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How can I clear Windows XP's Search Companion cache of previous searches?

A. XP's Search Companion feature, which you can access by clicking the Search button in Windows Explorer, lets you locate files, folders, computers, and media. When you start to type the search criteria, Search Companion will list all previous search criteria that match the current search.

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To clear the search cache, perform the following steps:

  1. Stop all Windows Explorer sessions.
  2. Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
  3. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru registry subkey.
  4. Select and delete each subkey under ACMru, or simply delete the entire ACMru subkey.
  5. Close the registry editor.
  6. Log off and log on before performing new searches; otherwise, XP will recreate the search cache and store the recreated cache in memory.
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