Turn off Windows Search and hidden files search

[IMproper]

From the other accounts of my PC, the hidden files are still able to be searched by Windows Search. Is there any way by which I can disable searching of hidden files from Windows Search or maybe I can disable Windows Search itself. And also if I this can be done on my same account also and not only from the other accounts... i.e. if anyone searching from my user account, still they will not get hidden files.

[Solomon]

If you are having Windows Search 4.0, I think you can remove it from the Add/Remove programs in control panel. For this, try this procedure,

Start Menu -> All Programs => Windows Update -> Custom -> Software, Optional -> single left-click on the plus sign that is next to Windows Search 4.0 -> and then single-left click on Hide this update.

[MrChris-]

Simply open RegEdit (hit Start -> Run then type ‘regedit’). Go to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Desktop Search\DS

Then double-click on ‘ShowStartSearchBand’ and set the value to ‘0′. Close that and you’re done, the next time you click ‘Search’ in explorer, the old, reliable search companion will appear.

Now this will disable Windows Search from your Windows XP.

[Calvin K]

One cannot turn off or disable the feature of only searching hidden files. I suggest you to lock the folders if you dont want others to view them or simply save those folders to your personal external drives