Last Reviewed:  April 13, 2023

You Can't Index a Cabinet Because It's Grayed Out

Issue

You are trying to index a cabinet using the dtSearch engine, but it is disabled or grayed out in the index list.

NOTE: This does NOT apply to Windows Search (the default engine). It only applies when you're using FileCenter Professional's dtSearch engine.

Cause

If you're using the dtSearch engine, you can share indexes with other users. With a shared index, one machine is designated as the "owner", meaning that machine is in charge of keeping the index current. If your machine isn't the owner, the cabinet will be grayed out to keep you from indexing it. This doesn't mean that there isn't an index for the cabinet. Rather, it means that the cabinet does have an index and your machine isn't the owner of it.

If your machine used to be the owner, but you reinstalled Windows or got a new computer, you'll no longer be recognized as the owner.

Solution

If you are sure that your machine should be the owner of the index, do the following:

  1. Click the Cabinets button to open the cabinet manager
  2. Select the cabinet in question
  3. Click Edit
  4. Go to the Index tab
  5. Click Become Owner
  6. Click OK

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