Home > Posts > Copernic Agent tips: Adding Google to search engines list etc.

Copernic Agent tips: Adding Google to search engines list etc.

Copernic Agent is a very nice meta-search tool that can simultaneously search using multiple search engines.

It can help you organize your searches, filter search results, track search results for future changes (last one is available at the Professional version only, not at the free Basic version or at the intermediate Personal version) etc.

Here are some useful tips if you’re using it:

  • Copernic Agent by default doesn’t show Google to the list of multiple search engines you can use for searching. The following workaround is from Copernic support:

Create a update.reg file with a text editor (make sure it doesn’t append .txt to the file when you save it else use folder options to have Windows always show file extensions and then remove the .txt file extension so that the file extension is .reg and not .reg.txt)

 REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Copernic\Agent\System] "EngineUpdateAddress"="http://updates.copernic.com/k2upd/agentex" 

Save the file and then double-click it to run it. Windows will ask you if you want to update the registry, say OK.

Then launch Copernic Agent, go to Tools menu and selection menu action “Check for Search Engine Updates”. After update finishes check the Quick Search tab, where it says “N engines enabled” and click that link to see dialog with more engines to enable for Copernic Agent’s search. Google will now be one of the checkboxes there, check it and press OK (will remember it at next search).

WARNING: seems if you use the above registry update with the NEW (and now free) Copernic Agent Personal it removes various search engines from different categories (including TV and Web). Maybe it still has older updates there that were for Copernic Agent Basic only or for the older Personal version. Wonder what the correct engine updates URL is for the new version. Commenting out the entry above in registry and doing search engines update again doesn’t fix the issue. Probably have to uninstall Copernic then and reinstall again.

  • Do select from menus the Result/Filter command. That shows a filter toolbar above the results list. This allows you to checkmark interesting results and then select checkmarked from the Status dropdown list at the filtering toolbar to only see previously checkmarked results from that specific search.
  • Very useful is also the Folders pane where you can organize searches in categories (it would be even nicer if you could organize searches using tags and have virtual folders autogenerated based on the tags as in Delicious bookmarks browser add-on).
  • Update: A cool shortcut I just found by accident is that apart from double-clicking a search to edit its parameters and re-launch it, you can double-click in the empty space at the end of a previous searches list to open a new search window.
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  1. Walter
    2011/01/08 at 18:23

    Should be :

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Copernic\Agent\System]
    “EngineUpdateAddress”=”http://updates.copernic.com/k2upd/agentex”

  2. 2011/01/09 at 20:28

    thanks for the typo fix, without the “” arround the value it seems it wasn’t adding the registry entry (or most probably was removing the entry)

  3. 2011/01/09 at 20:31

    Also seems one has to use Tools/Check for Search Engine Updates after updating the registry to make Google appear at search engine options (Copernic usually checks for search engine updates by itself at first search or something). To be safe better have Copernic app closed when doing the registry update in case it reads the registry at app startup only.

  4. Imdra
    2011/01/16 at 17:41

    I tried the above update and Google did not appear, even when I rebooted and tried again with Copernic closed. Any idea what might be wrong?

    • 2011/01/17 at 01:59

      First of all check that the value http://… in the registry script is wrapped in double-quotes as said in a user comment above.

      You can also use REGEDIT [can enter regedit and press ENTER at Start/Search or Start/Run menu of Windows) and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Copernic Agent > System at the tree on the right, the check at the left pane if the value EngineUpdateAddress is there with content http://updates.copernic.com/k2upd/agentex (without double-quotes shown at Regedit, don’t add extra ones there, only needed at the .reg script

    • 2011/01/17 at 02:00

      Also, make sure you use Tools/Check for Search Engine Updates too (with an active network connection at the time)

  5. 2011/01/17 at 02:02

    btw, Google won’t appear in the results if you don’t click the underlined say “14 engines enabled” at the top-right of the copernic screen, under the “search for” and select Google (after having done the check for search engine updates). From the on it should remember that selection.

  6. Ken
    2011/02/16 at 04:07

    Well, I have tried twice with reg file, properly named and filled in with the proper enclosed quotes. It says it updated the Registry but when I go and look with Regedit, there is no value for “EngineUpdateAddress”. I am hesitant to try and manually add the values manually. Could they have changed the program (I just bought it today)? Why would they not include Google from the start?

    Any suggestions?

    • 2011/02/16 at 16:05

      Strange, I suggest you do add the entry by hand, after all Copernic Support had sent me that .reg file in the first place when I suggested to add Google search engine (they have suggest search engine action somewhere at the Help menu of Copernic Agent if I remember well). Make sure Copernic application is closed, open regedit (using Start/Run [can also use Start/Search in Windows Vista or 7], type Regedit and press OK), go to the respective key and add that string value (add the value without the quotes when using regedit GUI). Then open Copernic Agent and tell it to check for search engine updates (see my other comments on this thread). Then check again the search engines pick dialog (click the link where it says N engines enabled). If it still won’t work drop a question to their support, pointing them to this blog entry if needed.

  7. Ken
    2011/02/16 at 16:48

    Yes, thanks. Copernic support sent me a reg file that upon inspection was the same as in this posting. I double clicked it. This time (?!) the addition was made and I am good to go. I have no idea why the reg file I created from your instructions did not work, but I am set now.

    I am disappointed to find (in searching) so few articles or forum posts about tips and hints in using C.Agent.Personal. Not a very popular program it seems. Have you found, or developed other tips/hints/sugestions?? For example, I am unsure how best to use the “Annotate” function.

    Thoughts?
    Ken

  8. 2011/02/17 at 06:45

    Haven’t used the Annotate one (I think it’s at the features not available at Copernic Agent Basic [the free version] that I use – however I’m thinking of registering it too)

    Some other tips btw on Copernic Agent are:

    1) show the “Filter” bar, skim through result summaries and then checkmark all interesting items, then at the filter bar select to only show the “checkmarked” ones

    2) if you use Basic version (the free) one, it doesn’t remove duplicate links. However you can still sort by “Address” the results, so that duplicate entries are next to each other at the results list. Combine this with [1] above and you only checkmark one from each set of duplicate links, then hide all non checkmarked items

  9. 2011/03/05 at 12:55

    Hi,

    If you are using windows 7 Ultimate, go to regedit, follow steps above by adding EngineUpdateAddress to the Name column with no quotes, and the url
    http://updates.copernic.com/k2upd/agentex
    with no quotes to the Data column.

    The Type column should read REG_SZ.

    I added these lines for Copernic Agent Pro with no problems.

    It worked for me beautifully that way!

    Question, is there any way to add more search engines? or more forums? I would like to add Webmasterworld.com to the forums list, and such sites that I find useful to search.

    Thanks for the tip George!

  10. 2011/03/05 at 14:18

    They do have “Suggest a search engine” at Copernic menus.

    So if http://Webmasterworld.com have some specific URL syntax for search they could add it. However I can’t spot a “search” link or editbox at their home page.

    Anyway there is a trick to search any site using Google (works at many other engines too), you would add ” site:SomeWebsiteURLhere ” (without the double quotes at the start or end of your search query. For example ” site:webmasterworld.com “. Also, If it allows you to create a custom search entry you could add it that way.

    So I guess you could use that at Copernic’s search editbox, although it would be nice if Copernic allowed you to enter such filters at the search GUI (for engines that know about those it would add the site:… for example and for others it would filter-out the results to keep only related or something (maybe adding the term without the site: in front for those engines ingorant of site: search command)

  11. 2011/03/06 at 00:55

    Another interesting feature I hadn’t spotted up to now in Copernic Agent (I knew it existed in Copernic Agent’s Search bar for Internet Explorer) is the “View/Highlight” submenu and the multi-color highlight option there (can also access this from the “Advanced” toolbar, if you right click the toolbar and select to show that toolbar too)

    After enabling this (it works in the free version too!), when you select a query from the history of searches, the search query terms are highlighted in a different color each one at the results summary list

  12. Ken
    2011/03/06 at 01:40

    While I continue to have high hopes for CPA, as time goes by, I become somewhat disillusioned. For example, I need to search for a variety of medical papers and articles on specific topics. I get more relevant hits by using the Scholar part of Google, than I do with any combination of search terms in CPA. Maybe there is a way to get to the Scholar part of Google from within CPA, but I have not figured it out. The medical sites which are built in are not helpful in locating what I need. Luckily I paid half price for the software, which seems to have its place, but not what I had expected or hoped for.
    Ken

  13. 2011/03/06 at 02:10

    Have you asked their support on that? They’ve been acquired by other big company recently, but I expect them to still respond promptly as in the past

    Also maybe Google can search Google (mean Scholar) too? See my site:… tip above

  14. 2011/03/18 at 00:08

    btw, another tip regarding the free version, when you do a new search you see arround 3 sponsored results (colored pink-ish) at the top, but you can quickly hide those by clicking on a previous search to see its results and then click back to the latest search again to refresh the list of its results (the sponsored results go away then since they seem to only be displayed the first time you do each search)

  15. 2011/05/30 at 17:47

    Noticed recently that WordPress (upon automatic transition from Windows Live Spaces) had styled the REGEDIT file text above and had changed ” to other chars that of course are invalid in a .reg file. Should be fine now to copy-paste the above text into a .reg file instead of having to write it by hand.

  16. 2011/06/10 at 23:55

    JUST NOTICED COPERNIC AGENT PERSONAL VERSION IS NOW FREE! (was at a highly discounted price lately). Very nice move to promote their business version, the personal one allows you to remove broken links and select all the many search categories available, while the business one also summarises and tracks searches for changes etc.

  17. 2011/09/13 at 09:43

    If you use Copernic Agent Personal (now free – has more features than the older free Copernic Agent Basic) or Copernic Agent Professional or better, then you can use “Group by” option to group by “Visited” and use the “Filter” option to only see “Checkmarked” items. Combine this with the multicolor highlighting and you checkmark all items that look interesting (esp. those that have most of the keyword colors and show interesing phrases in the search results brief and then show only checkmarked items. Grouping by “Visited” shows two groups, those you’ve visited/checked out and those you haven’t. When you visit something that doesn’t prove to be interesting, just uncheck it so that it disappears from both visited/not-visited lists (cause of the filter you set up to show only checkmarked items). Keep the visited group collapsed and the not-visited group expanded When the Not-Visited group is empty you’ve checked out all results (can do this in many days time if you need to study results gradually). When finished keep the Visited group expanded for future quick reference. Don’t forget to organize your searches in respective search folders (Copernic has a search folders pane where you drag-drop your searches)

  18. nasars
    2012/04/09 at 20:10

    Didn’t work in XP by imports.
    Ultimately used REGEDIT and navigated to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Copernic Agent > System at the tree on the right. Entered new string value with name as EngineUpdateAddress and content as http://updates.copernic.com/k2upd/agentex
    Updated engines and it worked.

  19. Bee_Dee_3_Dee
    2014/07/13 at 20:22

    @gbirbilis and all above posters too,

    TY! TY! TY!

    Specs:
    Copernic Agent Pro
    Version 6.12 Build 722
    Win 7 64-bit

    This week my Copernic Agent searches started to result with: 0 results. (Using “The Web” category.) No matter wat i did, i couldn’t fix it. Including multiple restorations of full backups. (Which always fixes Software problems.) But nothing fixed it.

    So after trying to fix it for several days; using info above on this gbirbilis thread; i finally fixed it!

    My notes to fix: (taken from above.)

    Go to,

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Copernic > Agent > System

    Right click select New/ String Value

    Name it “EngineUpdateAddress”

    Add Value data:
    http://updates.copernic.com/k2upd/agentex

    (Note: Type is “REG_SZ” if done correctly.)

    Open Copernic Agent and go to Tools select “Check for Search Engine Updates”.

    YES, it works again.

    YAY!

  20. bd3d
    2015/05/14 at 04:30

    Specs:
    Copernic Agent Pro
    Version 6.12 Build 722
    Win 7 64-bit

    Just noticed that only a single Search Engine (Dogpile Engine) is working in Copernic.
    Anyone know a fix?
    TY

    • 2015/07/14 at 19:47

      have you tried the suggestion in the article? (also see the comments from others under the article)

      • bd3d
        2015/07/15 at 01:52

        Yes. Everything in article worked on and after 2014/07/13. But on 2015/05/14 Copernic Agent stopped working again.

      • 2015/07/23 at 11:16

        Also try contacting their support, they had been acquired by a bigger company, but maybe still support it

      • bd3d
        2015/07/23 at 16:24

        That is interesting. Would explain them never supporting CA ever again. I can’t find the name of the of company. What is it? (ty)

      • bd3d
        2015/07/23 at 16:30

        nm… i found it… “N. Harris Computer”. ty again.

      • 2015/07/23 at 17:35

        alas, they don’t seem to provide official support (neither download) anymore…
        http://www.copernic.com/en/support/agent/

        Note: After many years, support for Copernic Agent ended on January 31st 2014. The various engines behind Copernic Agent are no longer updated or fixed. Since September 30th 2014, all versions of Copernic Agent are no longer available for download or purchase. Copernic no longer supports, updates or provide technical support for Copernic Agent.

      • bd3d
        2015/07/23 at 22:46

        @gbirbilis

        🙂

        just found the actual problem; “only one search engine working”…
        …was actually caused by having inadvertently (ff or mouse) changed the default Category from, “My Category” to “The Web”.

        Anyone with the same prob always use “Organize Categories”. It’s found in several places like “Tools” and right clicking in Category lists.

        Therefore, all the info on top of this page still works! 🙂 (ty again!)

        And only prob left is ff and mouse clicks. (Having Five monitors three mouse and loosing track of mouse pointers, makes it inevitable. At least, TWSS!) 😀

        Ur reg fix still works George Birbilis! TYTYTY!

  21. Home
    2020/04/08 at 17:46

    Does anyone still use this wonderful software – i used to love using this in the early naughties…

    My copy is fully updated but it would seem that Google no longer allows the software to communicate with its engine….

    Can anyone help?

    • 2020/04/08 at 18:42

      did you try the fix mentioned (also see comments above). Probably Google changed something and it seems the company that had made it is not supporting that tool anymore. Can’t find any alternatives to it either, but you could check this article in case it helps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasearch_engine

  22. 2022/07/28 at 20:48

    Does anyone still have this tool working?

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