Chapter 24: Browsing the World Wide Web with Internet Explorer

Searching for Web Pages

Internet Explorer gives you three ways to search the Web: Simple convenient searches can be done from the Address box; more complex searches using a variety of search engines are possible from the Search Companion Explorer bar; and you can always do your searches from the Web site of whatever search engine you like.

Searching from the Address Box

The simplest way to search the Web is to type a question mark followed by a word or phrase into the Address box and press ENTER. (Be sure to leave a space after the question mark.) By default, Internet Explorer uses the MSN search engine for Address bar searches, but you can choose a different default from the Search Companion Explorer Bar.

Using the Search Explorer Bar

The Search Companion Explorer bar allows you to search not just for Web pages, but for addresses, businesses, maps, words, pictures, and newsgroups. It is the same Explorer bar that you use to search for files and folders with Windows Explorer. The general aspects of the Search Companion Explorer bar are discussed in Chapter 8.

To look for a Web page, type a question or some keywords into the What Are You Looking For box and click the Search button in the Explorer bar.

Changing Internet Explorer's Default Search Engines

By default, Internet Explorer uses the MSN search engine for searches from either the Address box or the Explorer bar. You can change search engines as follows from the Search Companion Explorer bar. Click the Change Preferences button and then Change Internet Search Behavior. Click With Classic Internet Search and choose a new search engine from the list (we recommend Google).

No matter what search engine Internet Explorer wants to use, you can always go to the Web site of your favorite search engine and use it directly--we like http://google.com.