I am running into a problem that has me stumped..
I use a top line (powerful) Toshiba laptop running Vista..

My problem:
I use an external USB WD Passport drive (500g) for my library of Karaoke, and Billboard top 100 (120,000 songs)..I indexed the drive , successfully, and the search works super....even several reboots later...

Then, for any unknown reason the index functions poorly..making it useless for my needs..It acts like the index is gone...
After I re-index (Over 4 hours to index)..it is fine again..

I save my index location on the external drive..thinking this would avoid corruption..

I thought when I use a USB thumb-drive , and it shows as the same drive letter, it corrupted the index...so while testing without the thumb-drive...it did the same thing at another random time...So I ruled the thumb-drive out as the culprit (same drive letter)..

I also thought maybe , always checking drives on boot up may have corrupted the external drive.....so my last action I turned off the auto drive check on boot...I have started the Toshiba and passport drive several days now (in the studio, not on the job)..and it seems ok so far..but it seemed ok when I first installed the passport and songs 3 months ago...

I need to be sure the index will maintain..Is there a way it can be locked so the index is no longer in danger of being disturbed?

If i am doing a karaoke show..and the index stops working properly..the "show" is pretty much over..

I also have a Passport back up drive (1 terabyte)..that I would like to index as the 500g unit..it would be my backup, but I do not know if that would add to my problem..
Can I index another drive that would have the same letter drive and a similar , if not exact drive id..{Passport essentials)?

I would appreciate any advice from our PC gurus..

I'm not any guru, but:

Fran, I think this is because your external drives are not assigned with drive letters other
than automaticly when plug into laptop. The first you plug in will adapt the first letter not
taken by onboard devices etc.
You can give each device it's own driveletter as well as name who will remain when plug/unplug.

I don't have any English language PC here at the moment, so ask anyone confirm my translation
before do anything.
Be sure both devices are plugged in, and that you know what driveletters they got before you
continue.
Rightclick "My computer", select Manage and then Manage Drives. Then you can rightclick the
drive you want to give another letter.
This way your index know where to find the content next time you plug in.

Sorry for my bad memory on what comes up on english PC, but be careful and don't change C: or
other onboard letters already taken!

Hope this help, but get it confirmed by someone before do it.

Cheers
GJ

Hi Fran
Vista re-indexes files every so often in the background, (Doesn’t seem any logic as to how it works) and if you re-boot or turn off your computer off during the re-indexing then instead of continuing from where it left off on the next start-up, it starts from scratch. (Hence the problem)
It is a known issue with Vista, and as far as I am aware apart from disabling indexing, a fix has not yet been posted.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
You may like to try a 3rd party indexer like Copernic http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/home/index.html and forget Vista indexing.
Hope this helps

Bill

Bill would the solution be..to uncheck the index folders before I shut down,,,in the index options..and when I need to use the external drive for indexing..check the drive and folders again

GJ, thanks I renamed the drives so i would recognize them too..the drive letter is based on the USB input I use..

Bill I use Copernic on my XP units, but I prefer the search that VISTA offers..better.

Copernic is better than XP search though..

I wonder if Windows 7 fixed this. It should be a seamless install, if that is an option.

Disabling indexing for specific drives may do the job, (There is no harm in trying) however most users find it has to be turned off completely.
One thing you could try is to do a repair of Vista, as some users have reported that this solved the problem. (Not guaranteed though)

You can download the search engine that is used in Vista for use on XP if you like it better. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/detai...&DisplayLang=en

Hi Bernie, Windows 7 works properly

Hope this helps

Bill