Start Menu - Add Search Connectors to Start Menu Search

How to Pin Search Connectors to Search and See More Results in Start Menu


   Information
This tutorial will show you how to add links for the Search Connectors in the Start Menu, to be able to search from the Start Menu Search Bar and See More Results directly from the Connectors.
   Note
You will only be able to add a total of Five Search Connectors at a time, three that will be directly on the Start Menu along with the See More Results, and the other two from within See More Results.
   Warning

  • This will only be available for the Ultimate/Enterprise Editions of Windows 7, as the Ultimate/Enterprise Editions will be the only Editions to have Federated Search available.
  • You will need to be an administrator to open the Local Group Policy Editor.



Here's How:
1. Go to this tutorial here and download whatever Search Providers you like, or make your own.
Example:

search1.jpg
Which will end up here: C:\Users\UserName\Searches
search2.jpg
2. Go to the Start Menu and type gpedit.msc in the Search bar and press Enter. Click OK for the UAC prompt.
gpedit1.JPG
3. In the Local Group Policy Editor, go to User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Explorer/Pin Libraries or Search Connectors to the "Search Again" links and the Start Menu,and double-click on it.
gpedit2.jpg
4. To enable the setting, click the dot for Enabled. Add the location for the Search Provider you want. I have given an example in the screenshot below, just Enter your own Username and the name of the Search Provider, followed by .searchConnector-ms. I have used the Bing! search provider for an example here. Enter it, along with any others, into the 5 Location to Pin areas. Click Apply - OK. You can now close gpedit.msc.
search6.jpg
5. Now you can go to the Start Menu, and enter your search query into the bar, and you will see the first 3 Search Providers there along with the See More Results.
SearchConnectors1.jpg
6. When you type your query in the search bar, you can choose to click on one of your Search Provider links, which will then give you your displayed results in the Explorer Window. Or you can choose See More Results, which will open a Window with all your displayed ''Search Again" links, including the other two Search Providers. You can then search from there if you want.
SearchConnectors2.jpg

SearchConnectors3.jpg
That's it,

Airbot






 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nice tutorial Aaron thanks.
 

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GPO not working

hi folks,
thanks for this article. just tried it out, but i don't get it to work for me.
i set the gpo to pin libaries and search connectors to start menu but nothing appears. also tried the paths if they are correct, when entering in exporer adress bar all of them open as expected. i have windows 7 pro 64 bit running and tried it on several machines now.

any hints for me? do i need some other setting to be active?
regards!
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Professional 64
Hi forsti82,

Using the federated search connectors is only available in the Ultimate/Enterprise editions of Windows 7. I don't have Professional so I can't double check for you, but I'm pretty sure you can't do this in Professional Edition. :(
 

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Search connectors work

Hi Airbot,

thanks for your reply. Search connectors seem to work also in Professional edition. I have my connectors up and running, but only when directly selecting in explorer or using "more results". I just can't add them directly to the start menu.
It's annoying to search from instant search and then have to manually switch to my search connector and re-type the searchterm.

Any other ideas? Could there be an issue with 64Bit or even with the german edition of windows?
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Professional 64

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Airbot 2.0
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Core i7 920 (D0) @ 4Ghz, *26c idle *65c full load on air
Motherboard
Asus P6X58D Premium - Sata 6Gb/s - USB 3.0
Memory
12GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator -CMD12GX3M6A1600C8 at 1600MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Zotac Geforce GTX 770
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar D2X
Monitor(s) Displays
1 LG 24" Flatron W2453V-PF 1 Samsung 24" P2450H both 2ms RT
Screen Resolution
1920x1080@60hz
Hard Drives
1 Samsung 250GB 840 Evo SSD
1 OCZ Vertex2 180GB SSD
1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200RPM 32MB cache
2 500GB WD Caviar Blacks 7200RPM 32MB cache (WD5001AALS)

Pioneer DVD Burner DVR-S18M
PSU
Corsair HX1000W
Case
Cooler Master HAF 932
Cooling
Case Fans *3 230mm, *1 140mm/CPU - *Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme
Keyboard
Logitech Wireless MK700
Mouse
Logitech Wireless MK700
Internet Speed
DL 15 Mbps UL 0.98 Mbps
Antivirus
None
Browser
Firefox Nightly
Other Info
Processor-7.7 *RAM- 7.9 *Graphics-7.9 *Gaming Graphics- 7.9 *SSD- 7.8 W.E.I final score= 7.7
*Phone- LG Nexus 5
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