guess i'll answer my own post..
Here's what worked for me:
goto the directory C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\qBittorrent\
move the directory named [nova3] to your desktop.
start q bittorent click the search tab, and then exit the application.
cut the [nova3] folder and paste back into C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\Local\qBittorrent\
restart qbittorent and try search again.
Last edited by MiSFiT203 on Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ok so apparently my fix is only good for the session you use it in. once you exit qbittorrent, if you restart it again later the search plugins dont work again.
Ok. I think I have found a fix. You were nearly there
Delete that nova3 folder. F it right off. Open Qbittorrent. Go to search tab, click on update plugins. Mine populated and updated a short list, I then re-installed my local search plugin files and they have all installed. Yewwwwww!!! Now.... Why does this error even happen ? I'll work on that another day