If you want to search more than just the web, install Google Desktop and set your preferences for Integration. If you're just looking for quick access to a web search dialog, skip this step.
Open your Start Menu folder in Windows Explorer—the easiest way is to click the Start button, right-click the All Programs near the bottom, and select open. Then:
- Open the Programs folder in that location.
- Right click a blank space and select New/Shortcut.
- Type in www.google.com or bing or whatever, rename the shortcut to Search or something useful.
- Right click the shortcut, click in the Shortcut key box on the Web Document tab and press F10. F10 is not used in Windows, you may find some applications make use of it. Your experience will vary, alternatives are F7, F9, F12.
- Click okay to save.
- Hit the start key and type remapkey in the search box. This will locate the remapkey.exe downloaded with the Server toolkit.
- Right click the link when it appears and select Run as administrator.
- Drag the F10 key from the top keyboard onto the Caps Lock key on the lower keyboard.
- Agree to the warnings, hit the Save and Exit button and either log off and log on again (Vista/W7) or reboot your machine.
- Pressing the Caps-Lock key now brings up the Google home page. Depending on your Google Desktop Integration settings you can search the web or locations on your computer.
I did a brief test with Word 2010, and this shortcut takes precedence—i.e. you lose the Word functionality of F10. You don't need Google Desktop if you only want to search the web.
Read more: Lifehacker