Category: Tweak

Microsoft has released a free set of tools and programs for Windows XP that perform a variety of functions. Some of the programs include an addition to the Alt-Tab switching that shows you a preview of the selected window, a graphing calculator, a magnifier, and a photo album generator. I can’t put a link directly to them, so go to Microsoft and search for Windows XP power toys. (There is also a different set of power toys for Win 98 and ME)

Don’t like the search assistant in XP? Want to take “My Computer” off your desktop? Tweak UI for Windows XP can help you change these settings and several more. I can’t link directly to it, since it seems to move frequently, so go to Microsoft and search for Tweak UI. (There is also a version for Win 98 and ME)

If you like to use Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” button, then this tweak is for you. Now you can enter “goto (search term)” and perform a Google “I’m feeling lucky” search right from IE’s address bar.
Here’s How:

Open regedit
Navigate to “HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchUrl”
Add a new key called “goto” (without the quotes)
Make the default string value “http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%s&btnI=I’m+Feeling+Lucky” (without the quotes)

Now open IE and type “goto (search term)” and see the results.

Everyone knows just how great Google is, so why not make searching with it easier? This tweak will allow you to search Google by typing “goo (search term)” in IE’s address bar, I would have used “go” but it requires 3 letters for the shortcut name.
Here’s how:

Open regedit
Navigate to “HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchUrl”
Add a new key called “goo” (without the quotes)
Make the default string value “http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%s” (without the quotes)

Now open IE and type “goo (search term)” and see the results.