How to Use the Search Assistant in Internet Explorer 5

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How to Enable, Disable, and Resize the Search Bar

• To enable the Search bar, point to Explorer Bar on the View menu, and then click Search. Or, on the toolbar, click Search.
• To disable the Search bar, point to Explorer Bar on the View menu, and then click Search. Or, on the toolbar, click Search.
• To resize the Search bar, drag the border between the panes to the left or right until the Search bar is the size you want.

How to Use the Search Assistant

You can use the Search Assistant to find a variety of information on the Internet. To use the Search Assistant:

1. Enable the Search bar as described above.
2. On the Search bar, click the search category you want to use. You can choose from the following categories:
   
   
   • Find a Web Page: Use this option to search for Web pages on the Internet. To find a Web page, click Find A Web Page, type some keywords, and then click Search. Click Next to search using a different search provider or click New to clear the current search results.
   • Find a Person's Address: Use this option to search for a person's mailing or e-mail address using either the Bigfoot or Infospace search providers. To find a person's mailing or e-mail address, click Find A Person's Address, and then click either Mailing Address or E-mail Address in the Search For box. Type your keywords, and then click Search. Click Next to search using a different search provider or click New to clear the current search results.
   • Find a Company/Organization: Use this option to search for information about companies and organizations using the Infoseek search provider. To find company information, click Find A Company/Organization, type your keywords, and then click Search.
   • Previous Searches: Use this option to display a list of links to your previous ten searches from any of the search categories. To run one of your previous searches, click the link in the list. To clear the list of searches, click Clear.
   • Find a Map: Use this option to find maps on the Microsoft Expedia Web site. To find a map, click Find A Map, click Address or Place Or Landmark in the Search For list box, type your keywords, and then click Search.
   • Find in Encyclopedia: Use this option to find encyclopedia articles on the Microsoft Encarta Concise Encyclopedia Web site. To find an article, click More, click Find In Encyclopedia, type your keywords, and then click Search.
   • Find in Newsgroup: Use this option to find newsgroup articles using the Dejanews search provider. To find a newsgroup article, click More, click Find In Newsgroups, type your keywords, and then click Search. Click New to clear the current search results.

How to Customize the Search Assistant Settings

You can customize a variety of search options in the Search Assistant. To customize the Search Assistant, enable the Search bar as described in the How to Enable, Disable, and Resize the Search Bar section of this article, and then click Customize. You can choose from the following options:

• Add and remove search categories: Use this option to add or remove categories from the Search Assistant. To add or remove categories, click the check box next to a category to select or clear it, and then click Update.
• Change the order of the search categories: Use this option to change the order of categories in the Search Assistant. To change the order of categories, click a category in the "Select the order of your chosen categories" box. Click the Up or Down arrows below the box to move the category to the appropriate position, and then click Update.
• Add or remove search providers within each category: Use this option to add or remove individual search providers within each category. To add or remove a search providers in a category, click the check box for the search provider to select or clear it, and then click Update.
• Change the order of search providers within a category: Use this option to change the order of search providers within a category. To change the order of search providers within a category, click the search provider in the category box. Click the Up or Down arrows below the box until the provider is in the appropriate position, and then click Update.
• Choose to use one search provider: Use this option to choose a specific search provider to use instead of the Search Assistant. To do so, click Choose A Default Search Provider on the Customize Search Settings Web page. Click the search provider you want to use in the Search bar or, click Search Assistant to restore it as the default search provider.