Simple Search In XP

If you use the Windows XP search function enough, you’ve probably come to dislike the way it’s set up.  Windows 2000 had a much simpler search interface that didn’t involve clicking around on menus or having to deal with the little dog avatar.

If you don’t already have this installed, download and install TweakUI.  This tool gives you access to all sorts of options for XP that aren’t available by default in the user interface (or are, but have a convoluted way of getting to them).

Once installed, Click on the “Explorer” menu on the left side, and in the “Settings” panel, check the option that says “Use Classic Search in Explorer”.  Hit OK and you’re done!

You can either click on the search function on the Start menu, or press the key combination Windows key + F.

(Originally published on pcmech.com)