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Tip #4792 - IE 7's Search Tool

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IE 7's Search Tool

Chances are, if you’re an Internet Explorer 7 user, you have seen the built-in search box in the top right hand corner. You know, the one that looks like this:

Now, you may be wondering why Live Search is being used and not Google, right? Well, basically, Internet Explorer is a Microsoft-based program and Google is not. And since Microsoft is a pretty smart company, they’re not going to use the most popular search engine (Google) for their Web browser. Instead, they used Live Search, which is run by Microsoft. That makes sense, but what if you prefer Google? (Don't worry, so do I!) Is there anything you can do? Keep reading and you'll find out!

Luckily, there is a solution! You are able to change the default search engine in IE 7 to any one of your choice. You can even opt to put Google’s I’m Feeling Lucky search feature in the search box if you want! Here's how:

First off, click on the drop down menu in the top right hand corner of Internet Explorer 7 and choose Find More Providers.

Let's say you want to add Google. To do that, go to http://www.google.com (in another tab or window) and enter in the word TEST (in all capital letters). Next, go back to the Find More Providers page and paste the entire URL from the other page (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=TEST) into the yellow box in step 3. Now, name the URL something like "Google" or "Google Search" and hit the Install button. Note: Make sure your yellow box looks like this before you proceed:

You’ll then be taken to a confirmation screen. Confirm everything and then go take a look at the search engine drop down menu. You should now see Google there as an option. You can then set Google as your default search engine by clicking Change Search Defaults, Google. So, now, your search box will look like this:

That was easy enough, right? Happy searching!

~ Brandon Zubek

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