Clarification of Answer by
tar_heel_v-ga
on
31 Jan 2003 17:16 PST
cass1234..
Thanks for your question. Here are the instructions, as found on
://www.google.com/options/defaults.html
"Netscape Communicator
For Netscape 4.0 - 4.7, it is possible to search by entering '?
<search terms>' in the URL box instead of a URL. You can set the
search engine used in this case by directly editing the prefs file.
This can be dangerous! See the Unofficial Netscape FAQ at
http://www.ufaq.org/commonly/userprefs.html for more details.
Before starting, quit any copies of Netscape that may be running.
For Windows: To edit the prefs file, use Notepad to load
...\Netscape\Users\{username}\prefs.js. ("..." is probably the
"Programs" folder.)
For Macintosh: To edit the prefs file, use SimpleText or equivalent to
load ...:preferences:netscape f:netscape preferences. ("..." is your
system folder.)
For UNIX: Edit the file .netscape/preferences.js in your home
directory.
Once you've loaded the preferences file, add the following line to the
end of the file:
user_pref("network.search.url", "://www.google.com/keyword/");
Don't forget to hit <enter> at the end of the line!
Internet Explorer
For Windows: Download the file found at
://www.google.com/google.reg to make Google the default search
engine for Internet Explorer versions 4.0 - 6.0. (Note: you will need
Administrator privileges on your computer in order to install this
file.)
The "search" button will bring up a Google search box down the left
side of your browser.
The "Search The Web" menu option from the "Go" menu will take you to
Google. For IE4 only, you can type '? <search terms>' in the URL box
instead of a URL, and it will perform the search.
When you click on the above link, IE will ask you whether to open or
to save the file. Select "open" to immediately make the changes (i.e.,
to make Google your default search engine for the actions described
above). Select "save," and then look at the file under Notepad, if
you'd rather examine what the file does first. Be aware that you will
probably have to reboot your system to make the change go into effect
(even if your computer does not tell you so).
By default, Google will show results in the search channel window,
leaving the main window for browsing. If you prefer seeing the search
results in the main window, try the file found at
://www.google.com/google_rsearch.reg instead.
If you change your mind, go to ://www.google.com/default.reg and
this will set the search engine back to the original Internet Explorer
default.
If you previously had your default search engine for Internet Explorer
set to be Google, then you upgraded your Internet Explorer version and
now find that Google is no longer your default search engine, don't
panic! Just download the conversion file again to set Google as the
default search engine for your new Internet Explorer version.
For Macintosh: Visa Kopu has described how to set up IE 5 to launch
Google in the sidebar at http://www.visakopu.net/ie5google/ Looks
dangerously cool! (Note: does not work with Mac OS X.)"
Thanks again for your question and I hope that my answer has been
helpful. If you need any additional clarification, please let me know
prior to rating my answer.
Regards,
-THV
