Disable indexing service in Windows XP

The indexing service is set to run automatically by default. It iterates through all the folders and makes an database of contents and properties of files continuously for using in the Windows search later. You may notice heavy hard disk activity and CPU might get heavy load because of this. This article tells you how you can disable it.

  1. Open services control by opening Start Menu → Run, typing services.msc and pressing Enter.
  2. Look for a service named Indexing service and double-click on it to open service properties.

  3. In the properties window, click on the Stop button if the service is running. In the combo list Service type select Disabled and click OK to save changes.