The Search for files and folders of WindowsXP and Windows Vista has an annoying feature of also searching inside all the zip files contained within the drive or folder you are searching in.
This can be useful for folders that does not contain large zip files. But if your drive/folder has too many zip files and/or there are some large compressed files then Windows will uncompress and search inside each zip and you will find search to be a never ending process.
Unless you are doing a deep rigorous search this is an unnecessary feature.
How to disable/restrict windows from searching inside zip files
Windows Vista
Turn it off:
1. Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID
3. Delete this key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E88DCCE0-B7B3-11d1-A9F0-00AA0060FA31}
4. Delete this key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262}
5. Restart Windows (the change won't take effect until you do).
Windows XP
Turn it off:
1. Select Run from the Start Menu.
2. Type regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
3. The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all traces of the built-in ZIP support to disappear.
If, at any time, you wish to re-enable Windows XP's built-in ZIP support, just follow these steps:
1. Select Run from the Start Menu.
2. Type regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
3. The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all features of the built-in ZIP support to be available.
Via [Annoyances.org]
