Did you know that IE7’s built-in search box can be used with just about any web site? The only site, or "search provider," that is included by default is Windows Live Search. However, if you click on the down arrow to the right of the search box, you will see an option to "Find More Providers." This will take you to a Microsoft web site that has lots of pre-defined third party search providers including Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, Microsoft.com and many more.

This same page includes instructions for creating your very own custom search providers. Essentially, any site that has a Search box on it can be used to create a custom search provider. So, you could search Lanlogic.net’s KB, Microsoft Support, TechNet blogs, Google Groups, Experts Exchange, or your favorite video game message board.

To get started with creating your custom search provider, following these simple instructions:

1. Go to the web site that you want to create a custom search provider for
2. Find the Search box on the site, and enter the word TEST (in all capital letters) and press Enter
3. Copy the URL that contains the search results for TEST
4. Go to the Microsoft custom search provider web site and paste the URL into the box on the right side of the screen
5. Specify a name for your custom search provider where prompted and click on the Install button
6. Click OK or Yes when prompted to install the custom search provider (you can also choose to make this your default search provider)
7. Go search! If you click on the down arrow to the right of the search box within IE7, you should now see your custom search provider listed

Keep in mind that this will work for most web sites. Some web sites that run database applications may not provide you with a custom URL when you execute a search query. One workaround for this would be to use the search engine of your choice to search the site. So, if you wanted to search the Lanlogic.net Knowledge Base, you could simply go to Google and type TEST site:lanlogic.net/support/docs. This would provide you with a custom URL for the necessary search string, and you could then use this URL to create a custom search provider for the Lanlogic.net Knowledge Base by using Google.

Here are some additional URLs for sites that I use:

Microsoft Support:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?query=TEST&catalog=LCID%3D1033&spid=&qryWt=&mode=r&cus=False&x=17&y=10

Microsoft TechNet Blogs:
http://blogs.technet.com/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=TEST&o=Relevance

Microsoft Exchange Team blog:
http://msexchangeteam.com/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=TEST

Happy searching!