Enable or Disable Indexer Backoff in Windows  

Intrepid1 said:

I guess they fixed it in Windows 11. The group policy is not working in 21H2. I haven't tested the group policy in 22H2. But I know the old registry key does not work in 21H2.
I found the new registry setting here after the old one didn't work in 21H2 and the indexer said it was stopping due to user activity: Force Windows indexing to run faster - Office Watch

Interesting. I'll do some testing on Windows 10 22H2 in the morning when I have my VM's available to see how it does.

@Intrepid1,

I just tested on a Windows 10 22H2 VM with it disabled, and it still works. Must have been a bug in 21H2.

Intrepid1 said:

What about the new key location?
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search\Gathering Manager

You should still be able to use it to apply to all users, but using the policy is easier since it doesn't requiring changing the owner and permissions of a registry key.

OK Thanks! I think you're right about 22H2 working with the policy. 21H2 did not work for me with the policy.

Intrepid1 said:

This no longer works with Windows 10 22H2 and perhaps 21H2 or earlier. This also applies to Windows 11. Here is the NEW setting location ("Gathering Manager" key):

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search\Gathering Manager]
"DisableBackOff"=dword:00000001

Brink,

I just had reductions in indexing speed 'due to user activity' on my Windows 10 x64 Home 21H2 computers despite the original Registry key having been set up to prevent IndexerBackoff.
I did the change suggested by Intrepid1, rebooted and one now remains at full speed re-indexing whilst the other still slows down for user activity. Updated a few minutes later, they are both now reporting reduced speed due to user activity.
My conclusion is that IndexerBackoff remains as bloody-minded as ever.

If IndexerBackoff can really be disabled in 22H2 using that original Registry change then that makes bothering with that update more attractive. I know I've got an EP for v22H2 squirrelled away somewhere.
- I undid Intrepid's change on one computer, ran my v22H2 EP on it & checked it had 'taken' and now IndexerBackoff seems to work again. I'm busy using that computer and it is re-indexing at full speed.
- Now repeated on the other computer with the same result - The original Registry change does disable IndexerBackoff in Version 22H2.

By the way, I was messing around with re-indexing because I was helping with
Search Index location on external drive possible after all ??? - Windows 10 Forums
which I see you have also posted in.
I had no idea that index file size varied so much.

All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

Brink,

I just had reductions in indexing speed 'due to user activity' on my Windows 10 x64 Home 21H2 computers despite the original Registry key having been set up to prevent IndexerBackoff.
I did the change suggested by Intrepid1, rebooted and one now remains at full speed re-indexing whilst the other still slows down for user activity. Updated a few minutes later, they are both now reporting reduced speed due to user activity.
My conclusion is that IndexerBackoff remains as bloody-minded as ever.

If IndexerBackoff can really be disabled in 22H2 using that original Registry change then that makes bothering with that update more attractive. I know I've got an EP for v22H2 squirrelled away somewhere.
- I undid Intrepid's change on one computer, ran my v22H2 EP on it & checked it had 'taken' and now IndexerBackoff seems to work again. I'm busy using that computer and it is re-indexing at full speed.

By the way, I was messing around with re-indexing because I was helping with
Search Index location on external drive possible after all ??? - Windows 10 Forums
which I see you have also posted in.
I had no idea that index file size varied so much.

All the best,
Denis

Hello Denis,

If you use the policy in the tutorial, you can test restarting the computer if manually set via the registry to see if it disables the indexer backoff.

Sometimes a restart may be required if not set from the Local Group Policy Editor.

I have the Home edition.

My IndexerBackoff has been disabled for the last five years.
I did reboot after doing Intrepid's change but it made no difference in Version 21H2.

I'm now happily using Version 22H2 on two computers and IndexerBackup remains disabled on them both and re-indexing remains at full speed despite my activity on both computers.

All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

I have the Home edition.

My IndexerBackoff has been disabled for the last five years.
I did reboot after doing Intrepid's change but it made no difference in Version 21H2.

I'm now happily using Version 22H2 on two computers and IndexerBackup remains disabled on them both and re-indexing remains at full speed despite my activity on both computers.

All the best,
Denis

I spoke too soon. One of them now shows reduced speed due to user activity.

The reduced speed happened while I was working on an Excel spreadsheet.
I know exactly what I did so I have repeated the same steps on the same spreadsheet in the other computer but that activity did not trigger the speed reduction on that computer.

Try3 said:

I'm also finding that the setting gets ignored.

Try3 said:

Index backoff works again now.

Try3 said:

My conclusion is that IndexerBackoff remains as bloody-minded as ever.

All the best,
Denis