How to remove Windows Desktop Search as the default search

Issue:

After installing Windows Desktop Search (WDS) you discover it is not very user friendly and requires configuration to work.  You would like to revert back to the pervious search method.

Cause:

WDS was installed as part of Windows Updates.

Solution:

Copy and paste the following into a text file called DesktopSearch.reg

Double click the file to install

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

 ;Windows Desktop Search (WDS) Settings

;In WDS the default to search from the desktop is the following key combination

;Windows-CTRL-F

;UseWinKey setting

;Enables and disables the Windows key in the keyboard short cut.

;1=enabled

;0=disabled

;Setting to disabled allows CTRL-F to be used instead of Windows-CTRL-F

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Desktop Search\DB]

"UseWinKey"=dword:00000000

;ShowStartSearchBand

;Enables and disables the WDS as the default search.

;1=enabled

;0=disabled

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Desktop Search\DS]

"ShowStartSearchBand"=dword:00000000

;When ShowStartSearchBand is disable, the "Use Search Asst" setting is used to determine if the

;Search Assistant or Search Companion will be used.

;”no”  = Use Search Companion

;”yes” = Use Search Assistant

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState]

"Use Search Asst"="no"

More Information:

You can modify the above settings as needed to fit your needs.