Sure enough, there is an http protocol  handler defined there. No why
can't sharepoint  search use it. I did look under Sharepoint, and there
are no handlers defined there.

Would someone who has a Sharepoint search  for an external web site, that
is working, check to see if a protocol handler  reg key is defined under
HKLM\Software\Classes\PROTOCOLS\Handler?

I was looking through the handler section on my WinXP client computer,
and found handlers for SharePoint.WebPagePart.Document and ...1.0. Why
wouldn't these be in the SharePoint Portal server  registry, also?