subject: Configure Custom Search Providers with the Registry in Windows 7 [print this page] Configure Custom Search Providers with the Registry in Windows 7
Do you want to configure Search Providers in your Windows 7 machine? Since Search providers are stored in the registry in either the HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hives at SoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchScopes, you can use the registry to achieve it.
In order to automate the process of adding search providers to computers, use a test computer to configure the search engines manually (including specifying the default search engine). Then, create a .reg file based on this registry key and its subkeys and distribute it to your client computers.
To create a .reg file,follow the steps below:
1. To start the Registry Editor, click Start, type Regedit, and then press Enter.
2. To configure search engines for individual users, choose HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchScopes. To configure search engines for all users on a computer, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchScopes.
3. Choose Export from the File menu. Save the .reg file.
Now you can distribute the .reg file to computers in your organization.
To configure the search engines, double-click the .reg file to open the Registry Editor and apply the settings. But unfortunately, this requires administrative credentials. If you need to distribute the updated settings without explicitly providing administrative credentials, have a developer create a Windows Installer package that creates the registry values and distribute the Windows Installer package by using Group Policy software distribution.
It's done! Just follow what I mentioned above if you need!
