Get our browser search plug-ins
For IE 7 and Firefox 2 and higher:
• Add plug-in for WindowsSecrets.com search.
• Add plug-in for Support Alert search.
• Add plug-in for Google Windows-related site search.
What is a search engine plug-in?
A search engine plug-in allows you to access a search engine directly from your browser. In Mozilla Firefox and
Internet Explorer 7, the search bar is located at the top right. Microsoft appears to prefer the term "search provider", but
there is no difference in function. The Opera browser does not support these search plug-ins.
Auto-discovery of plug-ins in Firefox 2 and higher
Firefox and IE exhibit slightly different behaviors when you visit a site, such as WindowsSecrets.com, that offers search plug-ins.
When visiting WindowsSecrets.com, the button of the Firefox search box glows (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Pulling down the search box drop-down in Firefox while visiting WindowsSecrets.com displays three search plug-ins you can add.
Select "Add WindowsSecrets.com," "Add Support Alert," or "Add Google Windows-related site search" to add a plug-in.
After you add all three plug-ins, the Firefox seach box shows them in the list of available search tools (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. After all three plug-ins are added, you can seach all WindowsSecrets.com content, all Support Alert content, or use our Google API implementation
to search all Windows-related sites.
Auto-discovery of plug-ins in Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 7 displays on its search provider drop-down list all plug-ins that a site makes available. These plug-ins
are indicated by a "gold star" or "gold asterisk" next to the plug-in name. You can also use Add Search Providers to permanently
add a plug-in (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Adding Windows Secrets search plug-ins to IE 7 search.
When choosing to permanently add our plug-ins from the drop-down menu or by clicking the link shown at the top of this page,
you're prompted to confirm the addition of Windows Secrets as a search provider (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Confirm the addition to IE 7 of a new search plug-in.
If you select Windows Secrets as "my default provider," Windows Secrets will be the default search provider from then on.