How-To Geek Forums » Windows Vista
Who wants the search link back on there start menu after vista sp1 removed it?
(18 posts)
Your right jd2066 the search button is gone didn't even realize it until now. i still have the start search i tried to get it back with the link that cpjames19 put up and nothing happened. i did the notepad and then the save as and restarted computer and nothing. i want the search button back. has anyone tried the link and had it work ? let me know
@ulyy1: That page has a registry edit. You need to save it as something.reg and double click on the file to put the registry edit changes into the registry. Note that tweak replaces the "Help and Support" button with a search button.
I'll look into it and see if the button can be added again without replacing "Help and Support".
@Lighthouse: I think it was enabled by default for me though I don't think I ever used it either.
I guess Microsoft thought that appyed for most people so they decided to just remove the button instead of making it use the new search protocol in Vista.
There are quite a few webpages giving guidance on this subject. Here is another one for context search: http://www.vistax64.com/tutori.....a-sp1.html
The Google lawsuit was why Microsoft added the search protocol in Service Pack 1.
Now any desktop search program can be registered as the default search program in Vista.
Microsoft just decided they would rather remove the search button on the start menu then convert it to use the new search protocol.
Something that appears fairly easy to do from looking at the search protocol documentation.
I'm not really sure why they didn't just do that.
So it was the lawsuit was indirectly the reason for it but not the reason.
Edit: In case someone wants to see how easy it is to make a shortcut to launch the search Window with the new protocol, just do this:
Right click on a folder, move over new and click shortcut.
Type search: in the text box, click next, type a name and click finish.
It appears the only choice is to either make a search shortcut and pin it to the left top of the Start Menu or replace "Help and Support" or "Run" with a search link in the right bottom of the Start Menu.
It kind of sucks that the right side of the Start Menu can't be changed beyond the default items much at all.
Note: I think there maybe a way to add the search without replacing another item by hacking a system file but I don't know which one.
Reply
You must log in to post.