I want what I want. That is all.

May 15, 2011 5:34 PM

How do I uninstall IE8?

My work programs run on IE6. They run ok on IE7, with minor glitches. They don't run worth beans on IE8, or anything else.

I am working from home, and have Windows XP and IE8 installed. I use Firefox for my main browser though. I would like to get rid of IE8, then download and install IE7 and get some work done.

How do I get rid of IE8? (And if you tell me to delete a line in my registry, you will have to tell me where the registry is first. :-) )

Thanks MetaFilter!

posted by SLC Mom to computers & internet (4 answers total)

According to this support file, IE8 in Windows XP can only be uninstalled if it was installed after Service Pack 3 was installed. Go to Add/Remove Programs and if you can successfully remove IE8 in that list (make sure 'show updates' is selected), then you won't have to uninstall SP3 to roll Internet Explorer back.
posted by t_dubs at 5:39 PM on May 15, 2011

Have you tried to run IE8 in "comparability mode" ?

When I googled "reverting to an older version if internet explorer" this is what I came up with: http://www.ehow.com/how_2033254_back-previous-version.html
posted by royalsong at 5:39 PM on May 15, 2011

Deeper inside the link t_dubs provided are the steps that worked for me to roll back from IE8 to IE7. I'm using XP SP3, but SP3 was installed before IE8 was installed -- that is crucial.

Alternative steps for Windows XP or for Windows Server 2003

To uninstall Internet Explorer 8, follow these steps:

1. Carefully select and then copy the following command: %windir%\ie8\spuninst\spuninst.exe
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type Cmd.exe, and then press ENTER.
4. Right-click inside the Cmd.exe window, and then click Paste to paste the command that you copied in step 1.
5. Press ENTER to uninstall Internet Explorer 8.
6. When the uninstall program is finished, restart your computer.

After you follow these steps, visit the "Did the alternative steps fix the problem?" section to verify that your earlier version of Internet Explorer is restored.

What they describe above is a safe way to get into your Windows installation directory to run the program spuninst.exe. Try looking in C:\WINDOWS\ie8 and just double clicking on spuninst.exe instead.

I then rolled back from IE7 to IE6 by running spuninst.exe from the proper folder. Take a look after you restart: if there's an ie7 folder in your Windows folder, there should be spuninst.exe in there as well.
posted by maudlin at 6:14 PM on May 15, 2011

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Please upgrade to a modern browser.

Awesome. I followed Maudlin's instructions, and I am right back in the dark ages where my work stuff will run. It looks like my SP3 was installed before IE8.

Thank you all!
posted by SLC Mom at 6:47 PM on May 15, 2011