The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

Windows Search: Windows.edb

If you use Windows Search (I don’t: I use Everything by VoidTools), your Windows.edb can grow ridiculously large. It is a single file, though it appears to be in two places because there is a symbolic link from C:\Users\All Users to C:\ProgramData :

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb
C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb


This is how to reduce its size:

How to offline defrag the index

1. Change the Windows Search service so that it does not automatically start. To do this, run the following command in cmd.exe:

   sc config wsearch start= disabled

2. Run the following command to stop the Windows Search service:

   net stop wsearch

3. Run the following command to perform offline compaction of the Windows.edb file:

   esentutl.exe /d %AllUsersProfile%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Windows.edb

4. Run the following command to change the Windows Search service to delayed start:

   sc config wsearch start= delayed-auto

5. Run the following command to start the service:

   net start wsearch

Notes:

1. I did not perform the last 2 steps as I’ve kept Windows Search disabled.
2. If you want to reduce the size of the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\Projects\SystemIndex\Indexer\CiFiles\ directory:
   1. Before step 1, choose what kind of Windows Search indexing options you want
   2. Between step 3 and 4, delete the directory

Windows Update: DataStore.edb

Windows Update uses the same database structure and is a single file:

C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\DataStore.edb

This is how I reduced its size:

net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
esentutl.exe /d C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\DataStore.edb
net start bits
net start wuauserv

Talking about Windows Update: you might also want to Clean Up the WinSxS Folder

–jeroen

Logs

Note these are from the “Run as Administrator” command-prompt.

Windows Search database

C:\Windows\system32>sc config wsearch start= disabled
[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\Windows\system32>net stop wsearch
The Windows Search service is stopping.
The Windows Search service was stopped successfully.


C:\Windows\system32>esentutl.exe /d %AllUsersProfile%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Appl
ications\Windows\Windows.edb

Extensible Storage Engine Utilities for Microsoft(R) Windows(R)
Version 6.1
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Initiating DEFRAGMENTATION mode...
            Database: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\
Windows.edb

                  Defragmentation Status (% complete)

          0    10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90  100
          |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
          ...................................................


Moving 'TEMPDFRG1980.EDB' to 'C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\
Windows\Windows.edb'... DONE!

Note:
  It is recommended that you immediately perform a full backup
  of this database. If you restore a backup made before the
  defragmentation, the database will be rolled back to the state
  it was in at the time of that backup.

Operation completed successfully in 2.625 seconds.


C:\Windows\system32>sc config wsearch start= delayed-auto
[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

C:\Windows\system32>net start wsearch
The Windows Search service is starting.
The Windows Search service was started successfully.

Windows update database

C:\Windows\system32>net stop wuauserv
The Windows Update service is stopping.
The Windows Update service was stopped successfully.


C:\Windows\system32>net stop bits
The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service is stopping..
The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service was stopped successfully.


C:\Windows\system32>esentutl.exe /d C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\Da
taStore.edb

Extensible Storage Engine Utilities for Microsoft(R) Windows(R)
Version 6.1
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Initiating DEFRAGMENTATION mode...
            Database: C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\DataStore.edb

                  Defragmentation Status (% complete)

          0    10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90  100
          |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
          ...................................................


Moving 'TEMPDFRG3032.EDB' to 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\DataStor
e.edb'... DONE!

Note:
  It is recommended that you immediately perform a full backup
  of this database. If you restore a backup made before the
  defragmentation, the database will be rolled back to the state
  it was in at the time of that backup.

Operation completed successfully in 8.110 seconds.


C:\Windows\system32>net start bits
The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service is starting.
The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service was started successfully.


C:\Windows\system32>net start wuauserv
The Windows Update service is starting.
The Windows Update service was started successfully.