[noahbody]

I want to erase search history from Windows Explorer. Not Internet Explorer, WINDOWS EXPLORER. In VISTA, not Windows 7.

Yes, I have tried to highlight them and erase them one by one - but it doesn't allow you to do that.

There appears to be no information on this in Google - the closest I could find were these instructions for Windows 7:

How to clear search history in Windows 7?

You can delete previous searches done in Windows 7 Explorer using the registry. Here’s how you can do that:

Press Win+R and type regedit. Hit Enter. If the UAC prompts you, click Yes.
Go to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerWordWheelQue ry
Right click on ‘WordWheelQuery’ and choose the Delete option. Click Yes in the confirmation dialog.
Close the Registry Editor
You will no longer see previous search queries in Windows Explorer. Your search history has been completely deleted.

http://www.killertechtips.com/2009/0...-in-windows-7/


But the Registry in Vista is not exactly the same as in Windows 7. I got as far as Current/Version/Explorer but then the trail went cold.
So does anyone know what to erase from the Registry in Windows Vista?

[Phantom010]

Have you looked at the one for XP?

http://www.winxptutor.com/searchmru.htm

I don't have Vista so I can't tell you if it's similar to XP.

[noahbody]

The path
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Search Assistant \ ACMru \ 5603
doesn't exist in the registry. It only goes as far as Search Assistant\.

And for the 2nd option, it doesn't exist either.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Explorer Bars \ {C4EE31F3-4768-11D2-BE5C-00A0C9A83DA1} \ FilesNamedMRU
It only goes as far as Internet Explorer\.

There's a path called:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
Is that it?

[Phantom010]

Originally Posted by noahbody

There's a path called:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
Is that it?

No, that's not it.

[Phantom010]

You could try CCleaner. It should take care of it for you. However, do stay away from the registry cleaner option of CCleaner.

[noahbody]

Before I try something like that, let me see if I can find the answer. Is it this one?
Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU

[Phantom010]

Originally Posted by noahbody

Before I try something like that, let me see if I can find the answer. Is it this one?
Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU

No, that's not it either.

Funny how Google is not returning anything for Vista on this!

[Phantom010]

A possible way to do it would be to Rebuild the Index or Restore Defaults.

Try Options 3 and 4 HERE.

[noahbody]

Not working. I did Option 3 (without doing Option 1 or 2) but the previous search results are still there in Explorer.

[noahbody]

What would happen if I went to the 'Modify' button and tried to remove all the drives from the Index, then rebuild the index? Is that dangerous?

[Phantom010]

I've never worked with the Indexing service on any operating system, so my knowledge of it is limited. However, I do not believe the operation is dangerous.

On the other hand, CCleaner is easy to use.

[noahbody]

Ok I ran CCleaner and the search results are now gone. Maybe they're still somewhere else but it seems to have done the job.
Thanks for your advice.

By the way, is there a way to prevent search results from showing up in the first place?

[Phantom010]

Originally Posted by noahbody

By the way, is there a way to prevent search results from showing up in the first place?

None that I know of.

Glad you managed to get rid of the history.