30th January 2001

While doing a radio interview the other day, the subject of "finding stuff online" came up. The host was frustrated with IE's default search engine. "But you can change it!" You can? You bet. Go ahead and open your Search pane (click the Globe icon in Internet Explorer's "Button" bar). Now, click the "Customize" button in the upper right-hand corner. Up pops a white-ridden dialog box. Now you can add, move, remove, or resort the list. Ready for more? Click the "Autosearch settings" button in the lower left-hand corner. If you use the Address Bar search approach like I do, you can select the most desirable engine from the drop- down list. How do you search from the Address Bar, you ask? Easy. Either preface the query with a question mark, or enter your keyword(s) and tap the ENTER key. Wow. Painless. Er, paneless. BONUS: upon installing the official Internet Explorer 5.0 Power Toys, you can set up your browser to query Google directly from the Address Bar. You'll find the "Quick Search" option in your "Links" menu. From there, follow the directions and create a customized shortcut for... whatever.