Serious System Slowdown? Try Disabling Windows Search

29 April 2009 @ 8pm

If your system suddenly slows dramatically or stalls altogether, with a spike in processor usage from the task “searchprotocolhost.exe,” you may want to try disabling the Windows Search service. Follow these steps:

Click the Start button. In Windows Vista, type services.msc in the search box and press enter. In Windows XP, select “Run” then type services.msc and press enter

Right-click Windows Search and select “Properties”

Change the startup type in the menu to Disabled

Note that this will disable some search services, but for most users, the sometimes dramatic speed increase is worth it.

Tagged
Windows Vista, Windows XP