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Group Policy Internet Explorer 7 Default Search Provider

I have deployed Internet Explorer 7 as a MSI using Group Policy in a test environment. It all works perfectly, but I would like to be able to set Google as the default search provider.

Could someone please assist :-)

JBlond

You have to create a custom ADM/ADMX file to do this

How to create custom .adm or .admx files to add search providers to the toolbar search box in Internet Explorer 7

Use Google as the 'DeflautScope'-option.

JBlond

'DefaultScope'-option. :)

churchlandsshs

ASKER

Could someone please provide me with an adm file that does this? Much appreciated :-)

JBlond

From http://www.netomatix.com/articles/KBArticle.aspx?a=918238

CLASS USER
CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents
CATEGORY !!InternetExplorer
 
POLICY !!PopulateSearchProviderList
			#if version >= 4
			SUPPORTED !!SUPPORTED_IE7
			#endif
			EXPLAIN !!IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList
			KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			VALUENAME Version
			VALUEON NUMERIC <VERSION>
   ACTIONLISTON
KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			     	 VALUENAME DefaultScope	VALUE "<DEFAULTSUBKEY>"
 
				KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\<SUBKEY1>"
				VALUENAME DisplayName  VALUE "<NAME1>"	
				VALUENAME URL               VALUE "<URL1>"
			END ACTIONLISTON
		END POLICY
END CATEGORY
END CATEGORY
 
CLASS MACHINE
CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents
CATEGORY !!InternetExplorer
<POLICY ... END POLICY Insert the same policy that is under class user>
   END CATEGORY
END CATEGORY
 
 
[strings]
SUPPORTED_IE7="At least Internet Explorer 7.0"
WindowsComponents="Windows Components"
InternetExplorer="Internet Explorer"
PopulateSearchProviderList="Populate List of search providers"
IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList="This policy setting will allow you to populate a list of search providers that will be displayed in the Internet Explorer search box.\n\n If you enable this policy setting and if the "Restrict search providers to a specific list of search providers" Group Policy setting is enabled, this list will be the only list that appears in the Internet Explorer drop-down list. If the "Add a specific list of search providers to the user's search provider list" Group Policy setting is enabled, this list will be added to the user's list of search providers.\n\n If you disable this policy setting or do not configure it, users will have complete freedom to create their own search provider list."

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churchlandsshs

ASKER

JBlond,
Making that code an adm file and importing it gives me an error on line 13. "Error 58 expected a numeric value." Any ideas?

JBlond

OK, I'll check that and come back later.

jindalee

The source for that ADM file is only a template that requires you to put more information into it, hence the error you see. I an trying to do the same thing but so far my clinet PC's are ignoring the GPO setting via the imported ADM file :-(

jindalee

Here is the code from the .ADM file I have been trying to get working. Be warned I have not had any success yet

CLASS USER
CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents
CATEGORY !!InternetExplorer
 
POLICY !!PopulateSearchProviderList
			#if version >= 4
			SUPPORTED !!SUPPORTED_IE7
			#endif
			EXPLAIN !!IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList
			KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			VALUENAME Version
			VALUEON NUMERIC 1
   ACTIONLISTON
KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			     	 VALUENAME DefaultScope	VALUE "{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
 
				KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
				VALUENAME DisplayName  VALUE "Google"	
				VALUENAME URL               VALUE "http://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms}&rls=com.microsoft:{language}&ie={inputEncoding}&oe={outputEncoding}&startIndex={startIndex?}&startPage={startPage}"
			END ACTIONLISTON
		END POLICY
END CATEGORY
END CATEGORY
 
CLASS MACHINE
CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents
CATEGORY !!InternetExplorer
POLICY !!PopulateSearchProviderList
			#if version >= 4
			SUPPORTED !!SUPPORTED_IE7
			#endif
			EXPLAIN !!IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList
			KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			VALUENAME Version
			VALUEON NUMERIC 1
   ACTIONLISTON
KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			     	 VALUENAME DefaultScope	VALUE "{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
 
				KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
				VALUENAME DisplayName  VALUE "Google"	
				VALUENAME URL               VALUE "http://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms}&rls=com.microsoft:{language}&ie={inputEncoding}&oe={outputEncoding}&startIndex={startIndex?}&startPage={startPage}"
			END ACTIONLISTON
		END POLICY
   END CATEGORY
END CATEGORY
 
 
[strings]
SUPPORTED_IE7="At least Internet Explorer 7.0"
WindowsComponents="Windows Components"
InternetExplorer="Internet Explorer"
PopulateSearchProviderList="Populate List of search providers"
IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList="This policy setting will allow you to populate a list of search providers that will be displayed in the Internet Explorer search box.\n\n If you enable this policy setting and if the "Restrict search providers to a specific list of search providers" Group Policy setting is enabled, this list will be the only list that appears in the Internet Explorer drop-down list. If the "Add a specific list of search providers to the user's search provider list" Group Policy setting is enabled, this list will be added to the user's list of search providers.\n\n If you disable this policy setting or do not configure it, users will have complete freedom to create their own search provider list."

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ovprit

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churchlandsshs

ASKER

hi ovprit,
thanks for your response. I'm having some trouble getting this to work. Could you provide me with step-by-step instructions of how to get this into a group policy object so it works? not having any luck at the moment.
cheers.

ovprit

save my post as an .adm file (the code section) then follow these instructions here ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783235(WS.10).aspx ) to add it into your GPO and then Go into the "Administrative Templates" section and you will see under "Windows Components" the IE7 settings :)

churchlandsshs

ASKER

If anyone else is trying to do this, ensure that "Add a specific list of search providers to the user's search provider list" is set to Enabled in User Config\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer

Vjz1

Is there any way to add a list of search providers in an .adm file? Please see my code snippet where I am trying to add Google as the default search provider as well as adding ask.com

When I implement this .adm file and apply the GPO, I only get Google as a search provider. It is set as default and I cannot add any other search provider. No other provider is listed even though I indicate multiple search providers in the key.

Also, I have the following policies enabled on this GPO:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Add a specific list of search providers to the user's search provider list
Populate List of search providers (this is the .adm file I added to my GPO)
Restrict search providers to a specific list of providers

Thank you.

CLASS USER
CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents
	CATEGORY !!InternetExplorer
		POLICY !!PopulateSearchProviderList
			#if version >= 4
			SUPPORTED !!SUPPORTED_IE7
			#endif
 
			KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			EXPLAIN !!IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList
 
			VALUENAME Version
			VALUEON NUMERIC 1
			ACTIONLISTON
 
				KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
				VALUENAME DefaultScope	VALUE "{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
 
 				KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
				VALUENAME DisplayName  VALUE "Google"
				VALUENAME URL	VALUE "http://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms}&rls=com.microsoft:{language}&ie={inputEncoding}&oe={outputEncoding}&startIndex={startIndex?}&startPage={startPage}"
 
 				KEYNAME "Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{06E9A14C-592F-4910-AD0E-D13501E9B82B}"
				VALUENAME DisplayName  VALUE "Ask.com"
				VALUENAME URL	VALUE "http://www.ask.com/web?q={searchTerms}&qsrc=0&o=0&l=dir"
 
			END ACTIONLISTON
		END POLICY
	END CATEGORY
END CATEGORY
 
CLASS MACHINE
CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents
	CATEGORY !!InternetExplorer
		POLICY !!PopulateSearchProviderList
			#if version >= 4
			SUPPORTED !!SUPPORTED_IE7
			#endif
			KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
			EXPLAIN !!IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList
 
			VALUENAME Version
			VALUEON NUMERIC 1
 
			ACTIONLISTON
 
				KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes"
				VALUENAME DefaultScope	VALUE "{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
 
 				KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{7AB880AD-546A-4D72-A2A7-91644F55AE38}"
				VALUENAME DisplayName  VALUE "Google"
				VALUENAME URL	VALUE "http://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms}&rls=com.microsoft:{language}&ie={inputEncoding}&oe={outputEncoding}&startIndex={startIndex?}&startPage={startPage}"
 
 				KEYNAME "Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{06E9A14C-592F-4910-AD0E-D13501E9B82B}"
				VALUENAME DisplayName  VALUE "Ask.com"
				VALUENAME URL	VALUE "http://www.ask.com/web?q={searchTerms}&qsrc=0&o=0&l=dir"
 
			END ACTIONLISTON
 
		END POLICY
   	END CATEGORY
END CATEGORY
 
 
[strings]
SUPPORTED_IE7="At least Internet Explorer 7.0"
WindowsComponents="Windows Components"
InternetExplorer="Internet Explorer"
PopulateSearchProviderList="Populate List of search providers"
IE_Explain_PopulateSearchProviderList="This policy setting will allow you to populate a list of search providers that will be displayed in the Internet Explorer search box.\n\n If you enable this policy setting and if the "Restrict search providers to a specific list of search providers" Group Policy setting is enabled, this list will be the only list that appears in the Internet Explorer drop-down list. If the "Add a specific list of search providers to the user's search provider list" Group Policy setting is enabled, this list will be added to the user's list of search providers.\n\n If you disable this policy setting or do not configure it, users will have complete freedom to create their own search provider list."

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