How can I make XP SP3 Search work like SP2 version?
HEMI-Powered
I recently bought a new Sony Vaio laptop which had the option of
"downgrading" to Windows XP. I wanted that because I didn't want
Vista. The version of XP is SP3, of course.
The "new" XP Search function drives me bananas! Perhaps it is a real
improvement to many, but to me, it is excessively complicated when
all I want is a basic HDD file search capability.
Is there ANY way to make the XP SP3 Search function start up in the
same way as the "old" SP2 Search works?
I can get there by going to the animated character modifier and
playing around, but I can't find a way to KEEP the Search screen
format looking like the SP2 version the next time I launch Search.
BTW, I can see that the entire function has been rewritten just by
the way it is launched. The switch "/launchwindow" follows the
executable, unlike SP2's target of just "&Search". Of course, I have
tried that on the Sony but it doesn't work.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
--
Jerry, aka HP
"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less: A Handbook for Slashing Gas Prices
and Solving Our Energy Crisis" - Newt Gingrich
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PA Bear [MS MVP]
HEMI-Powered
jour ...
> Uninstall Windows (Desktop) Search maybe?
Thank you, but a) I neither know how to uninstall search nor do I
want to b) I just want the NEW Search Companion to work like the
one did in SP2.
Here's the deal:
The ENTIRE appearance of the Search Companion has changed. The ONLY
way I've found so far to bring up the OLD style Search Results
window (which is all there is in SP2) is to click on the Animated
Search Character at the bottom of the search list. That brings up
the Search Results window which looks just like SP2.
My question is HOW to I LAUNCH the NEW SP3 Search Companion to
ALWAYS go immediately to the Search Results window? It is FAR
easier and faster to use and includes the many Advanced features of
the tool.
Yes, I'd looked at the MS help for both the Search Companion and
the Search Results window. Believe it or not, it APPEARS that MS
doesn't know - by the instructions in Help - that anything has
changed in SP3!
This is seemingly pretty simple to comprehend but VERY frustrating
to find via Google, Search Help, or even the MS KB search engine.
Care to try another idea for fixing this, please? Thanks.
--
Jerry, aka HP
"Efficiency is doing things right, effectiveness is doing the right
things" - Peter Drucker
HEMI-Powered
jour ...
> Uninstall Windows (Desktop) Search maybe?
Let me try again:
Did you mean UNinstall the SP3 Search Companion and INstall the SP3
one?
I just learned a few minutes ago that MS in their infinite wisdom,
upgraded the Search Companion from version 3.0 to 4.0 when SP3 was
released. I see that it IS possible to get the 3.0 version from MS as
a download that will run on XP.
Assuming this is what you meant, MUST I use Add/Remove programs to
UNinstall the current 4.0 version BEFORE INstalling 3.0 from the
download? Or, are will they peacefully coexist.
Thanks. And, I apologize for not understanding your short reply.
--
PA Bear [MS MVP]
> one?
No.
Is Windows Desktop Search listed in Add/Remove Programs? [yes/no]
Does WinKey+F bring up the interface you want?
Daave
> Hi, All.
>
> I recently bought a new Sony Vaio laptop which had the option of
> "downgrading" to Windows XP. I wanted that because I didn't want
> Vista. The version of XP is SP3, of course.
>
> The "new" XP Search function drives me bananas! Perhaps it is a real
> improvement to many, but to me, it is excessively complicated when
> all I want is a basic HDD file search capability.
>
> Is there ANY way to make the XP SP3 Search function start up in the
> same way as the "old" SP2 Search works?
>
> I can get there by going to the animated character modifier and
> playing around, but I can't find a way to KEEP the Search screen
> format looking like the SP2 version the next time I launch Search.
>
> BTW, I can see that the entire function has been rewritten just by
> the way it is launched. The switch "/launchwindow" follows the
> executable, unlike SP2's target of just "&Search". Of course, I have
> tried that on the Sony but it doesn't work.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated
I will try to clear up your confusion. :-)
First of all, there is no such thing as "the SP3 Search Companion" (as
you named it in another post). You are undoubtedly referring to Windows
Search 4.0 for Windows XP (KB940157). This obnoxious component (which is
optional) can be applied to either XP SP2 or XP SP3. It may easily be
uninstalled by using Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel. (Just
make sure the box next to Show Updates is checked.)
HEMI-Powered
jour ...
>> Did you mean UNinstall the SP3 Search Companion and INstall the
>> SP3 one?
>
> No.
>
> Is Windows Desktop Search listed in Add/Remove Programs?
> [yes/no]
YES.
>
> Does WinKey+F bring up the interface you want?
Don't know what that is, but after I wrote the post you're replying
to, I discovered that the SP1/SP2 version of the Search Companion was
dubbed 3.0, actually 3.01. But, the NEW one I'm complaining about is
v4.0. Somebody at Redmond must've decided that this simple, easy,
fast, powerful tool needed the magic of Windoze - namely the "doze"
part.
My later post about 3.0 vs 4.0 is actually below your comments.
Right now, I'm left with TWO options, as I see it right now:
1) just ignore the whole damn thing - it's my wife's new PC, she
never uses Search and when I need it to help her with some problem, I
can probably muddle through the few extra steps and windows.
But, I don't like knuckling under like that, so ...
2) find a way to get rid of 4.0 and put 3.0 on. My first blush would
be to use Add/Remove Programs to UNinstall Search Companion 4.0. Easy
enough. But, I am unclear as to what happens to Windows without this
function. IF Windoze survives, I MIGHT be able to successfully
INstall the 3.0 version I found on the MS KB and "rescue" the whole
mess.
Forget 1). For 2), Is it SAFE to dump SC 4.0 and INstall 3.01?
Thanks and have a nice upcoming week!
HEMI-Powered
[snip all my own old testimony]
> I will try to clear up your confusion. :-)
>
> First of all, there is no such thing as "the SP3 Search
> Companion" (as you named it in another post). You are
> undoubtedly referring to Windows Search 4.0 for Windows XP
> (KB940157). This obnoxious component (which is optional) can be
> applied to either XP SP2 or XP SP3. It may easily be uninstalled
> by using Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel. (Just make
> sure the box next to Show Updates is checked.)
>
You are right, it IS 4.0, which I discoverd after I wrote the OP
and which I corrected in a post yesterday. As to "there is no such
thing as the SP3 Search Companion", perhaps there is a semantics
problem here. I suppose that 4.0 COULD and IS applied to SP2, but I
saw it for the first time in SP3 hence my terminology. Please allow
me to apologize for being technically incorrect.
IF XP Pro SP2 used 3.0 (actually, 3.01 as I found out) and SP3 uses
4.0 (on my PC at least), to my tender eyes and ears, this is a NEW
version of the Search Companion. It is beyond annoying why Bill the
Gates would pull bullshit like this when a Service Pack is only
SUPPOSED to be a fully tested compendium of PAST critical patches,
various hundreds of bug fixes, etc., and NOT a way to slipstream in
new versions of selected items. But, Bill took advantage of SP3's
hysteria to try to foist IE7 or IE8 on us.
In my case, Bill succeeded: My version of IE is 7 and from reading
a couple of MS KB articles, I see that with a pre-installed version
of XP (which is like when I "downgraded" using the XP install
discs) that it is IMpossible to "downgrade" back to IE6. Again,
this is total bullshit, but I'll just let it pass because there's
nothing I can do about it.
So, the current question, clarified in your post here, is HOW do I
get rid of Search Companion 4.0 SAFELY and INstall 3.0? I have the
download for 3.0 from the same KB article, but I'm not sure what
happens when Add/Remove Programs dumps 4.0. Does Windows fall over
or can it continue to run until 3.01 is INstalled.
SC Tom
search, which, I believe, is what you are searching for :-) You don't have
to reinstall anything.
SC Tom
"HEMI-Powered" <no...@none.gn> wrote in message
news:Xns9CC4E347596...@216.196.97.131...
Shenan Stanley
> I recently bought a new Sony Vaio laptop which had the option of
> "downgrading" to Windows XP. I wanted that because I didn't want
> Vista. The version of XP is SP3, of course.
>
> The "new" XP Search function drives me bananas! Perhaps it is a real
> improvement to many, but to me, it is excessively complicated when
> all I want is a basic HDD file search capability.
>
> Is there ANY way to make the XP SP3 Search function start up in the
> same way as the "old" SP2 Search works?
>
> I can get there by going to the animated character modifier and
> playing around, but I can't find a way to KEEP the Search screen
> format looking like the SP2 version the next time I launch Search.
>
> BTW, I can see that the entire function has been rewritten just by
> the way it is launched. The switch "/launchwindow" follows the
> executable, unlike SP2's target of just "&Search". Of course, I have
> tried that on the Sony but it doesn't work.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated
Windows Desktop Search is not part of Windows XP SP3. It's a separate
download/install. Remove it. See if you like doing without it. Many
people do. I know I do on the Windows XP machines I manage.
Try Control Panel --> Add or Remove Programs first. If - as step one of the
below says - it is not found there... Continue with the methods found below.
http://www.davidarno.org/2008/08/22/how-to-remove-windows-desktop-search-...-revisited/
Good luck.
--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
PA Bear [MS MVP]
HEMI-Powered
> If you uninstall Windows Desktop Search, you will be back to
> Windows default search, which, I believe, is what you are
> searching for :-) You don't have to reinstall anything.
That's GREAT news, Tom! Now, can you please explain WHY there would
be TWO "search" functions on the same computer, apparently the
current Search Companion 4.0 which is the default as I started the
computer in XP Pro SP3, and ALSO Search Companion 3.o that is
somehow "lurking" on the HDD someplace?
Ordinarily, I would think that Add/Remove Programs would kill
Search Companion altogether, I've never heard of a situation where
an OLDER verion replaces it.
Is this "peculiar" (to me!) situation because SC 4.0 was ADDED in
SP3? As I've learned from others, apparently it was possible to
upgrade to 4.0 even while still on SP2 (as I am with my own desktop
PC). As you can tell, this is ALL very confusing to me and I'm
trying my best to understand it in case something goes bump in the
night after I UNinstll SC 4.0
Again, thanks for your coments and simple fix to my dillema!
HEMI-Powered
jour ...
> Uninstall Windows (Desktop) Search via Add/Remove Programs &
> reboot.
Bear, are you recommending the same thing as SC Tom is, namely that
deleting Search Companion 4.0 via Add/Remove programs will revert
to the older version 3.0 which is still on my HDD, but hidden from
view?
I appreciate you comments and advice, I hope you can understand why
I want to uderstand what's going on because short advice to
"uninstall and reboot" SOUNDS dangerous to me. Thanks for your
understanding of my reticence.
--
Daave
> PA Bear [MS MVP] added these comments in the current discussion du
> jour ...
>
>> reboot.
>
> Bear, are you recommending the same thing as SC Tom is, namely that
> deleting Search Companion 4.0 via Add/Remove programs will revert
> to the older version 3.0 which is still on my HDD, but hidden from
> view?
>
> I appreciate you comments and advice, I hope you can understand why
> I want to uderstand what's going on because short advice to
> "uninstall and reboot" SOUNDS dangerous to me. Thanks for your
> understanding of my reticence.
Why would uninstalling an optional program or update you don't want
sound dangerous to you?!
Just do it! :-)
FWIW, If you upgrade IE7 to IE8 and for some reason wish to revert to
IE7, uninstalling IE8 does just that. Same principle.
If you are truly scared/paranoid, why not image your hard drive (which
is a good idea anyway)? This way, *everything* is backed up -- the
Windows XP OS and all its updates and settings, all the installed
programs in their current configurations, and of course, all your data,
including e-mails, browser favorites, etc. If the uninstall goes bad,
merely restore the image and you're back where you were.
Roy Smith
It's not dangerous, the reason for the reboot after the uninstall is to
remove some system files that are no longer needed and were in use when
you did the uninstall.
--
Roy Smith
Windows XP Pro SP3
HEMI-Powered
>>> Uninstall Windows (Desktop) Search via Add/Remove Programs &
>>> reboot.
>>
>> I appreciate you comments and advice, I hope you can understand
>> why I want to uderstand what's going on because short advice to
>> "uninstall and reboot" SOUNDS dangerous to me. Thanks for your
>> understanding of my reticence.
>
> Why would uninstalling an optional program or update you don't
> want sound dangerous to you?!
Quite simple: Add/Remove Programs, whether the regular apps and
utilities or the Remove Windows Components is DANGEROUS because one
could unknowingly allow the utility to remove a KEY component that
Windoze requires just to run or perform certain functions.
Ordinarily, I set System RPs before I do this kind of thing for
safety, but as I've seen today trying to roll my system back to
UNdo whatever changed MY desktop PC is alarming ways and found that
at least THREE RPs cannot be successfully used by the System
Restore Function. That's why I tend to view stuff I don't
understand as "dangerous" or at least "potentially dangerous."
> Just do it! :-)
>
> FWIW, If you upgrade IE7 to IE8 and for some reason wish to
> revert to IE7, uninstalling IE8 does just that. Same principle.
>
THAT I DO understand and FULLY believe! In the case of the Sony
VAIO I'm talking about here, I "downgrade" to XP from Vista but the
XP that was installed already had SP3 installed in it's image, so I
CANNOT "downgrade" from the IE7 it comes with to IE6, or so I've
read in an MS KB article on the subject.
> If you are truly scared/paranoid, why not image your hard drive
> (which is a good idea anyway)?
I am scared AND paranoid - can you tell?! <grin> I DO image my HDD
frequently using Acronis True Image 7.0, which IS reliable but I'm
hardly going to go through all the work and hassle of a full
restore of an image of the entire partition just to undo a minor
UNinstall. Let's just call this part of my "paranoia", OK?
This way, *everything* is backed
> up -- the Windows XP OS and all its updates and settings, all
> the installed programs in their current configurations, and of
> course, all your data, including e-mails, browser favorites,
> etc. If the uninstall goes bad, merely restore the image and
> you're back where you were.
>
Yes, I understand all of this. I Already back-up my OE6 .dbx files
for each of it's folders, manually, so they can be reasily restored
by Importing them. Ditto for my address book. However, it CAN
happen (as it just did on my own desktop PC) that things go bump in
the night and all these brilliant backup schemes become testy at
best and flat-ass fail at worse.
I'll be starting another thread about the Files and Settings
Transfer Wizard that JUST stopped working yesterday on MY PC.
AFAIK, NOTHING was changed, updated, or deleted on my system, and I
HAVE successfully used it most recently in mid-Octobober, but I
can't today. Still working on that one!
>
Thanks for your observations, comments, and advice. Please try to
cut people like me a little slack on what WE consider "dangerous"
activities. It isn't that I'm paranoid by nature, I've been doing
this for a long time, back to DOS and Win 3.1, so I KNOW the really
horrendous problems that can arise from seemingly benign
operations. As, I'm sure you have also. In this case, I have a
strong tendency to take your word for it because I get the feeling
that YOU have personal experience that your advice WORKS.
Have a good week!
SC Tom
Think of Windows Desktop Search as a program overlay, or a "skin." By
removing the overlay, you're getting to the base program. WDS is not really
a replacement per se, but was intended to be more of a "companion" to the
original search engine, although it doesn't seem that way.
SC Tom
"HEMI-Powered" <no...@none.gn> wrote in message
news:Xns9CC580B70DC...@216.196.97.131...
PA Bear [MS MVP]
deleting) Windows Desktop Search via Add/Remove Programs.
WTF Windows Desktop Search v2.0 was pushed to WinXP computers via Windows
Update in the first place, I'll never know.
HEMI-Powered
>
> Think of Windows Desktop Search as a program overlay, or a
> "skin." By removing the overlay, you're getting to the base
> program. WDS is not really a replacement per se, but was
> intended to be more of a "companion" to the original search
> engine, although it doesn't seem that way.
>
Good metaphor, Tom.
It's obvious by my naive comments and questions that I'm not a
technical expert on Windows, and certainly not on the intracacies
of SP3.
Certainly I believe those who politely told me to just uninstall
Search 4.0, yet I think this is the FIRST time I've EVER seen MS or
any developer automatically revert to the previous version of some
tool by just UNinstalling the newer one.
What I was going to do is uninstall 4.0 and INstall 3.0 that I
downloaded from MS. Your solution and others is FAR more elegant in
it's simplicity.
Many thanks.
HEMI-Powered
jour ...
> I dunno what SC Tom recommended. I'm recommending
> *uninstalling* (not deleting) Windows Desktop Search via
> Add/Remove Programs.
I'm sure I mis-stated the whole thing, but let me comment/ask it this
way:
MY current understanding of Add/REmove Programs is that it ONLY
allows "Remove" in general but depending on the app or component, it
often also offers "Change." "Remove" to me sounds a whole lot like
"delete" but to a technical person, I imagine it really means
"UNinstall."
Sorry for my bad.
> WTF Windows Desktop Search v2.0 was pushed to WinXP computers
> via Windows Update in the first place, I'll never know.
I started with XP Pro as it was first released. I was anxious to get
rid of Win 98. Then SP1 came along, and I installed that AFTER
waiting for the early bugs to get squashed. Ditto with SP2. I'm still
laying back with SP3 on my PC, the Sony VAIO laptop in question here
is what I bought to replace my wife's old desktop.
Until I tried the 4.0 Search on the Sony, I had ALWAYS used just the
Advanced version of XP Search. I honestly don't recall specific
updates/upgrades to the version numbers. I pay close attention to
those monthly update hits but I must've missed this one.
Thanks and have a happy Sunday!
--