Changing Search Pages Used by Internet Explorer

ID: Q171853

The information in this article applies to:


IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

This article describes how to change the search pages used by Internet Explorer.


MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To change the search page that is accessed when you click Start, point to Find, and then click On The Internet, or when you click Search The Web on the Go menu in Internet Explorer 4, modify the Search Page value under the following registry key: 


   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main


The Search Page value must be set to the entire Web address for the search page. For example, the default Internet Explorer Search Page value is:

http://home.microsoft.com/access/allinone.asp
Note that you can also change the search page that is accessed when you click Search on the Internet Explorer toolbar. To do so, add the Search Bar value in the above registry key, or modify the value if it already exists. The Search Bar value must be set to the entire Web address for the search page.

IMPORTANT: When you configure Internet Explorer so that a custom search page is accessed when you click Search on the Internet Explorer toolbar, the custom search page may display all content (both search and results pages) in the Search bar instead of the main Internet Explorer frame.

To work with the Search bar, search providers need to modify their search and results pages to use "_main" as the target for any links that should be opened in the main Internet Explorer frame, and "_self" for any links that should be opened in the Search bar frame.

NOTE: The Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) allows Internet content providers (ICPs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and corporate administrators to customize the Search Page and Search Bar values.

The default Search bar page for Internet Explorer 4 is http://home.microsoft.com/search/search.asp.

The default Search bar page for Internet Explorer 5 is http://ie.search.msn.com/en-us/srchasst/srchasst.htm.

NOTE: Customized Search bar values are ignored in Internet Explorer 5 if the "Use Custom Search URL" DWORD value is 0 (zero) in the following registry key: 

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main


For additional information about creating your own Search bar, see page 112 of the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 Resource Kit.

Additional query words: 4.00 explorer bar bars 


Keywords          : kbenv msiew95 msient 
Version           : WINDOWS:5
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: April 13, 1999