Disable Windows Desktop Search in Windows Explorer

Personally, I really dislike the Windows Desktop Search. Unless everything is indexed - it misses a lot of stuff. I prefer the old fashioned search. To change your Windows XP to use the old search mechanism do the following:

1. Go to Start > Run.
2. Type Regedit.
3. Navigate down the tree down to:
   
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Desktop Search\DS
   
4. Double click "ShowStartSearchBand"
5. Set to the numeric value zero.
6. Click OK.
7. Close Regedit.
8. Restart any Windows Explorer instances. (no need to restart the computer)
9. Hit CTRL + F to initiate a find the old fashioned way!

Alternative
Or, put the following in a .reg file and run the reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Desktop Search\DS]"ShowStartSearchBand"=dword:00000000

This helpful hint was initially posted by Scott Hanselman, or at least that is where I first came across it!