Can't search from address bar

I thought I was unable to search w/ google from my address bar but I am unable to search with any search engine.

I have changed "Custom Search Settings from "Companion and have tried different Search Engines under "AutoSearch" but no go.

Anytime I type a word in the address bar it adds a "www" & a ".com" at the end and sends me to that site.

I originally thought it was only happening w/ Google, but it's all Search Engines.

Any ideas?

Try under Internet Options. Scroll down till you find the search settings and make sure they match the settings you set under Custom Search.

BTW, next time, just edit your old post or reply to it with the new info rather than starting a new thread with the same problem.

If you must use IE then I'd recommend adding the Google search toolbar....

http://toolbar.google.com/

Yea that is very helpful, but it seems he would have problems using that as well since all search engines don't work.

Also, I can't see all of the graphics or advertisements on Yahoo or Hotmail but I can on other websites.

In Internet Options, select the Advanced tab & adjust the option for "Searching from the Address bar - When searching".

Found the problem

I found the "Host" file, renamed it and all is well. Still not sure how the file got there or got changed. See below.

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Some of this could be due to your having a hosts file preventing you from downloading certain ads. The Action Cancelled and page cannot be displayed where ads might be is one of the results of that.

Look in system32\drivers\etc fot a file named HOSTS

No extension.

Read here about HOSTS:

http://accs-net.com/hosts/
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I recently installed Windows XP on a brand new machine. The installation is less than a month old. When I try to search from my address bar, I get a "Page Cannot Be Displayed" error and the address bar displays a funky URL. For example, typing the following in the address bar:

[COLOR=red]search from address bar[/COLOR]

results in the error page and the following in the address bar:

[color=red]http:///?%20search%20from%20address%20bar[/color]

I've downloaded adaware 6 and updated it. That didn't change anything. I've gone to classic internet search instead of the search companion, nothing changed. I checked my internet options, and searching from the address bar is enabled, but it still doesn't work. I've restored my system defaults. I've checked through my registry, but found nothing that looks obviously wrong. I've checked my Auto Search settings under advanced search settings, but to no avail.

Is it normal for IE 6 and XP Pro to not search from the address bar?

Click on Search in the Internet Exp tool bar or menu and click on "Custom"

Check that out and then click on "Autosearch setting".

See how she do.

My newest course of action is to edit IE out of the registry and reinstall it.

When attempting to search from the address bar, this happens.

"The page cannot be displayed" web page appears and "http:///?%20cats"

Go to the location http://www.google.com/options/defaults.html Look down to IE select wheather u want Google or Microsoft Default. It will update your registry to either.

Set Search to Microsoft Default.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Use Search Asst"="yes"
"Search Page"="http://home.microsoft.com/access/allinone.asp"
"Search Bar"="http://home.microsoft.com/search/lobby/search.asp"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL]
""="http://home.microsoft.com/access/autosearch.asp?p=%s"
"provider"=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://ie.search.msn.com/{SUB_RFC1766}/srchasst/srchasst.htm"

Set Default search to Google

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Use Search Asst"="no"
"Search Page"="http://www.google.com"
"Search Bar"="http://www.google.com/ie"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL]
""="http://www.google.com/keyword/%s"
"provider"="gogl"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://www.google.com/ie"

Then go to the following location in the registry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks]
and add a new string value with the name {CFBFAE00-17A6-11D0-99CB-00C04FD64497} including the blocks {} and leave the value empty/blank...

the fix was to correct the Registry by adding the following...

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks]

String Value: "{CFBFAE00-17A6-11D0-99CB-00C04FD64497}"
Value:

Not sure what all the links are above I only added the one to google options.

I too had the same problem, and Slimphatdaddy's fix is the only one that works. and here are a couple things i'd like to add to this helpful thread:

1. my IE address bar search got screwed up by some browser hijack/spyware that somehow took over my IE (maybe i clicked a yes/no prompt too quick?) and Ad-aware and spybot got rid of the spyware, but leaves my IE address bar search crippled.

2. i tried reinstalling IE, that doesnt fix the problem.

3. i tried Slimphatdaddy's suggestions, but that still doesnt fix it, unless i do this crucial step. In [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks], in addition to adding {CFBFAE00-17A6-11D0-99CB-00C04FD64497}, i had to manually remove 2 other entries. they look like {alphabets and numbers}_
both have an " _ " (underscore) and i finally got my IE address bar search function back when i deleted those 2 entries with underscores at the end.

hope this helps anyone else who needs to get theirs fixed in the future.

There's a number of spyware and viruses which will change your hosts file. Rather than rename it, you can open it with notepad and erase all of the entries.

Then I recommend running SpyBot ( www.safer-networking.org ) and using the "immunize" feature. This will block many blacklisted spyware/virus related websites.

Another thing that can greatly help, especially if you modify the hosts file manually like I do (stupid ______ing MS Exchange...), is after you modify hosts, set it to read only (write protect, whatever you want to call it.). This can help avoid many things writing to the hosts file.

Just a follow up to opochee's comments (which I also found to
be essential to restore the search capabilities).

However, the important registry key I needed to delete did
not end with an underscore but started with an underscore,
ie.

_{bunch-of-letters-and-numbers}

Thank you for a little more information that might help someone else out in the future.

BTW Welcome to TechSpot

Got it working. Tried numerous fixes yesterday w/ no help but today, All is well.
Thought I had restarted after some registry tweaks so who knows.

Thanks for the posts.

You guys are great - I was having the same problem with a client machine and implemented the instructions from Slimphatdaddy and the subsequent msg to delete the _ line from the UrlSearchHooks. Restarted the browser and all went well... Thanks for your help

You guys/girls are awesome. I was having this problem and I really think that this is the only fix on the net. Thanks so much for sharing this information.