For months, I’ve been annoyed by that little dog, Rover, that appears when performing a file search in Windows XP. He’s slow, he’s cute, and I just want him to go away. Fortunately, I found out how to send him packing back to the doghouse today. Click on “Change Preferences” in the search sidebar, then click “Without An Animated Character.” Rover will obligingly leave.
Why Microsoft would choose to set up Rover as the default search character in an operating system they call Windows XP Professional is beyond me.