Q. How do I add additional remote sources to Windows 7's search using search federation?

A. Windows 7 makes it easy to search locations on the Internet using Explorer through the new Search Federation feature. Many sites provide ODSX files that can be downloaded and executed to add a new option to the Users, Search area. After you double-click the OSDX file, you'll be prompted to install it, as shown here.

I've provided OSDX files for Amazon.com, Bing, Channel 9, TechNet Edge, and YouTube in this zip file.

Just type in a search and the results are found from the selected site. Note that the results will vary based on the site being searched. Some sites return results, comments, and thumbnails while others will return only some of this data. Below is an example execution for YouTube.

You can create your own ODSX files, as long as the site you want to search provides an RSS search feature. Below is an example format—replace the red locations with actual RSS search locations to make it work.

<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:ms-ose="http://schemas.microsoft.com/opensearchext/2009/">
<ShortName>NT FAQ
Search NTFAQ.COM via Windows 7 Search.
<Url type="application/rss+xml" template="http://www.ntfaq.com/search?q={searchTerms}&format=rss"/>
<Url type="text/html" template="http://www.ntfaq.com/search?q={searchTerms}"/>Related Reading:Securing the Windows Search PathHow do I enable Windows Desktop Search to index Microsoft Outlook mail attachments?What's Windows Desktop Search?Q. Where can I obtain Windows Search 4.0?

Check out hundreds more useful Q&As like this in John Savill's FAQ for Windows. Also, watch instructional videos made by John at ITTV.net.