Win11 22H2 - search function won't work when first letter is 'm' !?!

kelper said:

Did you try creating a new user temporarily? See if the new user has the problem.

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I did! New user account had the problem as well.

and have you started Windows in Safe Mode?

twax said:

I did have Winaero Tweaker installed at one point to see what kind of adjustments I could make to the task bar with it, but I uninstalled it some time ago.

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I use Winaero Tweaker but I don't have any problems with Search.

Another suggestion; try the on-screen keyboard - press WIN and type keyboard.

Ghot said:

I use Winaero Tweaker but I don't have any problems with Search.

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Yeah, I didn't really think Winaero Tweaker had much to do with it. Just wanted to make sure I answered all of the questions you posed.

kelper said:

and have you started Windows in Safe Mode?

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kelper said:

Another suggestion; try the on-screen keyboard - press WIN and type keyboard.

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Tried both just now. No change in behavior.

run msconfig, go to 'Services' tab, tick the box for 'Hide all Microsoft services', then select 'Disable all' and reboot.

kelper said:

run msconfig, go to 'Services' tab, tick the box for 'Hide all Microsoft services', then select 'Disable all' and reboot.

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Done. No change in behavior.

Wow, I'm intrigued now! Do you speak any other languages? Could try changing country and language in the 'Time and language' settings...

Or try booting from Windows on a USB stick.

Have you tried any anti virus programmes? - online scanners are available for all the big names.

With my curiosity getting the better of me I thought I'd chk my m-search status.



MS Edge came up.

kelper said:

Wow, I'm intrigued now! Do you speak any other languages? Could try changing country and language in the 'Time and language' settings...

Or try booting from Windows on a USB stick.

Have you tried any anti virus programmes? - online scanners are available for all the big names.

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Sadly I am monolingual. I haven't tried booting Windows from a USB, but I'm inclined to think it would probably be similar to what I've found when I created the Windows 11 virtual machine (i.e., the problem is present in the host / old installation but is remedied by re-installing Windows / installing on a virtual machine). I do not have any third party AV installed on my computer and haven't tried any others. I can try looking into that today.

Anak said:

With my curiosity getting the better of me I thought I'd chk my m-search status.

View attachment 60181

MS Edge came up.

Code:

Edition           Windows 11 Pro
Version           22H2
Installed on      ‎1/‎27/‎2023
OS build          22621.1702
Experience        Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22641.1000.0

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Yeah I'm definitely not thinking this is a widespread problem. There really aren't a whole lot of people that I've found online describing something similar to this issue. I've found two other people, one whose issue was with the letter "T" and was remedied when they uninstalled the Twitter app from their PC. The other, which matches down to having issues with the exact same letter "m", was the OP of this thread but unfortunately there's no update as to whether or not they resolved the issue. I'm guessing they probably just re-installed and moved on.

I'm sorry if you have already said, but have you done a clean install for testing? I trust you have backups.

I found a thread on Microsoft where someone had the same problem with multiple letters but the OP flounced off in a huff saying 'your support is lousy' and there were no responses after that!

kelper said:

I'm sorry if you have already said, but have you done a clean install for testing? I trust you have backups.

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Aha! And there you would be wrong! No backups for me. It's my biggest character flaw, I hope you don't hold it against me. I have not tried a clean install. I'm saving that as the last resort and honestly fully expect it will resolve the issue.

Put on your big boy pants and do a backup! I heartily recommend Macrium Reflect.

kelper said:

Put on your big boy pants and do a backup! I heartily recommend Macrium Reflect.

Download Macrium Software

www.macrium.com

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Thank you for the recommendation! I'll probably look into that once I do a re-install. In the past I've never really been too bothered by just doing a re-install whenever I've had a problem, but I'm using a lot more programs / games these days (used to be all I needed was Windows and WoW).

Depending on your kit, a backup can take only a few minutes and a restore even less. Reinstalling takes me 30 to 40 minutes and needs my constant attention.

kelper said:

Depending on your kit, a backup can take only a few minutes and a restore even less. Reinstalling takes me 30 to 40 minutes and needs my constant attention.

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Fair enough. I'll look into it. Thank you for the recommendation!

Why the monicker Twax, are you a recovering twatt?

kelper said:

Why Twax, are you a recovering twatt?

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It's probably an ongoing issue, depending on who you ask. First initial of my first name is T and the last three letters of my last name are wax so it's essentially an interpolation of my email address.