diff --git a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java
index af52a48e84..5c56f310f3 100755
--- a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java
+++ b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.casemodule.Case;
 public class Installer extends ModuleInstall {
 
     private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(Installer.class.getName());
+    private final static int SERVER_START_RETRIES = 5;
 
     @Override
     public void restored() {
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ public class Installer extends ModuleInstall {
         }
 
         //retry if needed
-        int retries = 5;
+        int retries = SERVER_START_RETRIES;
         while (retries-- > 0) {
             try {
                 Thread.sleep(1000);
diff --git a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java
index de5b93de21..4d6433cc16 100644
--- a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java
+++ b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServerException;
 import org.netbeans.api.progress.ProgressHandle;
 import org.netbeans.api.progress.ProgressHandleFactory;
 import org.openide.util.Cancellable;
+import org.openide.util.Exceptions;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.casemodule.Case;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.ModuleSettings;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.StopWatch;
@@ -338,11 +339,20 @@ public final class KeywordSearchIngestModule implements IngestModuleAbstractFile
         caseHandle = Case.getCurrentCase().getSleuthkitCase();
 
         ingester = Server.getIngester();
-
-        //use the settings files to set values
         
-    
-
+        final Server server = KeywordSearch.getServer();
+        try {
+            if (! server.isRunning()) {
+                String msg = "Keyword search server was not properly initialized, cannot run keyword search ingest. ";
+                logger.log(Level.SEVERE, msg);
+                String details = msg + "Please try restarting the OS and the application";
+                services.postMessage(IngestMessage.createErrorMessage(++messageID, instance, msg, details));
+                return;
+                
+            }
+        } catch (KeywordSearchModuleException ex) {
+            logger.log(Level.WARNING, "Error checking if Solr server is running while initializing ingest", ex);
+        }
 
 
         //initialize extractors
diff --git a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java
index 394c89dc4f..c23592e8ec 100755
--- a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java
+++ b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ class Server {
             // that doesn't work when there are no cores
 
             CoreAdminRequest.getStatus(null, solrServer);
-            logger.log(Level.INFO, "Solr is running");
+            logger.log(Level.INFO, "Solr server is running");
         } catch (SolrServerException ex) {
 
             Throwable cause = ex.getRootCause();
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ class Server {
             // probably caused by starting a connection as the server finishes
             // shutting down)
             if (cause instanceof ConnectException || cause instanceof SocketException || cause instanceof NoHttpResponseException) {
-                logger.log(Level.INFO, "Solr is not running, cause: " + cause.getMessage());
+                logger.log(Level.INFO, "Solr server is not running, cause: " + cause.getMessage());
                 return false;
             } else {
                 throw new KeywordSearchModuleException("Error checking if Solr server is running", ex);