Catch my Point

I often get " The search request was unable to connect to the Search Service." on my development environment. Though Office SharePoint Server Search and Windows SharePoint Services Search windows services are running fine. Fix

1. Restart "Office SharePoint Server Search" and "Windows SharePoint Services Search" Windows Services
2. do IISRESET

This problem can also occur in new environments where these services are not configured properly

1. Go to Operations tab in Central Administration
2. Select "Services on Server" from Topology and Services
3. Select your Indexing/application Server from the server menu and make sure "Office SharePoint Server Search" and "Windows SharePoint Services Search" services are started.

Update (July 22nd 08) More Error messages

• Your search cannot be completed because of a service error. Try your search again or contact your administrator for more information.
• Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component.

Fix

• Check Event Logs for Error Messages
• Make sure your Search Databases are up and accessible to MOSS Search Service.