Are you having any search related issues? Try the troubleshooting steps below and see if it helps you to identify the cause.
1. Check if search services are running.
If not --> restart it by going to Central Admin -> Operations -> Services on Server
2. Check if content db is assigned to a index server.
If not --> Application Management > Content Databases > Select the content database
3. If search is running and content db is assigned correctly but you can see any results, then check if indexing/crawling is still running. if yes, you have to wait till it completed before doing your search again.
4. If still cannot search, then try running FULL index again. You may need to delete existing index files and run full index again either by
i) using UI - SSP Search config
ii) using stsadm commands
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm –o spsearch –action fullcrawlstop
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm –o spsearch –action fullcrawlstart
5. You should also check if the file file ext is included in files to be indexed (in SSP Search config). Note that not all files are indexable or included in indexing.
6. Additionally, check the search visibility under Site Actions > Site Settings > Search visibility to check whether that particular site and its contents are included in crawling
7. It can be a crawler access issue. If yes, Reset the rights of the crawler account to the content database thru SQL Enterprise Mgr/Mmgt Studio and/or check the check web application policy whereby the crawl account must have "Full Read" access.
