What does HRESULT 0x00041826 (CI_S_CAT_STOPPED) mean?

CI_S_CAT_STOPPED

Indexing catalog is stopped

CI_S_CAT_STOPPED is HRESULT 268326 (0x00041826) from Indexing Service. The documented description is “The catalog has been stopped.” The severity bit indicates a nonfailure result, but the value carries a specific condition that must not be collapsed into plain S_OK.

In the legacy Indexing Service or IFilter pipeline, this result means that the catalog has been stopped. Acceptance depends on the returned state and outputs, not only on the cleared severity bit.

Where the status is encountered

What must be true before accepting it

Verify that the stopped state is intentional or recoverable and no client assumes that catalog data is being updated. This check separates a legitimate outcome from code that ignores an incomplete or altered operation.

Before retrying the operation, classify its effects as completed, partial, pending, cancelled, adapted, or terminal.

Evidence to preserve

• Preserve catalog state and stop time.
• Preserve initiating user or service event.
• Preserve pending scans.
• Preserve last successful checkpoint.
• Preserve restart result and freshness timestamp.

Correct handling and recovery

Inspect service and catalog state, pending maintenance, storage health, and the stop initiator. Restart only after the reason is resolved and then verify freshness.

Do not immediately repeat it when the same stable state would produce the same informational result.

Difference from nearby results

The distinction around it determines whether the caller stops, waits, consumes output, or changes state.

Practical scenario

A catalog is stopped for volume maintenance. Search monitoring reports stale-but-available data, waits for the maintenance record to clear, then verifies indexing resumes.

References

• Microsoft: Filter interface values — official Microsoft material relevant to this HRESULT.
• Microsoft: About Indexing Service filters
• Microsoft: Using custom filters
• Microsoft: HRESULT values