In Internet Explorer 6 (and certainly the previous ones), there is the Search icon, which will open a frame on the left where we can enter our request to the search engine. How can we customize it so that we can choose which search engine we want by default? for exemple www.google.com or www.altavista.com ...etc... Because I have the feeling this is possible, since I have by default the Netscape search (on a microsoft product!!) But if i click on Customize, I can only choose to switch between the microsoft default search engine (MSN) or the other user default, and it gives me nowhere the choice to enter a new user default site....

Normally when you type 'go keyword' in the Internet Explorer address bar IE will search the web using a Microsoft selected search engine. By modifying this key you can select which search engine to use. Open your registry and find the key below. Modify the value of default to equal the URL for the search engine you want to use, substituting '%s' to represent the keywords. For example, to use AltaVista the value would be: http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?q=%s And to use Yahoo! the value would be: http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=%s   (Default) REG_SZ "http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?q=%s" HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Searc... Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ SearchUrl] Value Name: (Default) Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value) Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.  HopeThisHelps, -me-

Well that just looked spiffy didn't it. Oh well you got the basic info I hope.   -me-

Yes, thank you very much. I thought there would be something easier, but changing the value in the Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search SearchAssistant, putting the URL of the site i want does the trick. now the hard thing is to know the format of the URL, like http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?q=%s instead of just http://www.altavista.com/

If you want google as your default search engine, the easiest way you can do this is to type: "http://www.google.com/google.reg" into your address bar (no quotes), then when the download box appears, select "run from current location" or "open". this will enter it into your registry via the temp folder. I got this information from www.pcworld.com/, so I know it is reliable. If you click on thier headline labeled "Quick and Simple searches With Explorer", and it will supply you with the same information.