Search Companion

Rover as the default Search Companion.

The Search Companion (also commonly referred to as the Search Assistant) is a feature of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system that utilizes a Microsoft Agent character with a customized word balloon to feature various search options. These search options include:

• Pictures, music, or video
• Documents (word processing, spreadsheet, etc.)
• All files and folders
• Computers or people
• Information in Help and Support Center
• Search the Internet

Users may right-click on the assistant to open up a popup menu that contains a choice for "Do a trick", which plays a random animation from the companion. The end user may also turn off the companion or select another animated character in the right-click menu. When the user finishes their search, the user may click "Finish search" which hides the companion until the search menu is re-opened.

Characters

Three unique characters were developed for use inside of the Search Companion featuring, including:

• Rover - A yellow dog with a red collar that was formerly the default guide in Microsoft Bob. As Rover was the default companion, he is among the most well known Microsoft Agent characters.

• Courtney - A woman with glasses and a cyan shirt wearing a patterned cloth in a space ship.

• Earl - A yellow alien-like creature with a surfboard and a life vest.

Additionally, while Merlin is also well-known for being available as an option, he was not uniquely developed for the Search Companion feature, as his .ACS file instead came pre-installed alongside the Microsoft Agent components.

Gallery

• 
  Default view of the Search Companion feature with Rover.
• 
  Unused Rover background present in Windows XP build 2410 to 2446.
• 
  Unused Courtney background present in Windows XP build 2410 to 2446.
• 
  Unused Earl background present in Windows XP build 2410 to 2446.

Trivia

• Among Microsoft's attempts at virtual assistant implementations, the Search Companion did not receive as much backlash as the Office Assistant feature had previously experienced.
• As a result of this feature, Rover became one of the most well-known Microsoft Agent characters.
• A rewritten version of the feature for modern Windows releases was created in 2025, being called XP Search Assistant Rewritten.
• The search assistant .ACS files were first bundled starting with Windows XP build 2410.
  • Additionally, unique backgrounds were designed for the Search Companions but went unused until their removal in build 2446.