Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows 2003
    - User Tips
      - Miscellaneous
        Fast Searching of Active Directory

Section(s): Active Directory , Miscellaneous
Published on Apr 20, 2005.
Last Modified on Apr 20, 2005.
Last Modified by MitchTulloch.
Rated 4.3 out of 5 based on 28 votes.

Make life easier for your users by simplifying how they search for resources in Active Directory.

It takes about half a dozen steps to search Active Directory using the Desktop Search Assistant on Windows XP. That's frustrating for most users. Fortunately you can make their life easier by creating a new shortcut on their desktops that has the following path:

%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe dsquery.dll,OpenQueryWindow

Name the new shortcut something like Search Active Directory and you're done. Users can now open the Find Users, Contacts, and Groups dialog by simply double-clicking on this shortcut, making it easier for them to find resources in Active Directory.

About MitchTulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com .