We all know that Microsoft decided to add a search feature to the Vista start menu and get rid of the run box by default. You can add the run dialog again but there is a much better way to add functionality to the search box using the great application Start++.
It adds new commands to the search box which define actions that are then executed. Typing "g search term" for instance opens the default browser with Google search results for the search term that you have entered. Eight default commands are already defined and you can add new ones with ease.
Using the command "y spyware spam fighting" would open search results from the Yahoo search for that query in your default browser.All commands described up to this point belong to the so called startlets group.
Start++ has another feature which it calls Search Startlets. The commands play, playartist and playalbum followed by the name of an artist search your hard drive for that name and play the songs, videos or albums automatically if they can be located. Play Who by Fire for instance searches for the Song Who by Fire by Leonard Cohen and plays it if found on the system.
The biggest advantage of Start++ is of course that you may add commands to Start++ that help you make the most out of Vista's search box. You can add new commands and search startlets. New commands can open applications with a simple shortcut. Let me give an example of how that works.
I will add a command to launch notepad from the search box. I click on New in the list of commands and type !note as the shortcut. Name can be anything that you like so Notepad would be good to identify what the command is doing. The command itself is simply notepad.exe
Once Saved I can start Notepad by typing in !note in the search box of the start menu. You sometimes have to add the full path to an application but that is the only thing that might differ.
Adding Internet searches is a little bit trickier. Lets add a command that searches eBay for the search string that we enter. We have to perform a search on eBay to see how eBay handles the parameters. Go to eBay.com and enter a search term, test for instance. Take a look at the url and search for test in there. We have to replace test with %+ in the command box from start++.
So, to add a eBay search we would create a new command, give it the shortcut e and the name eBay and add the following line to the command http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?satitle=%+&category0= Please note that I removed some of the options in the url to shorten the output on my blog. You can now search eBay for antivirus software using the command "e antivirus". The same principle applies to many other sites such as Amazon, Digg and others.
kind: refers to the type of file that you want to play, in this case we have choose to include a OR statement which means that a search for music and video files is performed.
%* means that all results are added to the playlist, %1 would mean that only the first and %n where n is a number would add that number to the playlist and play them.
store:file - Well I can only guess here but i suppose that it defines that it should search for files only.
Start++ is a very nice application that added tremendous usability to Windows Vista. Can only recommend it to everyone who is running Vista.
Update: The program has been retired and is no longer available on the developer's website. You can download the latest release version of it from our own servers. Note that it is only compatible with Vista and not with other Windows operating systems: [Download not found]
The driver backup and restoration software Double Driver was recently updated to version 4, reason enough for us to take another look at the software program (see Backup and Restore Drivers for our initial review).
Double Driver can scan a Windows system for drivers to back up some or all of the drivers found. These backups can be restored at a later point in time, for instance when you want to restore a previous version of the driver.
This can also be useful if you want to make sure to have the right driver at hand when you re-install Windows, upgrade it, or start from a clean slate.
Double Driver 4.0 comes with a new interface that makes use of Windows Aero. It will automatically recognize if the program has been started by a user or administrator of the system. The available options differ depending on that.
The options that the program provides are accessible in the program's header. Here it is possible to backup and restore drivers, or save and print the driver list.
A click on the Backup links opens the driver backup page. You can start a scan of the system to find all drivers on the PC, or run a scan on another system which is a new feature in Double Driver 4.
The screen populates the list of drivers that the program found on the target computer. Drivers are listed with their name, provider, version, date and class among other information.
Checkboxes are provided to select the drivers to backup. Double Driver seems to automatically select all drivers that are not standard Windows drivers so that these can be backed up with a click on the Backup Now button. The Select link on the top navigation menu can be used to quickly select all drivers, invert the selection or select none for a fresh start.
The backup now button leads to a new window where the destination directory for the driver backups and the output format can be configured. Supported are structured folders, compressed folders or single self extracting files.
If you are not sure what to keep, keep the default structured folder option. The advantage of compressed folders is that the data is compressed and will therefore take less space on the drive or disc. Single file self extract on the other hand is a single self extracting file that contains all drivers.
The restore button can then be used at a later time to restore a previously created backup. The single self extracting files install the drivers on the target system without Double Driver while the two other options require Double Driver to do so.
Double Driver 4.0 is a portable software program for the Windows operating system that can be used to efficiently backup and restore system drivers. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.
Update: Double Driver is no longer available. The developer website seems down, and the last program version that got released is Double Driver 4.10 in 2010.
We have uploaded the latest working version of Double Driver to our own server. This is done for archiving purposes only. We don't support the program in any way. To download it, click on the following link: double_driver_4.1.0_portable.zip
Already have one of its older version, I read about it on another blog several months ago, but getting info about its latest version, Thanks to share with us.
We use Double Driver for reloads all the time great product. but just in case the program misses some files I recommand coping the system32 folder and use that when the software says its missing a file.
I strongly recommend early images (after an OS reinstall) for backup. In that case generally the drivers are fine, but you may have a nice update saved with Double Driver.