We have been getting a few emails about searchindexer.exe and the Indexing options available in XP and Vista control panel.

Firstly, searchindexer.exe is not malware, but it is part of the Microsoft Indexing service (Windows Search). However, it has been affecting quite a few users with problems such as chewing up 100% of the CPU and causing programs such as Outlook to crash.

Searchindexer is a part of Windows Vista and Office 2007, so it can appear in XP if you have Office 2007 or Windows Search installed. If you are having problems with this service, you can try doing the following, which did help some users.

- In Regional and Language settings, change the locale to US English
- Try uninstalling the desktop search
- Install the latest version of Windows Search (if you are using an older version)

Searchindexer.exe also indexes email in Outlook and Outlook Express. You can also try turning off these indexing locations to see if that helps. Just access the “Indexing Options” from the control panel. There you should be able to set the indexing locations and add/remove locations.