Searches Stored on Lpatop - how to delete

[Speedo1968]

 

As you will see by my questions I am not only an oldie I am also not a techie.

Although I keep my browser history etc. clear ( as far as I am aware ), my programs are always up to date and I use a good paid for antivirus program.

I am yet to delve deeper in to what is in tucked away folders on my laptop.    I was horrified to find so many stored items in the folders as listed below.

Recently I opened up my ACER folder as follows:-

ACER

Searches

Saved Search ( 2 ) – Everywhere and Indexed Locations

and

Search Connector ( 1 ) – Folder for Microsoft OneNote ( which I don’t use ).

 

My questions are:-

1)       Are these copies of files as would be found in the original / normal saved folder / files ?

2)       Can I delete any / all of these ?

3)       If yes to question 2 above can I stop such records being stored ? 

4)       If yes what is the downside, if any ?

[Speedo1968]

Please please try to help.

Really looking for a reply to this.

 

I have looked online and found conflicting answers.

I tried deleting one folder and it deleted it from my files but not from searches.

I run Win7 and Office.

[CharlieH]

There usually a variety of helpful videos and "how to"  on "you tube".

 

Example:

 

[Speedo1968]

6 hours ago, CharlieH said:

There usually a variety of helpful videos and "how to"  on "you tube".

 

Example:

 

Thanks for the video but I am looking for a way to delete the history of any viewed files  ( which can also be current files / folders ) from my laptop.    These are stored on my laptop in the ACER searches folders as mentioned.     The history goes back to the year dot and includes files / folders that I viewed but no longer have.      Every time I look at a file or folder on my laptop a record is kept, some 200,000 records.  The size of the history is only a few kb's but i want to delete all and stop it storing history in the future. I understand that this happens with all computers.

 

I know there are issues at the moment with Google about stored information but the files I have include personal files not just Google downloads etc.

[CharlieH]

You do realize that even deleted files are not actually deleted and unless you are using a sophisticated cleaning/deletion/security program your files will be retrievable with the right software.

The ONLY way to be certain is to destroy the hard drive and install a fresh new one and set that up for use going forward. 

 

For info:

https://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/Erasing_Deleted_Files.asp

 

 

[madmen]

7 hours ago, Speedo1968 said:

Please please try to help.

Really looking for a reply to this.

 

I have looked online and found conflicting answers.

I tried deleting one folder and it deleted it from my files but not from searches.

I run Win7 and Office.

So you ask in an expat forum with OLD men . Take a sledge hammer to it or ask in a better forum

[Los Luver]

Download & install Ccleaner and run it. The job will be done. Great app ! I used it more than 10 years.....

[Speedo1968]

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

You do realize that even deleted files are not actually deleted and unless you are using a sophisticated cleaning/deletion/security program your files will be retrievable with the right software.

The ONLY way to be certain is to destroy the hard drive and install a fresh new one and set that up for use going forward. 

 

For info:

https://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/Erasing_Deleted_Files.asp

 

 

Thanks CharlieH.

Yes, I know that nothing is ever deleted as such.

Thanks for the link.

I have nothing to hide in the way of porn etc. so I do not intend to destroy my laptop.

Even using backup drives when used details are noted in Acer Search.

I simply want to stop having things in the search files as I never use them to find something.

Los Luver who posted mentioned Ccleaner but I guess if it deletes records of searches of existing files on my laptop then those will be deleted too as happened when I did a trial delete.

I have Eraser which I have used to delete individual files but not sure if it will work for files already only showing in ACER Searches.

Will give it a go, have all files backed up so can recover important bits.

[Speedo1968]

2 hours ago, Los Luver said:

Download & install Ccleaner and run it. The job will be done. Great app ! I used it more than 10 years.....

Will give it a try on files that I have already backed up.

[topt]

11 hours ago, Speedo1968 said:

Please please try to help.

Really looking for a reply to this.

 

I have looked online and found conflicting answers.

I tried deleting one folder and it deleted it from my files but not from searches.

I run Win7 and Office.

Have you looked at sevenforums? Couple of things that may help 

https://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/55366-deleting-searches-folder-my-user-folder.html

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/17854-index-locations-add-remove.html

 

Another thread suggested using CC as others suggest above.

[topt]

11 hours ago, Speedo1968 said:

I run Win7 and Office.

Not sure if different to above but should stop future indexing of searches

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/25343-windows-search-turn-off.html

[chrisinth]

Just another link for you to try:

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/282281/how-to-delete-the-search-history-in-windows-file-explorer/ 

 

Note that this to remove the search history from Windows/File Explorer and not from your browser(s) history.

 

And just a quick note, unless you have done something really bad with your searches (and that is very hard to imagine unless you have been accessing other computers over a network or shared cloud files), try not to get paranoid over this. These records are a couple of bytes in size and will not affect the running of your operating system. That said, disabling Search in the services.msc will help with boot times.

 

Browsers are another issue entirely.

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by chrisinth

[Nyezhov]

On 9/25/2019 at 4:41 PM, Los Luver said:

Download & install Ccleaner and run it. The job will be done. Great app ! I used it more than 10 years.....

I switched to Bleach Bit becasue CC is technically malware.

[topt]

20 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

I switched to Bleach Bit becasue CC is technically malware.

Thanks for the mention of Bleach Bit however what do you mean by "technically" malware. They had an issue a couple of years ago but once discovered it was resolved very quickly.

Review of BB here -

https://www.ghacks.net/2018/02/28/bleachbit-2-0-temporary-file-cleaner-review/

[Nyezhov]

2 minutes ago, topt said:

Thanks for the mention of Bleach Bit however what do you mean by "technically" malware. They had an issue a couple of years ago but once discovered it was resolved very quickly.

Review of BB here -

https://www.ghacks.net/2018/02/28/bleachbit-2-0-temporary-file-cleaner-review/

It keeps popping up and directing you to update...and buy. I got tired of that. Too much

[Speedo1968]

On 9/27/2019 at 1:14 PM, chrisinth said:

Just another link for you to try:

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/282281/how-to-delete-the-search-history-in-windows-file-explorer/ 

 

Note that this to remove the search history from Windows/File Explorer and not from your browser(s) history.

 

And just a quick note, unless you have done something really bad with your searches (and that is very hard to imagine unless you have been accessing other computers over a network or shared cloud files), try not to get paranoid over this. These records are a couple of bytes in size and will not affect the running of your operating system. That said, disabling Search in the services.msc will help with boot times.

 

Browsers are another issue entirely.

 

Many thanks for your comments and the link.

I don't use Windows Explorer, at least my files or folders don't show that ?

Can I still go to services.msc ?

I have nothing to hide in my browsing, ( I use a VPN sometimes for BBC ) but would like to delete the 200 thousand + of records in ACER "Search".    Yes, I noticed that the bytes in size is small.

Will see if I can manage to do it in services.msc

[chrisinth]

On 9/29/2019 at 8:46 AM, Speedo1968 said:

Many thanks for your comments and the link.

I don't use Windows Explorer, at least my files or folders don't show that ?

Can I still go to services.msc ?

I have nothing to hide in my browsing, ( I use a VPN sometimes for BBC ) but would like to delete the 200 thousand + of records in ACER "Search".    Yes, I noticed that the bytes in size is small.

Will see if I can manage to do it in services.msc

If you don't use Windows Search then yes, you can disable it in Services.msc. Easiest way to get there is by clicking on the search icon (ironically) and type in services.msc and select. Normally i right click and select Run as Administrator, not sure if this is necessary. When Services open, Scroll down the list to Windows Search, either double-click on the entry or right-click and then Properties and make the startup selection to Disable. Click Apply and OK. This should also stop the indexing service (not sure about W7) but to verify see if you have an Indexing entry in the services list and check on the status as above.

 

You mention "Acer Search" a number of times throughout this thread. Is this an Acer application or is it Windows Search on an Acer computer?

 

Could you post the path to the folder where you have the 200K+ files; ie something like, C:\Users\Username\AppData\.................. as an example?

Edited September 30, 2019 by chrisinth

[Peter Denis]

On 9/28/2019 at 5:14 AM, Nyezhov said:

It keeps popping up and directing you to update...and buy. I got tired of that. Too much

The Ccleaner Free version is a great piece of freeware to remove all junk, recent searches, temp-files and other left-overs from your PC in less than a minute.  Although the default mode is fine for the normal user, you can also tweek it very easily to add or leave alone some categories of junk,

If you never cleaned your PC before, it will easily free up a couple of GB.  I am using it for years now, usually 2-3 times a week, and in my case after a heavy surfing session it deletes approx 750 Mb of useless files.

As Nyezhov mentioned: each time you now open the program, it features a pop-up window that a New Version is available for download (the paying version) and asks whether you want visit the website to do so.  But you simply have to click No, and then that pop-up disappears, and it's then just a matter of clicking Run Cleaner - job done in less than a minute.

 

[Nyezhov]

12 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

As Nyezhov mentioned: each time you now open the program, it features a pop-up window that a New Version is available for download (the paying version) and asks whether you want visit the website to do so.  But you simply have to click No, and then that pop-up disappears, and it's then just a matter of clicking Run Cleaner - job done in less than a minute.

some of us dont want to click no. some of us object to their marketing, especially when there are other and just as good alternatives.

[Halfaboy]

If you don't want popups, delete the software from the laptop (and install it if needed the next time). That is what I usually do.

[Peter Denis]

3 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

some of us dont want to click no. some of us object to their marketing, especially when there are other and just as good alternatives.

It's a minor inconvenience.  To start the clean-up after opening the CCleaner program you need 2 clicks instead of just 1.  First click: close the pop-up, 2nd click: start the clean-up.

[Nyezhov]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

It's a minor inconvenience.  To start the clean-up after opening the CCleaner program you need 2 clicks instead of just 1.  First click: close the pop-up, 2nd click: start the clean-up.

What are you, a salesman? Are there really software Fanbois?

https://helpdeskgeek.com/free-tools-review/why-you-shouldnt-download-ccleaner-for-windows-anymore/

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Nyezhov

[Peter Denis]

17 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

What are you, a salesman? Are there really software Fanbois?

https://helpdeskgeek.com/free-tools-review/why-you-shouldnt-download-ccleaner-for-windows-anymore/

 

Nope, no salesman, but I must have sounded convincing to give the CC freeware a try.  I am just a satisfied long-time user.

And yes I am aware that you can change your windows settings to automate most of the clean-up that CC does.

Thanks for the link, by the way.

But I am not tech-savvy and actually very lazy and that's why I like this simple 2-click clean-up solution.