In Windows XP, Windows Explorer includes a useful feature that allows you to find files and folders by name or contents. To use the Search Companion, click the Search button in the Windows Explorer toolbar. If you’re an expert Windows user, though, you’re hobbled by the dumbed-down default interface of the Search Companion, which uses a cartoon dog to walk you through even the simplest search tasks with multiple clicks.

My advice? Ditch the doggie and fine-tune the search box so you can get to expert features more quickly. Here’s how:

1. Click Change preferences.
2. In the How do you want to use Search Companion box, click Without an animated screen character. Watch the puppy walk away.
3. Click Change preferences again.
4. Click Change files and folders search behavior.
5. Click the Advanced option and then click OK.

Your Search Companion box now looks like this:

For more complex search tasks, you’ll want a separate desktop search application, such as the MSN Toolbar, Copernic Desktop Search, X1, or Google Desktop Search. But the Search Companion is just fine for quick tasks.

Apologies if you’re having trouble posting comments. Anything under 800 characters or so should work OK. Long posts are potentially problematic. If you have something longer you really need to say, send me an e-mail and I’ll post it.

Update 7-July: SixApart says there’s now a fix. I’ll have to wait till the CPanel update at my hosting company tonight to see whether it works. I’ve been getting the same old 500 errors today.

Update 8-July: Still getting those HTTP 1.1/500 errors. My hosting company installs nightly CPanel updates, so the fix wasn’t included with last night’s updates. When I checked the CPAN Web site yesterday, I noticed that there were two replacement files available for the file that causes the problem; one of the files was tagged as a Developer’s Version. Does that mean that it won’t be updated automatically? This sure is a PITA. I have to rebuild the entire site manually after every post longer than a few sentences, and comments are still flaky.

And no, I don’t blame Movable Type for this. The problem is caused by a Perl module distributed by someone else. But the problem does underscore the dependencies that are at the heart of any Web-based application.

Michael Howard passes along a pointer to this excellent article by Art Manion, an Internet security analyst at US-CERT, a public-private partnership that focuses on protecting against cyberattacks under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security:

In November 2003, the CERT Coordination Center first advised Web users to consider using a Web browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer.

IE’s problems at the time were pervasive, and many of them were rooted in its complicated architecture. Vulnerabilities in IE were being reported almost monthly, and users faced risk until Microsoft released updates. …

Since then, there have been two developments. First, Microsoft released security enhancements in its Windows XP Service Pack 2. Second, attackers have begun to exploit vulnerabilities similar to IE’s in alternative browsers. …

All Web browsers face similar threats, and some share similar design features. … There is no silver bullet, no such thing as 100 percent secure. Security requires a balance between functionality and cost, and relies on concepts of trust and risk tolerance.

For some people, switching browsers is a reasonable step in a comprehensive security program. But it’s only one step, and you can achieve the same level of security using Internet Explorer by changing a handful of default settings. Understanding the nature of the threat and changing behavior accordingly is far more important than relying on a single program – or even a suite of them – for protection.

This must have been a very tough call to make. Kudos to Mr. Jobs for showing some class.