Search Amazon from the IE Address Bar
A fast way to search Amazon via your Windows Internet Explorer address bar.
The Internet
Explorer address bar is usually
where you enter a URL to browse to a web site. This hack adds the
ability to do Amazon searches from the same place. Instead of
visiting the site, finding the search form, typing your query, and
hitting the button, you can simply type amzn
[
search
term
] to get the same
results.
Setting It Up
This is extremely simple to set up, and just requires adding an entry to your Windows registry. Instead of mucking around with a registry editor, you can put the required settings into a .reg file. Once there, it’s just a matter of double-clicking to install. Here are the steps:
Close any open Internet Explorer windows.
Open up Notepad (Start → Programs → Accessories → Notepad) and add the following code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchUrl\
amzn] @="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search/[RETURN] mode=blended&keyword=%s"Save the file as AmazonSearch.reg on your desktop.
Double-click the file and confirm that you want to add the information to your registry.
Restart Internet Explorer, and your Amazon search shortcut should be available.
Running the Hack
Once installed, it’s just a matter of typing amzn
in your address bar followed by your search term, as shown in Figure 1-16. It works the same way as entering a URL. Just
hit Enter or click the Go button.
Figure 1-16. Searching ...