How to Enable Arfie in a Search Pane in Windows Explorer

When you launch the search tool in Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, Windows Explorer's Search Companion feature appears on the left side of your screen. By default, the Search Companion includes an animated dog character designed to help introduce and guide you through the search process. Windows XP gives you the ability to change characters, as well as enable or disable the feature altogether. Once you know where to look, restoring your preferred dog character to the Search Companion screen requires just a few clicks.

• 1

  Click the Windows XP "Start" button and select "Search." Look to the left side of the window and click the "Change preferences" link.

• 2

  Click the "With an animated screen character" link to enable the feature. Click the "With a different character" link.

• 3

  Click the "Back" or "Next" button repeatedly in the resulting window to cycle through the list of available characters. Stop once you reach your preferred character. Click "OK" to confirm your choice.