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How to remove Windows Desktop Search

Fri 26th October, 2007 | Category: FOTB07, Microsoft

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

  4. 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.
  5. 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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27 Comments so far

  1. David Arno’s Blog » Microsoft Update Strikes Again! October 27th, 2007 08:08

    [...] have added a new post describing various ways of removing WDS if you are not content with just disabling [...]

  2. JT October 30th, 2007 03:36

    Hey thanks for this. Step 3 worked on my 64-bit xp with sp2.

  3. Windows Update bug with Windows Desktop Search 3.01 » SilentBits | WordPress, Themes, Plugins, News, Blogging, Design, theme wordpress, plugins wordpress, blog wordpress, template wordpress, tip wordpress, tag wordpress, free theme wordpress, tutori October 30th, 2007 10:04

    [...] 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, [...]

  4. tom November 5th, 2007 22:26

    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

  5. MReilly November 15th, 2007 02:25

    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?

  6. Caleb November 20th, 2007 21:49

    THANKS SOO MUCH!!! I hated the Windows Desktop search crap.

  7. jmbo December 19th, 2007 22:06

    Thanks so much !!!!

  8. David Arno December 20th, 2007 00:39

    Thanks for the feedback to jmbo, Caleb and MReilly. Glad to have been of assistance.

  9. Avinash December 29th, 2007 04:29

    Thanks Friend, Step 3 worked for me..

  10. pablo January 4th, 2008 03:11

    gracias el comando

    %systemroot%\$NtUninstallKB91701$\spuninst\spuninst.exe

    ha quitado el windows desktop search de mi pc. un abrazo

  11. Justinux January 5th, 2008 07:46

    Many many thanks,
    This post helped me completely remove WDS using step 3. I tried step 1, but that failed.

  12. Heloisa January 10th, 2008 16:29

    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!

  13. Aristos January 11th, 2008 09:36

    Thanks, your information was helpfully.

  14. Zorprime January 25th, 2008 01:10

    Thanks, this was very useful.

  15. Aamir Yaseen February 6th, 2008 20:48

    Many thanks.
    Solution really worked.

  16. dominic February 20th, 2008 18:00

    awesome, great fix, i really needed to get rid of that, it never worked for me.

  17. dra.trom March 23rd, 2008 15:26

    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

  18. David Arno March 26th, 2008 09:23
    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.

  19. dra.tom March 26th, 2008 16:22

    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.

  20. David Arno March 27th, 2008 12:28
    Links are great, when they link to useful info such as you provide ;)
  21. How to uninstall Windows Desktop Search « Marius Žemaitis’s Weblog April 16th, 2008 08:23

    [...] http://www.davidarno.org/2007/10/26/how-to-remove-windows-desktop-search/ . [...]

  22. Pinky and BC May 16th, 2008 18:17

    Phew! finally managed to get rid of desktop search with your help.

    Thanks so much

  23. Patrick June 19th, 2008 18:15

    Thank you! It worked! I hate stupid WDS.

  24. Margold June 21st, 2008 15:55

    Step 3 worked perfectly - thanks so much

  25. takiss June 25th, 2008 07:05

    Thank you so much, this worked perfectly

  26. ersin June 27th, 2008 08:38

    thank you so much..

  27. Vadoren3 July 1st, 2008 16:23

    To uninstall MS Desktop Search… Go to: C:\Windows\$NtUninstallKB917013\spuninst, open the uninstall file (xxx.exe). Easy and quick…

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