P1CAD: Drive C out of space due to Windows Search Indexing


Symptom(s)

The following applies:

  • SCOM alerts reporting drive C is near or out of space
  • Customer reports drive C is near or out of space
  • Technician notices drive C is near or out of space

This article applies to Windows Search Indexing being enabled.  Generally, this will be on drive C.

  • File: Windows.edb
  • Location: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows 

Issue

Windows Search Indexing is disabled by default beginning with Server 2016.

Indexing is the process of looking at files, email messages, internet searches and other content on your PC and cataloging their information, such as the words and metadata in them. When you search your PC after indexing, it looks at an index of terms to find results faster.

When you first run indexing, it can take up to a couple hours to complete. After that, indexing will run in the background on your PC as you use it, only re-indexing updated data.

In some scenarios having Windows Search Indexing enabled can cause the local drive to fill up due to the indexing file Windows.edb growing very large.

While indexing can be helpful; in the PremierOne environment where all applications are mission critical the benefit of having this enabled versus the risk of running out of drive space is to high to leave it enabled.

Related Articles:
Microsoft Search indexing in Windows FAQ
Windows Search is disabled by default in Windows Server 2016
Microsoft Article on Windows Search Index

Windows Search Indexing runs in the background as a service and can also cause resource issues with CPU and/or memory.

Environment

Microsoft Server 2016+
Microsoft Windows 10+

Resolution

After validating Windows Search Indexing is enabled AND the Windows.edb file is the culprit, perform the following:

  • Stop Windows Search service
  • Disable Windows Search service

  • Delete Windows.edb file from the following location:
    • C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows 
    • Below is an example of the file; in this scenario it's not that big, unfortunately, I do not have a screenshot of any that were over 50 GB as I already resolved the issues on those systems.

  • Leave Windows Search service disabled
  • Verify Windows Search is disabled on all application servers. I have seen systems where it is enabled on 1 out of 4 or 2 out of 4 or all 4.