SearchUI.exe not starting (Cortana and Search won't work)

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

This issue could occur due to corrupted or missing system files. Please try following methods and check if it helps.

Method 1:
Run sfc scan: System File Checker is a utility in Microsoft Windows that allows users to scan for and restore corruptions in Windows system files.
1. Press Windows + X from desktop.
2. Then click on Command Prompt (Admin)
3. Then type in sfc /scannow and press Enter

Method 2:
Run the System update readiness command. It detects incorrect manifests, cabinets or registry data, it may replace the incorrect data with corrected version available. Follow the steps.
1. Press Windows + X.
2. Click Command prompt (Run as administrator).
3. In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the following commands. Press Enter key after each command:
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

Hope this information helps. Let us know if you have further queries.

Thank you.                                                                                                                               

Hi,

I'm also facing the same issue with an Active Directory user account... In the event log I see the following three errors:

Faulting application name: SearchUI.exe, version: 10.0.10240.16401, time stamp: 0x55b1a665

Faulting module name: SearchUI.exe, version: 10.0.10240.16401, time stamp: 0x55b1a665

Exception code: 0xc000027b

Fault offset: 0x000000000012b7b1

Faulting process ID: 0x820

Faulting application start time: 0x01d0cab656a66cb1

Faulting application path: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchUI.exe

Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchUI.exe

Report ID: c4e95951-ba2c-4128-9608-0dca7f3ed4f2

Faulting package full name: Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.4.8.176_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

Has anyone else seen this issue? If I login with a local account Cortana and search works fine. The impact seems to only be on Active Directory user logins.

Regards,

Steven.

I'm having the same (or at least a similar) issue.  Cortana does not work.  The start menu is fine, but clicking in the search box changes the color for a split second before it reverts back.  Clicking on the Cortana app displays only the gray rectangular area where Cortana is supposed to be, but nothing ever appears in the window.

Checking the event log, I find the following error:

Faulting process id: 0x15cc
Faulting application start time: 0x01d0cd57eb7244e2
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchUI.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\System32\twinapi.appcore.dll
Report Id: 4d823746-751b-40ca-a848-3a7e915c42e7
Faulting package full name: Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.4.8.176_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Faulting package-relative application ID: CortanaUI
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Application Error" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>100</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2015-08-02T19:32:35.000000000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>2221</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>*************</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>SearchUI.exe</Data>
    <Data>10.0.10240.16401</Data>
    <Data>55b1a665</Data>
    <Data>twinapi.appcore.dll</Data>
    <Data>10.0.10240.16397</Data>
    <Data>55af1390</Data>
    <Data>c000027b</Data>
    <Data>000000000006687f</Data>
    <Data>15cc</Data>
    <Data>01d0cd57eb7244e2</Data>
    <Data>C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchUI.exe</Data>
    <Data>C:\Windows\System32\twinapi.appcore.dll</Data>
    <Data>4d823746-751b-40ca-a848-3a7e915c42e7</Data>
    <Data>Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.4.8.176_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy</Data>
    <Data>CortanaUI</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

SearchUI is erroring out, but I don't know why.

BTW, I'm not using a domain account.  Just a regular Microsoft account.  And, for what it's worth, sfc /scannow and dism.exe... don't detect any problems.

I think I accidentally stumbled upon at least part of my problem.  While trying to scan a document to PDF file, I discovered that I didn't have write permissions to my pictures folder.  After poking around a bit, I found a few more folders within my user directory that were also mysteriously missing permissions.  So, I granted myself full control to everything within my user folder and magically Cortana started working. 

She/It still isn't completely functional.  For example, clicking on Settings within Cortana still doesn't do anything at all and clicking the search field itself doesn't do anything.  I have to click it, open the Start menu and then click in the search field again to get it to come up.

In any case, I think it's safe to say that the upgrade wasn't as smooth as I would like.  Some of my file permissions didn't survive the trip (though the upgrade itself gave no indication that anything was wrong.)  Obviously, there's still something that isn't quite right, but at least I feel that I've made some progress - as frustratingly slow as it has been.

Hi John,

It's interesting that the permissions didn't seem to be maintained following the upgrade. However, I did a clean install then attached my machine to our corporate domain and Cortana/searchui.exe stopped working. If I login with a local user account the search performs perfectly...

I'm sure your on the right lines though that it's a permissions issue which isn't allow searchui.exe to start or have access to any of the files it needs to index. I did check the index log though and it is showing a large number of files have been indexed - I just can't see the results.

Regards,

Steven.

Update:

I've just tried loading the search application whilst running DebugView and I see the following error in the log...

[2736] base\appmodel\execmodel\shared\resourcetimers\lib\applicationdata.cpp(197)\modernexecserver.dll!00007FF91E677192: (caller: 00007FF91E66770A) ReturnHr[PreRelease](884) tid(1e8c) 80070002 The system cannot find the file specified.

Look like it's looking for a file or location that doesn't exist!!!!

Steven.

I have the same Problem...

your Sugestion with sfc/scannow etc. are not working...