How-To Geek
Uninstall, Disable, or Delete Internet Explorer 8 from Windows 7
A lot of Windows users out there dislike Internet Explorer enough that just using a different browser is not enough, they want it gone. Although there is not a way to completely uninstall it, let’s take a look at how to disable IE 8 in Windows 7 so you won’t have to deal with it anymore.
Click on the Start Menu and go to Control Panel and change the View by category to Large or Small icons then from the Control Panel list go into Programs and Features.
In the Programs and Features window click on the “Turn Windows features on or off” link on the left hand side.
The Windows Features screen opens up and here you want to uncheck the box next to Internet Explorer 8.
You will get a confirmation box when you uncheck it saying it may affect other Windows features. It will if you don’t have another browser installed but otherwise everything that usually opens in IE will open in your default browser.
After verifying you want to turn it off click OK.
You will get a progress notification while Windows turns off IE 8.
When everything is turned off you will need to restart your system.
After coming back from the restart you will notice Internet Explorer 8 is no longer there. Anything you had linked to IE will be associated with another browser if you have one installed. It will also no longer appear in the Set Default Programs section.
If you go to the Open With list in Explorer you will see a generic Internet Browser icon that will open up whatever is your default browser.
This doesn’t completely remove all traces of Internet Explorer 8 as other programs and processes rely on its rendering engine. This will definitely get it off your way when doing your daily computing tasks.
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Comments (37)
Programmer by day, geek by night, The Geek, also known as Lowell Heddings, spends all his free time bringing you fresh geekery on a daily basis. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 07/22/09
Is there a way to turn off internet explorer on windows vista? or maybe disable it.
Alternatively:
1) Live in Europe :P
Same steps I do believe.
why would you want to do that, IE8 rocks!
Kelly from Microsoft! Is that you?
Just ignored it.
Leave IE 8 alone, and install Firefox or Chrome
you might just don’t know when u might used it
Bill from Microsoft! Is that you?
Some people may have other opions, as everyone knows Fx is the best but she thinks IE is better.
thanks niga
on removing internet explorer…if you use windows update, msn/hotmail or other ms sites, and truly want them to do everything they’re supposed to do, imho, you should not get rid of internet explorer….ms has designed their own websites to only partially work with firefox or chrome, or not really at all
I keep getting a message that I may be a victim of computor counterfeiting. What is this all about and how can I keep this from appearing on my commputor.
GREEN BROWSER, CRAZY BROWSER & MAXTHON rely on I.E., but improve it considerably.
OPERA browser {“shareware” in theory only} is my preference – instant MHT file saves.
MOZILLA products are next; too many crazy add-ons needed to emulate OPERA.
SAFARI, GOOGLE, etc – poor. Recover after crashing? MHT handling, bookmark tranfer / backup for other browsers, spelling correction, easy form-filling, …. ?
Greg Zeng, Australian Capital Territory
HI!!!
WHY are we SHOUTING every OTHER word?
JUST to let YOU KNOW,Google Chrome IS THE best
FIREFOX is just TOO BLOATED and SLOW for ANYONE
OPERA is GOOD, but IS ALSO quite SLOW
firefox has an IE Tab plugin. If you want to use IE on occasions (check exchange server mail with outlook web access) it works well enough.
Thank you very much for this usful information. I understand from what I have read here and on other sites that we cannot uninstall internet explorer without causing problems for our computers,that is if we did this Windows may not start(I have Windows7) but I have taken notice of your guide to HIDING Internet Explorer( I have Internet Explorer8) and I have just done this. And my pc is all the better for it as I never use Internet explorer as it is a slow and usless browser. But as I uses several browsers,depending on what I am doing online,I have not set any default programes to open my files and photos as your files can be opened on any browser you happen to be using at the time or on thier own.But thank you for shareing this tip to hiding internet Explorer as it will help a lot of people who have no use for it. But also if you change your mind and want it back you can just tick the box in setting and re start computer and its back if you want it,which I dont. Also this way of hiding Internet explorer rather than deleting it is safer as it wont mess up windows on your pc. Andrea.
I live in the Netherlands (Europe) and I didn `t got a screen were i can chose my browser!
I have internet explorer 8. It will not let me download mozilla firefox. Is there any way to correct this?
No I could not find this option.
There is another way to get IE out of the way and that is to make Firefox your default browser. (I love Firefox). Just click on tools then options, then advanced. Check in the box that begins with “Always check to see if Firefox….” and click the Check Now button. You will get a pop up that asks you if you want Firefox to be your default browser. Just click yes and thats all there is to it. Whenever you click a link on a web page or in a message Firefox will pop up and not IE. I don’t use IE anymore. The last good version Microsoft had was IE 6 SP2 and since then it has got more and more unstable to the point where it is almost unusable especially if you have a lot of tabs open like I do.
can’t we just make internet explorer illegal so people like my dad who think their 6 year old browser is the best in the world would actually modernize?
I mean, im in college now and he still refuses to change that browser.
Won’t uninstalling Internet Explorer keep certain items from working that only use internet explorer?
Never mind I didn’t see the explanation of that. Sorry I’m idiot.
I see this mis-information spread around the web, but I expected more of HtG.
The terms uninstall and delete are completely abused in relation to ‘Turn Windows features on and off’, whether we’re talking about IE or anything else in the list. It’s not even a matter of not ‘completely remov[ing] all traces’; more correctly, all it does is remove a few traces. To actually remove any of the bloat that comes part and parcel with any Windows 7 installation (500MB for tablet support, ~2GB for speech support, hundreds of megs of drivers you’re never gonna use)*, you have to modify the install medium with something like RT 7 Lite.
*Sizes according to RT 7 Lite
i go into the uninstall box, explorer 8 isn’t listed, but i still have it. anymore suggestions?
Best way is to wipe windows. Install Linux and run Chrome. You are now Safe and secure
Kelly – The reason people want to get rid of Internet Explorer is because it has a lot of weaknesses compared to other browsers. The major would be its weakness to Malware of all kinds.
rroberto – The Microsoft websites, such as MSN (now Bing), Hotmail, and other such free sites, all have other competitors that are much better. Anything you can find on Bing, you can find on Google, Yahoo, Altavista, and Ask.com. As for Email, there is little free email that tops the usability, space, and protection of Google Mail (Gmail). They also work with any browser, making them Windows, Mac, and Linux friendly.
Sam Tate – I must disagree with Chrome being the best. Reason? If you don’t get thousands of useless themes, add-ons, and other useless tidbits, Firefox is the safest, fastest, and most user friendly browser you can get for any operating system.
John – Setting Firefox (Or any other browser) as your default, does not stop IE from opening when you have malware in your system. This means if something happens to get into your system (usually through email or social sites), you will see pop-ups appearing in Internet Explorer.
Michael – Disabling Internet Explorer won’t effect any programs that use the internet, with the exception of Windows Update. Of course, if Windows didn’t have so many errors, there wouldn’t be so many updates.
I finally switched back to Windows from Linux, and I have to say that I miss Linux. Windows runs slowly (Even with a 2.4Ghz duel processor and 4gigs of DDR3 RAM). In the last two weeks I have had to remove a lot of malware causing pop-ups in Internet Explorer, which never happens in Linux. There are CD’s littering my desk as I needed them to install drivers and non-MS programs. With linux, everything can be downloaded, installed, and running within a few minutes. (You can even install Linux without a CD…)
So why did I switch back to Windows?
1) So I could test Windows 7, and so far it is failing miserably.
2) So I could play Windows only games (Gaming companies take warning… Windows wont last forever)
3) I may have lost my mind.
4) I have a linux desktop under my windows desktop, with duel setups, so I can switch easily when Windows fails, which happens more often than not.
so helpful , thanx
thank you very much!
@Juthail… Opera is the best because is fast, secure and light.
I hear people speaking of how “fast” a browser is….can someone please explain? I mean, are we talking about how fast pages load? (Isn’t this governed by connection speed?) Or perhaps how fast the browser starts up?
thanks
I.E SUCKS!!! GO CHROME INSTANT PAGE LOAD!!! :D
Thx u
Any Web browser is better than I.E. :)
Juthail – Are you single? j/k… Seriously though… Well Said!!!
Dude, I did all the steps you reffered, when it restarted it didn’t start anymore!! It just keeps an underscore blinking… Help?
Yay! thanks!! the only reason i hate IE is because its slow. :3 <3
tanks alot Icould solved my problem with I.E
Simple Kelly, if a Adware File, Such as Adware.Lop, which my Antivirus just detected, or RON Ads, Which Run IE8 In the Background, will exploit IE8 To Display Advertisements. the only way to stop it is by shutting down IE8. the Adware Program would not be able to open IE8, and Thus would become benign, unless it has a override feature, which i highly doubt it does, or it could use an alternative Browser you have, such as Google Chrome, or Firefox, or Safari, Opera, ETC, ETC, if the file is programmed to open it in case the user tries to disable IE8.
it helps me thankssss