Using Start Menu Search

Start Menu Search has been enhanced significantly in Windows 7 compared with how it was implemented in Windows Vista. These numerous enhancements now make Start Menu Search a universal entry point that users can use to find programs, settings, and files quickly and easily.

For example, in Windows Vista, the results from Start Menu Search were hard-coded into four groups: Programs, Favorites And History, Communications, and Files. Beginning with Windows 7, however, these groups have changed to include Control Panel, Libraries, and all indexed locations, with Programs and Control Panel having the highest priority and with Favorites And History and Communications removed altogether. For example, Start Menu Search for the string remote that returns two programs, several Control Panel items, and a number of documents and other types of files.

Clicking a group heading now returns all search results for that group. For example clicking the Documents heading opens Windows Explorer and displays the search results returned from the Documents library for this search string.

Using the Start menu is now the best way to find a particular Control Panel setting quickly. For example, if you want to change the display settings on your computer, simply type display in the Start Menu Search box, and the setting you are looking for is usually one of the results listed. Items listed in the Control Panel group of Start Menu Search results include not only Control Panel utilities, such as the Display applet, but also Control Panel actions, such as Change Display Settings. This enhancement makes using Start Menu Search a much faster way to find configuration settings for your computer than browsing Control Panel.

Clicking the Documents heading returns all documents that contain the string remote in the file name or document contents. Searching how to change display settings using Start Menu Search

Re-scope links can be displayed at the bottom of the Start Menu Search results to allow users to re-scope their search to other locations quickly. The re-scope link See More Results is pinned by default, and clicking this link opens Windows Explorer and reruns the query against all indexed locations. Up to three additional re-scope links can be pinned to the Start menu using Group Policy. You can pin the following types of re-scope links:

• Search The Internet Reruns the query using the default Web browser and the default search engine
• Custom Library link Reruns the query against the specified library using Windows Explorer
• Search connector link Reruns the query against the specified federated location via a search connector using Windows Explorer
• Custom Internet search site link Reruns the query against a specified Internet or intranet site that supports the OpenSearch standard using the default Web browser

The following Group Policy settings are new in Windows 7 and are used to pin or unpin re-scope links to the Start menu:

• Add Search Internet Link To Start Menu Allows users to re-scope searches to their default Internet search engine when searching from the Start menu. This policy setting is found in the following location:
  User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Start Menu And Taskbar
• Pin Internet Search Sites To The "Search Again" Links And The Start Menu Allows users to resend searches to customized Internet or intranet sites from Windows Explorer and the Start menu. This policy setting is found in the following location:
  User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer
• Pin Library And Search Connectors To The "Search Again" Links And The Start Menu Allows users to re-scope searches to customized Library or Search Connector locations from Windows Explorer and the Start menu. This policy setting is found in the following location:
  User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer
• Remove See More Results/Search Everywhere Link Hides the See More Results/ Search Everywhere link on the Start menu. This policy setting is found in the following location:
  User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Start Menu And Taskbar

More Info For additional information on how Start Menu Search works in Windows 7 and the groups of results that can be displayed, see the Windows Search, Browse, and Organize Administrator's Guide found on Microsoft TechNet at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744681.aspx.