How to remove Windows Desktop Search
Update to original article:
Please note, this article refers to Windows Desktop Search version 3. If you wish to remove version 4, or you are unsure which one you have, please read this newer article first.
Many thanks to those that have offered valuable feedback on the subject of Microsoft’s bizarre decision to force their Windows Desktop Search program onto unsuspecting users across the world. Whilst it appears possible to just disable this application, many want to remove it, and that is where the “fun” starts. Different computers seem to require different removal methods. So I’ve tried to bring them all together here as a handy removal summary.
- Start by running up Add & Remove Programs from the control panel and look for Windows Desktop Search in the list. If lucky, it’ll be there and you can just remove it.
- If that fails, look for MSN Search Toolbar in the Add & Remove Programs list. If there, uninstalling this ought to uninstall Windows Desktop Search too. Be warned though,it obviously uninstalls the MSN Search Toolbar too. If you use this, you’ll have to re-install it afterwards. I assume you can re-install the MSN Search Toolbar without ending up with Windows Desktop Search back on your machine, but I haven’t checked this.
- If neither of the above work, the next option is to try a manual delete. Start up a command window and try running
%systemroot%\$NtUninstallKB917013$\spuninst\spuninst.exe
This should start up the hidden Windows Desktop Search uninstaller and allow you to manually remove it.
- If that fails, then we get into the more risky solutions. If you have a second PC, you could try installing Windows Desktop Search on there and hoep you get a $NtUninstallKB917013$ folder on that machine. If you do, you can then zip it up and copy it to your first machine and then run it there to remove the application.
- I am a little reluctant to even suggest this last option as it is so risky. If you do not have a second PC, the $NtUninstallKB917013$ folder doesn’t exist on your machine and you really cannot live with just disabling the product, then your last option is to download the required files from the internet. My advice is do not do this. You are risking inviting the less desirable sections of humanity to trick you into downloading crap onto your machine. If you really want to though, check out this MSDN forum on this topic for a possible download file. If you go for this option and your machine ends up trashed, remember you were warned…
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[...] have added a new post describing various ways of removing WDS if you are not content with just disabling [...]
Hey thanks for this. Step 3 worked on my 64-bit xp with sp2.
[...] Windows Update Brings Thousand’s of PC’s to a Standstill * How to remove Windows Desktop Search * Windows Desktop Search 3.01 in now Mandatory * WDS revision update, expanded applicability rules, [...]
Finding your post took a few times but..
Step #3 worked on two vastly different machines!
Now I can help others get rid of this simply by running the above command!!!!!
Also, did do a “search” after rebooting, went to the “Start/Search”, now there’s a smiling dog instead of a snarling one!!
Thanks oodles & boodles!!!!
David, your rock! You must secretly be an Ubuntu head, where I’ll be headed when XP dies, no Vista for this writer.
tt
Hi David, and thanks for your very useful instructions on how to remove this useless piece of junk. I was dismayed to find MS had pushed it onto some servers I administer for a company on a part-time basis, and even less impressed when I used it to search for various files/folders I knew existed but it kept turned out zero results. Another quality release.
I checked another forum first which was staffed by an MS tech who couldn’t understand what the big deal was, why anyone would want to remove this garbage, and who provided instructions that were false (contrary to his claim, Desktop Search was not available to flush under “Add/Remove Programs” – just like Internet Explorer 7 wasn’t either when I found a while back that it had been surreptitiously forced onto this system).
It’s nonsense like this that causes me to get so frustrated with Microsoft that I literally want to walk away from their products permanently and not touch a single one of them ever again. What is going through their minds, that they would think it would be a good idea to jam crap like this – nonworking, defective, totally useless crap, I might add – down the throats of their user community?
THANKS SOO MUCH!!! I hated the Windows Desktop search crap.
Thanks so much !!!!
Thanks for the feedback to jmbo, Caleb and MReilly. Glad to have been of assistance.
Thanks Friend, Step 3 worked for me..
gracias el comando
%systemroot%\$NtUninstallKB91701$\spuninst\spuninst.exe
ha quitado el windows desktop search de mi pc. un abrazo
Many many thanks,
This post helped me completely remove WDS using step 3. I tried step 1, but that failed.
The manual star up command was the one that worked for be BUT WITHOUT the .exe extension.
Thank you very much for the information, guys!
Thanks, your information was helpfully.
Thanks, this was very useful.
Many thanks.
Solution really worked.
awesome, great fix, i really needed to get rid of that, it never worked for me.
Need help. I was able to uninstall WDS through the add/remove software and it appears to have uninstalled with one exception. Whenever I double click on a folder in Explorer to open it up to see the files inside, I get the search dialog box instead of just opening the folder. This was the main reason I ditched WDS in the first place. Now I have to right click the folder and pick Open instead of just double clicking. Pure madness. How do I get my Open by double clicking in explorer back?
Thanks
dra.trom,
You might be able to solve your problem with the following instructions:
1. Right-click on “My Computer” and select “open” to bring up an explorer window. If you do not have a “My Computer” icon on your desktop, you can access it via the start menu.
2. Select the “tools” menu, then “Folder Options…”
3. Select the “File Types” tab
4. Click on the file type “Folder” (not “File Folder”)
5. Click “Advanced”
6. Select “open” and then click on “Set Default”
7. Click “OK” on the “Edit File Type” dialog.
8. Click “Close” on the “Folder Option” window.
You should now find that double clicking on a folder performs the expected “open” action.
David,
Thanks for the response. I actually located a site that spoke directly to the double click opening the search assistant instead of opening the file or folder. It’s fix worked so I did not try the steps you outlined.
Not sure if you like links to other sites posted in here, but here it is anyway. Please delete if you do not want posted in your blog.
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/searchwindow.htm
Thanks again for your help.
Links are great, when they link to useful info such as you provide
[...] http://www.davidarno.org/2007/10/26/how-to-remove-windows-desktop-search/ . [...]
Phew! finally managed to get rid of desktop search with your help.
Thanks so much
Thank you! It worked! I hate stupid WDS.
Step 3 worked perfectly – thanks so much
Thank you so much, this worked perfectly
thank you so much..
To uninstall MS Desktop Search… Go to: C:\Windows\$NtUninstallKB917013\spuninst, open the uninstall file (xxx.exe). Easy and quick…
Looks like M$ has removed the ability to uninstall the desktop search 4 now … the install log is in the windows folder.
it’s now KB940157 and the install log is KB940157.log
if you open it up and read it you’ll see a line near the top that says:
“CreateUninstall = 1,Directory = C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB940157$”
but then near the bottom it says:
“CreateUninstall = 0,Directory = C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB940157$ ”
I’m fairly tech-savvy but definately not the most educated on programming … but i’d have to say that the last entry wipes out the first one.
Also, I used to have tons of folders in window that were $NtUninstallxxxxxxxx … but since upgrading (potential mis-nomer) to SP3 there are no longer any of these $NtUninstallxxxxxxxx folders.
Again, looks to me like they’ve completely removed the ability (for less savvy’ers) to uninstall it.
Perhaps they want to show how powerful they are or something ??
@peterb.
Thanks very much for the reminder about version 4 of Windows Search. I have created a new article on the topic of removing that version. You’ll be pleased to hear that it is still possible to remove it.
Nothing else I tried worked but #3 did.
Thanks so much.
ok so is ther a way to install WD search??
Hi “me”, it is easy to install WD Search. The best way is to run windows update (it’s in the tools menu in IE), select custom mode and look for it in the optional updates. Alternatively, download it from Microsoft’s website
David,
Thanks for your interesting articles, regrettably I removed Windows Desktop Search maunally before I read the instructions that you offered. Quite simply, as the Add/Remove program did not show any reference to Desktop Search, I tried to delete the folder contents in C:\Program Files\Windows Desktop Search but it said that I could not access the files so I simply renamed the folder and rebooted the PC and I was then able to delete the renamed folder and all of the contents. I have not experienced any repercussions from my actions but Windows Desktop Search is no longer there and everything else seems to work. I checked Windows Updates (Custom) and it doesn’t appear in the list of optional Updates.
Thank You.
Thanks for a precise instruction. I have successfully removed that piece of junk software, MS Search Desktop.
Regards
Thanks David
Solution 3 worked for me.
Windows Desktop Search is just a total useless utility.
Many thanks for this. This is exactly what I needed. Point three was the one that worked for me.
Option 3 says “Access is denied”
Is this because my company has admin control over my pc?
(Also, we use Solidworks 2008. I think it utilizes the WDS in it’s built-in search window.)
Paul,
It unfortunately sounds very likely that you do not have admin access. You should really talk to your company’s IT department with regard to removing it.
Got another solution. If you can’t uninstall through the methods above, you can re install WDS from Microsoft. Reboot your PC after the install completes, then you should be able to uninstall from within Add/Remove Programs.
thanks,
step 3 really worked for me.
i think of Windows Desktop Search as a virus. It starts running even though you snooze the index. It is searching even I do not want to search. It slowsdown the computer. So it is a virus!
Microsoft must put it in the list of removeble software.
None of the above mentioned methods work on my computer. I have removed the hard disk from my laptop and add it as a second harddisk in the laptop of my wife. Then i removed the files by hand.
C:\Program Files\Windows Desktop Search\*.*
Thanks worked great to remove it. How did it get installed? Why is Bill Gates so stupid to put annoying things like this in.
Others I hate. Why would a person not want to view an extention or hidden files.
Wish i could send MS a hate letter, I also have Vista on my laptop just is to yuppie for me. I bought it to work not play games and look pretty.
Grrrrr
I AM ABSOLUTELY CLUELESSS ON THE COMPUTOR, BUT I MAY HAVE INADVERTANTLY FOUND AN EASY WAY OF UNINSTALLING WINDOWS DESKTOP.
GO INTO WINDOWS SEARCH ADVANCE, THEN REBUILD, CLICK OK THIS AND YOU GET A WARNING RE COULD CRASH.
AFTER 10-15 MINUTES GO BACK INTO PROGRAMMES AND YOU SHOULD SEE WINDOWS SEARCH ITEM WHERE IT WAS NOT THERE BEFORE.
THEN UNINSTALL IN ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMMES.
WORKED FOR ME.
Thanks man … it was pain to remove … what a piece of junk I hated soooo much. Thus far I had been a big fan of MS and credited them for the rise of IT by delivering cheap computers and technologies. But this is now going way too far as they seem to be trying to have a monoply on computers. I am a s/w professional with MS in computers Science and 15 years in profession but was unable to remove this piece of junk… so you can imagine how much oridinary men will be suffering. A big thank you and yes it was tough nut to crack .. step 3 worked for me. Keep it up!
Desde Colombia muchas gracias, thank you very much.
De nada “Anonymous”
Hi, options 1-3 did not work for me. I had no time to try 4 or 5, so I found another solution. Just download Windows Search 4 and install it. Then you can find it in Add/Remove Programs and uninstall from there. The result is – you get rid of the horrible WDS and you are able to use the normal Search again. And on my PC (WinXP Pro SP3) it works even faster then before
You are a Wingod! The option to install on a second computer (I used VMWare Workstation) and copy the $NtUninstallKB917013$ folder worked like a charm! Thank you!
Hi, thanks for the information, but I still can’t find out how to get rid of this resource wasting useless malware. Your method to identify which version is installed doesn’t work on my XP. [windows key]+F certainly open a search results windows, but it doesn’t contain the images you have shown. I can see an MSN toolbar though. When the malware has finished its useless indexing of my computer, during which my XP because like trying to pull a car with an elastic, it shows a popup mentiong “Windows Desktop Search”. So it’s V3? In any case, none of the removal methods you mention work (none of the files are there). In Add or Remove Windows components, Indexing service is unticked. Yet the malware still runs. Help!
Install version 4 and then remove the whole load of malware? Ha! When I tried to install version 4:
—————————
Windows Search Setup
—————————
Please uninstall previous versions of Windows Desktop Search before installing Windows Search 4.0
—————————
OK
—————————
#¤%&(/@£€¤#% !!!
simply download a tool from http://uninstall-windows-search.blogspot.com/
and after 2 clicks its removed. No knowledge needed
Remarkably precise instructions on how to remove WDS, the most useless and intrusive software Microsoft every desinged. You can imagine this software gets surreptitiously installed in my computer during update, without my permission and then gets to annoy me for 3 years. I just got fed up with it a decided to give it the boot out of my system. Now it is all gone.
Thanks a million David Arno.