“Start > Search” does not work on Windows 7

Question

I don't know why but the start->search line in my computer - does not work!

It shows me something that says Programs as result and does not search!

I used to just type something like CMD and it will open cmd.

Why is it?

Answer 1

Check the following page for troubleshooting your symptoms: Windows 7 Start search bar not working

Answer 2

tl;dr: restart the explorer.exe process - Windows 7 Start Menu search not working

I have found various suggestions for solutions, including

• a registry edit
• deleting c:\Users[user]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\1033\StructuredQuerySchema.bin
• index rebuilding
• the above solution

I was reluctant to try those rather complex solutions, then I noticed that beside the start search not working, also the calendar wouldn't pop up. Remembering the useful trick from WinXP, I restarted the explorer.exe process and presto.