexing is somewhat involved, so rather than spell out the steps here I will simply point you to an indepth article at that outlines the process for Windows 7, Windows Vista and even Windows XP.

Keep in mind that more modern computers with ample horspower and RAM should not experience any discernable performance issues by leaving Indexing turned on. This tip is intended more for those who may be using an older, underpowered computer.

Categories: Operating System
Jay Lee