› 
After installing Windows Vista Service Pack 1, when you click Start, type a search string in the Instant Search box, and press ENTER, one of the following problems may occur:
- Nothing happens
- Two instances of search window are opened
- You receive the following error:
Fix Permissions for the Search key
Click Start, type regedit.exe and press ENTER
Navigate to the following key:
Ignore the following error message:
Details: Access is denied.
1. Right-click the Search key and choose Permissions…
2. Click Advanced, and select the Owner tab
3. Select Administrators under Change owner to: section
4. Click Apply, OK
5. Back in the Security tab, click Add
6. Type Administrators and press ENTER
7. Select the Allow check box for Full Control permission
8. Click Add, type Users and press ENTER
9. Select the Allow check box for the Read permission
10. Click Add, type SYSTEM and press ENTER
11. Select the Allow check box for Full Control permission
12. Click OK.
If the permissions are correct and the problem still persists, then this may be due to missing association settings. I have created a .reg file that should fix the problem.
Fixing the Search Protocol
1. Download fix_srch_assoc.reg and save it to the Desktop.
2. Right-click on the file and choose Merge.
3. Click Yes when asked for confirmation.
4. Logoff and login back and check if Search work correctly.
Editor’s note: This problem does not occur in every Windows Vista computer with SP1 installed. None of my systems running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 exhibit this behavior.
Last Updated on March 24, 2008
Bookmark this Page!
BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | reddit | Spurl | StumbleUpon |
Related Posts
- Incorrect Icon Shown for a File Type in Vista
- Display a Warning When Users Try to Modify .Lnk Association in Vista
- Error “There Is No Script Engine for File Extension” When Running .Vbs Files
- Unable to Open .EMAIL File Attachments in Windows Mail
- New Shortcut Wizard Does Not Work or the Option Is Missing in Windows Vista
- Internet Explorer Does Not Open Links to Audio or Video Files
- Fix: The Default Icon for .VBS Files Changed by Virus/Worm
- Add a Custom Instant Search Internet Search Provider to the Vista Start Menu
- Fix the Compressed (Zipped) Folder Icon in Windows XP/Vista
- Error “This File Does Not Have a Program Associated With It” When Launching a Game From Games Explorer
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed! We feature Tips, Troubleshooting information, Scripts and Utilities for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems!
Prefer an E-mail subscription?
I can’t merge that file, not even as an administrator. Any suggestions? The instructions previous to that did not work…
I can NOT tell you how helpful this was! The problem kicked right in with SP1. Funny story, I had to uninstall SP1 due to a driver issue which was later resolved so I reinstalled SP1. The SECOND time I installed SP1, I had to rerun this procedure again!! So I suspect it may be more common that you believe. In any case, this procedure works perfectly with No Program Associated error when using Search after SP1 install.
THANK YOU!!
[b]longerlife[/b]’s method is much better. Don’t be messing with registry stuff when Vista has a 4 step method like this in place. Worked PERFECTLY.
@rsw: See http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/156/1/Error-Registry-editing-has-been-disabled-by-your-administrator-when-you-open-the-Registry-Editor-in-Windows-Vista.html
ramesh – what if you get the error message when you enter regedit and cannot even get to the registry editor?
Sorted, thanks a lot, managed to sort the problems out using the fixes here, cheers guys!
Thought I should add what worked for me. I did steps 1-12 and that did not fix my issue. I then attempted to merge the provided fix, and got the “error accessing the registry” message. I then tried setting permissions for all the reg directories in the fix, and still received the error. I then manually created the ’search’ key under [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations, went back to the Set File associations dialog, and the Search protocol was listed. Changed program to explorer, and looks like I’m good to go.
To longerlife: excellent solution. Didn’t work until I read your response. That worked perfectly injunction with manually changing a few of the registry item permission settings. Thank you.
Longerlife’s tip and the search tip combined worked like a charm for me. Thank Goodness that horrid annoyance is over.
Many thanks for this. Like Carel, I also got a “cannot access registry” error message when I tried to merge the file, but I already knew to alter the permissions of the keys that the file changes…It took a while but it finally worked. There are many “fixes” for this issue on the net, but yours is the only one that actually did the job. Nice one, Ramesh.