diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexFactory.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexFactory.java
index b092f8222..e5a2314e9 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexFactory.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexFactory.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ public class LuceneIndexFactory {
     	return getLuceneIndexFactoryFromContext(context).innerGetIndexSearcher(context);    	
     }
     
-    public static LuceneIndexFactory getLuceneIndexFactoryFromContext(ServletContext context){
+    protected static LuceneIndexFactory getLuceneIndexFactoryFromContext(ServletContext context){
         Object obj = context.getAttribute(LUCENE_INDEX_FACTORY);        
         if( obj == null ){
             log.error("cannot get LuceneIndexFactory from context.  Search is not setup correctly");
@@ -68,6 +68,20 @@ public class LuceneIndexFactory {
      */
     public synchronized void forceNewIndexSearcher(){
         log.debug("forcing the re-opening of the search index");
+        IndexSearcher oldSearcher = searcher;
+        
+        
+        searcher = null;
+    }
+    
+    protected synchronized void forceClose(){
+        log.debug("forcing the closing of the search index");
+        try {
+            if( searcher != null )
+                searcher.close();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            log.error("could not close lucene searcher: " + e.getMessage());
+        }
         searcher = null;
     }
     
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexer.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexer.java
index c3d08f46e..cea86aab4 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexer.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/lucene/LuceneIndexer.java
@@ -280,13 +280,25 @@ public class LuceneIndexer implements IndexerIface {
         File offLineDir = new File(currentOffLineDir);
         File liveDir = new File(liveIndexDir);
 
+        log.debug("deleting old live directory " + liveDir.getAbsolutePath());
         boolean deleted = deleteDir(liveDir);
         if (! deleted ){
-            log.error("failed to delete live index directory " 
+            log.debug("failed to delete live index directory " 
                     + liveDir.getAbsolutePath());
+            log.debug("Attempting to close searcher and delete live directory");
+            this.luceneIndexFactory.forceClose();
+            boolean secondDeleted = deleteDir(liveDir);
+            if( ! secondDeleted ){
+                log.error("Search index is out of date and cannot be replaced " +
+                		"because could not remove lucene index from directory" 
+                        + liveDir.getAbsolutePath());
+            }
             return;
         }
 
+        log.debug("moving " + offLineDir.getAbsolutePath() + " to " 
+                + liveDir.getAbsolutePath());
+        
         boolean success =  offLineDir.renameTo( liveDir );
         if( ! success ){
             log.error("could not move off line index at " 
@@ -295,7 +307,11 @@ public class LuceneIndexer implements IndexerIface {
             return;
         }            
 
-        deleteDir(new File(currentOffLineDir));
+        File oldWorkignDir = new File(currentOffLineDir);
+        if( oldWorkignDir.exists() )
+            log.debug("old working directory should have been removed " +
+            		"but still exits at " + oldWorkignDir.getAbsolutePath());
+
         currentOffLineDir = null;
     }  
     
diff --git a/webapp/web/admin/log4j.jsp b/webapp/web/admin/log4j.jsp
index c4de3bfce..97c750bb2 100644
--- a/webapp/web/admin/log4j.jsp
+++ b/webapp/web/admin/log4j.jsp
@@ -103,32 +103,7 @@ try {
     }
     out.write("</table>\r\n");
     out.write("<input type=submit value=\"Submit changes to logging levels\">");
-    out.write("</form>\n");
-
-
-    /* write out form to do a test message */
-    out.write("<h2>Test the logging configuration by sending a test message</h2>\n");
-    out.write("<form name=\"TestForm\" ACTION=\""+request.getContextPath()+request.getServletPath()+"\" METHOD=\"PUT\">\n");
-    out.write("<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"doTestMsg\" value=\"true\">\n");
-    out.write("<table>\n\r");
-    out.write("    <tr><td>logger:</td>\n\r");
-    out.write("    <td><select name=\"logger\"/>\n\r");
-    for(String logName : logNames){
-        out.write("        <option>" + logName + "</option>\n\r");
-    }
-    out.write("    </select></td></tr>\n\r");
-
-    out.write("    <tr><td>level:</td>\n\r");
-    out.write("    <td><select name=\"level\">\n\r");
-    for (int i = 0; i < levels.length; i++) {
-        out.write("        <option>"+levels[i].toString() + "</option>\n\r");
-    }
-    out.write("    </select></td></tr>\n\r");
-
-    out.write("    <tr><td>message:</td> \n\r");
-    out.write("    <td><textarea name=\"msg\"></textarea></td></tr>\n\r");
-    out.write("    <tr><td><input type=\"submit\" value=\"submit test message\"/></td></tr>\n\r");
-    out.write("</table></form>\n");
+    out.write("</form>\n");  
 
     out.write("</BODY></HTML>\r\n");
     out.flush();