Barry Fox searches for solutions to his Windows 7 problem and finally gets an answer from Microsoft.

For years Toyota denied there was a problem with its cars. In the end, the truth came out and Toyota was publicly shamed.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7files/thread/aadfe1f1-4a33-406b-8e72-bb920efa4f30  

By chance, I then met a Microsoft manager at a press event and told him about this problem and the brush-off I got by standard form letter from Microsoft Support in India.

He showed helpful concern and said he would refer it to Microsoft’s technical team. I supplied document files that demonstrated the problem.

I started to smell a rat when, after a couple of weeks’ stalling, Mr Microsoft Manager clammed up and said I would have to talk to the Microsoft press office.

I dutifully talked to Microsoft’s press office, who also showed helpful concern and arranged a service call from a software expert.

The expert called from India and – with my permission – used Microsoft’s remote software tool Easy Assist to take control of my computer.

Just as no doctor will accept a patient’s self-diagnosis, Mr Microsoft Engineer needed to satisfy himself that what I was saying was correct.

He also tinkered with vital PC settings and fiddled with the ridiculously complicated filter options that govern how Windows 7 searches.

This involves the hugely time-consuming process of rebuilding the hard drive index that Windows 7 relies on.

On the first day I was on the phone, with my PC unusable for work, it took one-and-a-half hours. The next day, I was on the line for three-and-a-half hours.

The engineer was courteous and did his very best. But, just as I had said from the outset, he could not find a solution for the problem with Windows 7.

Finally the engineer had to admit defeat, and promised to "escalate" the problem and get back to me. Two weeks later, I had still heard nothing useful.

As exactly the same problem is described by other users on Microsoft's own forums, how could it have come as a surprise to Microsoft Support?

Was all the time I wasted just a charade, designed to grind me into silence by forcing me to say “stop messing with my PC and let me get on with my work”?

If so, the ploy failed. I agreed to every request Microsoft made, even though it cost me dearly in lost working time.

At least I was not paying for the phone call. Others may not be so lucky. So, if a customer tells you they are having problems with Windows 7 searches, you can tell them from me that they are not alone and they can prove it by sending this blog to Microsoft.

Two weeks on, Microsoft Support has just called to admit to what I had been trying to tell them all along. Windows 7 will NOT search inside old word processor files. There may one day be a patch to correct this.

But Microsoft was insistent that this was "not a fault". So what is it then? A feature?