Did you know you no longer need to set Google as your home page? (The first page that is displayed when you open up Internet Explorer.  Take a look at the top right of Internet Explorer 7 (ie7).  You should notice a search box like this

fig 1.

It may say Live Search or something else instead of the Google you see here.  The point is that you can use this box to type in key words and phrases (just like you do in Google) and then just press the Enter key on your keyboard and ie7 will show you the Search Engine results in the normal way. 

How Do I change Search Provider?

Click on the tiny button right of the magnifying glass and select Find More Providers... 

fig 2.

A page will then open and you can click on the underlined title of a provider. (e.g. Lycos)

You will then see this pop up...

fig 3.

If you want this provider to be the one that is shown in the window tick the box that says Make this my default search provider.  (You can change the default provider later by selecting Change Search Defaults on fig.2.)