Windows 7: Dave's Quick Search Installed on W7 7100 64 bit

FYI: For the DQSD lovers...

I had to jump through some hoops to do it but I have installed Dave's Quick Search Desktop taskbar search tool on Window 7 RC 7100 64 bit.

I have not tested EVERY feature of DQSD (I don't us many of them) but all the basics are there.

If anyone is interested let me know.

Update 08/23/2011 - Installation instructions as written apply to Vista 64-bit as well. - Muad Dib

Windows 8 Update 03/11/2013 - Installation instructions as written apply to Windows 8 64-bit as well with one exception. Windows 8 dropped Aero and the DQSD Color Scheme choices now provide only solid color choices that do not adapt to Windows 8 desktop colors. There was a color scheme adapted for Vista/Windows 7 Aero but that will now display a black background. The DQSD theme is defined by a CSS file. As of this writing no solution has come forward. - Muad Dib

PLEASE, this is my most favorite tool!

I apologize for not getting to this sooner, I was sidetracked for a day or so.

Here it is.....

Most of the steps listed are to avoid some Windows 7 security checks without disabling them. The major steps are provided, not every mouse click or Windows UAC "Confirm this step" message.

There is no entry in "Programs and Features" to remove/uninstall DQSDx64. As a result It can be difficult to remove DQSD to re-install if the installation screws up. Please do not omit any steps.

If the installation has javascript errors in the CLOCK.JS for whatever reason, it is virtually impossible to delete the install folder in order to start over/reinstall, even when booting to SAFE MODE. That is the why the RESTORE POINT step is important. If the install fails - you can restore your system. Should an error crop up in the future and an uninstall is needed, the only thing I can think of off-hand is to boot to a command prompt and delete the installation folder manually.

Note that the DQSD installation as listed survived an upgrade from RC 7100 to 7127 just fine - no need to re-install on upgrade.


The installation/configuration has three sections:

A) Installation.
B) Enabling DQSD Menu access to DQSD configuration files and script execution.
C) Forcing (hacking) DQSD to use Internet Explorer 32 bit to gain Adobe Flash Player functionality.

These instructions assume an installation on the C:\ drive or partition. Please adjust as needed.

A) INSTALLATION

1) Download the dqsdx64-4100-beta.zip package to a location on your hard disk you will remember. The URL is:

SourceForge.net: Dave's Quick Search Deskbar: Files


2) Right click the dqsdx64-4100-beta.zip package and select Properties. At the bottom of the dialog there may be a message:

"Security: This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer"

Click the "Unblock" button. Click "Apply" then close the Properties dialog.

3) Repeat Step 2 above and VERIFY THAT THERE IS NO SECURITY MESSAGE!

4) Create a temporary folder for easy Command Window access - I.E. C:\Temp. Unzip the dqsdx64-4100-beta.zip file (keeping folder names) into C:\Temp.

5) Navigate to C:\Temp\DQSDx64. Check a couple of ".JS" files and verify that the files do not have the "Security" message in their Properties (see step 2).

6) Create a new desktop shortcut - Target: CMD.EXE; Name "Command Window"

7) CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT. IF THE INSTALLATION FAILS THE
DQSD CLOCK SCRIPT ERROR WILL MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO REMOVE DQSD. THE EASIEST "FIX" IS TO DO A SYSTEM RESTORE BACK TO THIS RESTORE POINT.

8) Right click the Command Window shortcut created in step 6 and click "Run as Administrator"

9) In the command window navigate to the installation folder "C:\Temp\DQSDx64" (or where the Unzipped files are).

10) Type SETUPX64.CMD - follow the prompts. Close the Command Window.

11) When install is complete, with no errors (Hope!) you will have to right click the taskbar and select Toolbars twice before Quick Search appears.

NOTE: Turning the Quick Search Toolbar Off by right clicking the Taskbar>Tools option WILL FAIL and cause an Explorer restart UNLESS the Taskbar is LOCKED.

Don’t ask me why, that is for the developers.

If you want to turn the Quick Search Toolbar on or off then first LOCK the Taskbar (a MUST if you want to turn it OFF!).

If you are turning it ON - first lock the Taskbar, turn it on and then unlock the Taskbar to adjust the size, etc.

B) ENABLING MENU ACCESS TO DQSD CONFIGURATION FILES AND SCRIPT EXECUTION

This will allow the configuration files to be modified from the DQSD Menu options.

1) Open/navigate to a window to C:\Program Files folder.
2) Right Click the Quick Search Deskbar folder and select Properties.
3) Click the Security tab and then click the "Edit..." button.
4) In the upper Group or User Names box select the USERS group.
5) In the lower Permissions for Users box click on the "Full" Control button. All permission buttons except Special Permissions should be clicked "ON"
6) Click Apply and close the windows.

This will allow script execution on the local computer.

1) Go to Control Panel>Internet Options>Advanced.
2) Scroll down to Security.
3) Check the box "Allow active content to run in files on My Computer".
4) Click Apply, exit and restart any open IE windows.

C) FORCING (HACKING) DQSD TO USE INTERNET EXPLORER 32 BIT TO GAIN ADOBE FLASH PLAYER, ETC FUNCTIONALITY

If you are NOT using Internet Explorer (FireFox, Opera, etc) skip this step.

Windows 7 has both IE 32 bit and 64 bit installed. Because many add-ons are not 64 bit compatible (yet) Windows 7 will default to using IE 32 bit.

However DQSD, as coded, will start IE 64 bit. This is particularly troublesome because there is no 64 bit Adobe Flash Player - yet.

This HACK will force DQSD to start IE 32 bit.

1) Navigate to C:\PROGRAM FILES\QUICK SEARCH DESKBAR.
2) Make a copy of TOOLS.JS as a backup.
3) Edit TOOLS.JS (Notepad is fine).
4) Locate the "browserPath" statement.
5) Make the following changes - the changes are in BOLD.

OLD
browserPath = DQSDLauncher.pathDefaultBrowser;
if (launchmode != 0 && browserPath.toLowerCase().indexOf("iexplore.exe") > 0) useExternalBrowser = false;

NEW
browserPath = "\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe";
if (launchmode != 0 && browserPath.toLowerCase().indexOf("iexplore.exe") > 0) useExternalBrowser = true;

6) Save the changes and exit the editor.
7) On the DQSD taskbar entry field enter "!" - without the quotes and press ENTER.

That is it! I hope I have covered all the critical points.

Happy searching!


ADDENDUM FOR REGISTRY CLEANERS

The DQSD installation will create several registry entries in the HKCR hive. For reasons I can't explain the CCleaner v2.19 registry scan will detect those entries as candidates for removal. Needless to say this will cause DQSD to fail.

Any HKCR|DQSDTools..... registry entries detected by a registry cleaner need to be excluded from detection and removal. This includes:

HKCR|DQSDTools.DeskBand
HKCR|DQSDTools.Launcher
HKCR|DQSDTools.MenuBuilder

For CCleaner they should be added to the Exclude option list. Ensure that your preferred registry does not "clean" them either.


ADDENDUM FOR DQSD THEME APPEARANCE/READABILITY

There are some Vista specific themes in the C:\Program Files\Quick Search Deskbar\themes\vista folder with an explanation in the readme file.

Read that and make sure you are using the one of the 2 Vista themes (widescreen has bigger fonts).

The readability depends on the Vista/Windows 7 desktop color and/or the transparency setting in Aero. It uses white text so darker desktops/less transparency works best.

Windows 8 Update 03/11/2013 - Installation instructions as written apply to Windows 8 64-bit as well with one exception. Windows 8 dropped Aero and the DQSD Color Scheme choices now provide only solid color choices that do not adapt to Windows 8 desktop colors. There was a color scheme adapted for Vista/Windows 7 Aero but that will now display a black background. The DQSD theme is defined by a CSS file. As of this writing no solution has come forward. - Muad Dib



ADDENDUM FOR SEAMONKEY WEB BROWSER USERS

For SEAMONKEY users with NOSCRIPT installed only. Thanks to NeilSwartz for the find.


EDIT By OP: Recently used on new system. Instructions still valid 3/01/2012.

Thank you very much for your time, really appreciate it!

As a matter of fact I think I found your older post in the DQSD forums archives (over sourceforge.net) and I followed your instructions to a "t" except for Adobe Flash hack.

My results were as follows:
* installation instructions are perfect. two times - not a hiccup
* Restore point really saves ass...
* unfortunately NONE of my original shortcuts (mostly http links) worked All led to weird IE errors, after which restore was the only option
* "menu" links, however, worked just fine
* assuming shortcuts would woork - for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to "dock" dqsd toolbar on the left - that's where I like it... Not a biggy, but annoying.. Is it Windows 7 thingie?

Once again, appreciate your time!

I'm not sure which shortcuts you are referring to. Are they custom shortcuts you created? The "stock" DQSD shorcuts (ebay, gg, ar, etc) seem to work fine.

Have you tried the shortcuts with the forced IE 32 bit?

Were the IE errors scripting errors or something else?

I think that may be a Windows 7 thing. The Windows 7 taskbar did away with the Quick Launch bar and made the task bar pinnable. There is a way to re-activate the Quick Launch bar but I don't know if that would help.

Yes, "default" shortcuts worked fine. It my own (local aliases) that did not. None. Just basic URLs, nothing complex

No, I didn't try to force IE32 bit. I may try it again (afterall, I already have a restore point:-), but it also kinda defeats the purpose of dqsd using the default browser, whatever it is...

So, you're saying your local aliases work fine? Same way they did in XP? No changes?

I think so too. It's not that big of a deal. I couldn't move Address bar on the left either. Maybe they'll fix it in release/rc2.

Does anyone these days NOT have a browser already running the background all the time?

Some of these links were pretty long... Some had parameters
It's one thing to type a couple of letter in DQSD and hit enter, and entirely different use the bookmarks - which I could never find later anyway...

I just created a couple of local aliases - no problem here. I am not sure why they would be a problem.

Sorry the example http aliase shows up in the forum as an http address. But it is just an http address with parameters.

Great to know!

I probably will give it another run then :-) Now with your new, more up-to-date instructions...

So, you're saying forcing ie32 is really necessary? Did you by any chance tried any other browsers? (chrome, ff, etc.)