Can't Type In Search Bar and Windows 10 Built-in Apps.

dalchina said:

Build number is also important because of the detrimental changes MS made from build 1909 on.

Ah, apologies for not including a build number.

My OS version is 19043.1110

Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3530.0

Please try these two things:
a. create a new user and log in as that user, and advise whether you see the same problem.

I tried this, but it seems there is another part of the OS that is now borked; trying to create a new user causes the Microsoft account window to briefly open, then close, with no further action. This may need to be fixed as well, though seeing as I use this PC alone, this would be a lower priority.

b. logged in as the original user, please download and install Tweaking.com's free repair tool, and choose only repairs related to restoring services to default settings and Windows search.

Just tried this. I rebooted in safe mode, then ran the all repairs option, and marked "Restore Important Windows Services" and "Set Windows Services to Default Startup". It didn't seem to help after restarting and booting up normally, however I noticed that while in safe mode, the desktop search functionality seemed to function perfectly normally. Not sure what this means but I am sure this is useful diagnosis info.

c. Use Option 3
Rebuild Search Index in Windows 10
d. Run the search indexing troubleshooter and report the outcome.
Windows 10 Search Not Working? How to Fix! | Beebom
- and more.
f. Some older ideas here, including a reference to Bing and more on the troubleshooter.

Tried both of these options before coming to this forum, it didn't change anything.

e. Perform a clean boot (Google or see tutorial if unsure how) and advise whether you see the same problem.

I'm not a super techy guy, but would a clean boot require wiping the drive entirely, or is there a way to repair Windows 10 from boot? I'd rather not have to reinstall all my software, unless it were the absolute final option.

g. Get a copy of the Search indexer diagnostics tool from the Store, and use it appropriately:

Haven't tried this yet, though the MS store claims the product is not available.

(Note just for interest- recently I decided to see whether I could get instant search results for drive C: with file explorer open at C: - the usual problem is the slow green progress bar because something in the search path isn't indexed. With only some 14k items indexed, I now have instant results- a surprise, as I've only seen that before on a fully indexed drive. I suspect that's because MS has exceptions set up for folders in the O/S, but even 'enhanced indexing' doesn't support this). The result- every reason for people to reject Windows search.

Also not that from build 1909 and in Win 11, the search tab in file explorer is no longer available when you click in the search box there - you have to actually perform a search before you can see how to specify one!)

In the event that I am totally unable to fix this, would you just recommend ditching Windows search tools and using third party tools? I have seen some others suggest that to me but I dislike the idea of using software that doesn't integrate into Windows GUI and desktop interface as cleanly as the default search tools do (also just dislike the idea of having to open separate software to search instead of just quickly opening the taskbar and typing something. Of course again I am not a super computer wiz, so maybe I am just oblivious to the possible options third party software presents.

dalchina said:

No comment, so I will assume you didn't and you don't.

I don't have any system restore points. Something I should add is that this PC is very new, since all the hardware (except for the GPU) and the OS was purchased and built about a month ago, which makes this sudden loss of functionality all the more annoying.

Given this, I suspect you may have more underlying problems. Therefore please:
a. Check your disk(s) (Hard Disk Sentinel - includes SSDs) - excellent
b. If ok, run
chkdsk c: /scan
from an admin command prompt
c. If ok, run
SFC /SCANNOW

Ran all these scans, they all turned up with no issues. The OS is installed on a new SSD I bought a month ago along with the rest of my PC so I would be very surprised if it was due to data loss.

If all ok, proceed to an in-place upgrade repair install which keeps all progs and data.
A wise and cautious person would also first create a disk image of Windows as is endlessly recommended here. E.g. Macrium Reflect (free) + external storage for image files).

You need a Win 10 iso file- freely downloadable as per tutorial. (Use MS media creation tool).
Rt click iso file, click Mount (available by default).
Open new drive letter created
Double click setup.exe.

Okay, I will try this tomorrow. Currently I do not have a spare external drive for making a disk image so I will have to run to the store to get one.

dalchina said:

Essential for backups... suggest a 1 or 2Tb USB3 HDD unless you want to splurge on a SSD for physical robustness.

(I always prefer to do the basic checks before a major time-consuming change- albeit an in-place upgrade repair install is pretty safe).

Tried out a clean boot this morning, disabled all non-MS startup programs and rebooted. Searchbar was still messed up.

Moving to the repair-install solution, it occurred to me that the way I have my PC set up with multiple secondary drives means I could just copy a disk image of the primary drive to one of those, so I did that, and performed a repair-install.

Despite that, the search functions are STILL broken. Rebooting in Safe Mode again, the search functionality is perfectly fine there, but again, since I tried to do a clean boot and that didn't help, it seems like the underlying issue is neither a corruption to the OS nor an issue with third party software interfering with the search function.

Here's an idea: again I'm not really that much of a computer guy so maybe I'm talking nonsense here, but is it possible that my GPU (or rather some specific update to my Nvidia card) is to blame? I know that Safe Mode boots up the PC with VGA drivers for the GPU. Is it possible that Nvidia's latest drivers are the cause for all these problems?

Okay, I tried disabling the Nvideo GPU driver, as well as disabling indexing. Neither worked.

However I was able to create a new account while in Safe Mode, and signing into that account I was able to use the search function normally. So this means there is something specific to my original account that was causing the issues.

Did you receive any particular update or upgrade around the time this started?
For example, you can see install dates here:

I honestly have no idea. Only thing I could think of was the latest Nvidia update, but obviously that isn't the case now. I didn't realize what a huge problem the search issue was until now, originally I thought the search not working properly was a case of slowdown, not outright dysfunction. I think I went so long without noticing the severity of the issue since I keep most of my shortcuts to essential programs that I use daily on the taskbar.

I spent a few days backing up all my data onto a cloud service, since it occurred to me I should probably have done that earlier before messing around so much with trying to fix the PC. Anyway..

dalchina said:

Good that you can create a new account-- you should also check you can do that when booted normally.

Now that you've run the in-place upgrade repair install, I suggest you retry the earlier steps of resetting search and repairing it. (Option 3, tutorial). Then open Indexing Options and watch for a bit with no other activity on your PC to see if the count of indexed items increases.

I tried this again but when I get to the part where I have to enter this command into the cmd prompt:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like "*SystemApps*"} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

I get this error:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like "*SystemApps*"} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"} Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073D02, The package could not be installed because resources it modifies are currently in use. error 0x80073D02: Unable to install because the following apps need to be closed Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_10.0.19041.1023_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy. NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] bd627a1f-7cc1-0005-308e-62bdc17cd701 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID bd627a1f-7cc1-0005-308e-62bdc17cd701 At line:1 char:94 + ... | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.I ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (C:\Windows\Syst...ppXManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], Exception + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073D02, The package could not be installed because resources it
modifies are currently in use.
error 0x80073D02: Unable to install because the following apps need to be closed
MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_120.2212.3530.0_x64__cw5n1h2txyewy.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] bd627a1f-7cc1-0003-aebd-62bdc17cd701 in the Event Log or use
the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID bd627a1f-7cc1-0003-aebd-62bdc17cd701
At line:1 char:94
+ ... | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.I ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (C:\Windows\Syst...ppXManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], Exception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand