Like everyone else, I search the web from the browser address bar and have set Google as the default search engine in both Firefox and IE. I also use OpenDNS for reasons explained here - Why You Need OpenDNS ?

Sounds like a perfect combination but a side effect of using OpenDNS is that you can no longer search Google from Firefox location bar or the address bar of Internet Explorer.

That’s because all search requests from the browser address bar, originally meant for Google, are always redirected to OpenDNS Guide.

This can be a bit frustrating for Google users because Yahoo! (that feeds OpenDNS search) is not the best search engine around.

If you like to disable OpenDNS Guide search without removing the OpenDNS DNS entries from your computer or router, just follow these simple steps:

Use Google Search with OpenDNS in Firefox Location Bar

Type about:config in the address bar and press enter. If you are on Firefox 3, click “I’ll be careful, I promise!“. Now type keyword.url in the Filter field and set the value as:

http://www.google.com/search?q=

If you want Firefox to do a “I am Feeling Lucky” style Google search, use this value for keyword.URL:

http://www.google.com/search?btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&q=

Also make sure that the value of keyword.enabled is set to TRUE. That’s it - now any query you type in the Firefox Address bar will go to Google, not OpenDNS guide.

Related: Google Search and Firefox location bar

OpenDNS and Internet Explorer Address Bar

Open the registry editor (Start -> Run -> regedit) and navigate to the following key in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes

If Windows Live Search is your default search engine in Internet Explorer 7, open {0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A} and set the value of URL as

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}

In case of Google, open the corresponding key and set the value of URL as

http://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms}

Technicals: I think OpenDNS redirects Google Searches to OpenDNS Guide if the “source” parameter is present in the search URL. Remove that from the address and OpenDNS would stop redirecting Google searches.

An alternative could be OpenDNS Shortcuts but the above modification are required when you have a dynamic IP address and are not logged into the OpenDNS system.

Related: Firefox Search Bar Hacks, Calculate OpenDNS Speed