Bad Dog!

What This Does

This little registry hack will let you choose between the annoying and slow XP Search Companion and the great Windows 2000 Search Engine - of course, if you are using an indexing program like Google Desktop Search, you wont need this hack.

Before you start, please read this important information on editing your system’s registry.

We need to open the Registry Editor, type: Windows Key+R, > regedit > OK

Navigate to:
HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState
Select CabinetState, right-click inside the right-side pane and select New and then String Value.

New String

Name this new value: “Use Search Asst” and press Enter.

Double click this new string and, in the Value Data field, enter:

no

No Thanks!

Click the OK button.

Now, right-click the CabitentState key and select Export. Name the file you are exporting “Disable Search Companion”, and make sure the Selected Branch Option button is selected. Close the Registry Editor.

Open the Disable Search Companion Registry entry (the one you just saved) in Notepad and find the line “Use Search Asst = no”. Change that value to “yes”, all in lowercase. Save this entry as “Enable Search Companion”.

Doing this, allows you to choose between the Search Companion and the 2000 Search. Double clicking either takes effect immediately – no reboot required! If you don’t want the option, double click the Disable Search Companion file, the following dialog will open:

Click the “Yes” and “OK” buttons in the dialog boxes and delete the files you have made!

All done!