Remove Internet Explorer 8

Posted by on March 21, 2009 Leave a comment (22) Go to comments

Have you recently installed the newly released Internet Explorer 8? Realised what a piece of crap it is?

Yesterday I installed IE8 on this Vista desktop just to give it a whirl. For a start it takes it about 10 – 20 seconds to even open and load the first page. Also when I chose to open a link in a new tab the new tab would appear but the page would never load. It would get stuck on loading. It also altered my Explorer settings. I had Explorer (Windows Explorer) set to open folders in the same window yet IE8 changed it so they opened in a new window. So I decided to remove IE8 and go back to IE7. Luckily Internet Explorer 8 is classed as an updated and not a different program so doing this isn’t that hard as I explain below.

Update: I found out that the reason IE8 was taking so long at start up was the passive anti malware provided by SpyBot and SpywareBlaster.

You might want to read my entry on fixing some known IE8 problems first.

The instructions are pretty much the same for both Vista and XP with just slight differences towards the end.

First you need to go to Control Panel which can be found in your start menu. If you can’t see it look under the Settings item in there.
Once Control Panel window has things get a little different between XP and Vista.

XP:

  1. Open Add/Remove Programs
  2. Look for Windows Internet Explorer 8
  3. Click on it then click on the Remove button that appears

On XP you might also see an update to Internet Explorer 8 listed below it so remove that first.

Vista:

  1. Open Programs and Features
  2. Click View installed updates at top of list on the left
  3. When it has finished loading the list look for Internet Explorer 8 and click it to select it
  4. Click the Uninstall button that is at the top of the list or just double click on the IE8 item in the list

Once done you will have to reboot but after that you should be back to Internet Explorer 7.

Someone posted a comment in my other entry with a link to a Microsoft program to remove IE 8. You will find it at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957700.

Internet, Rants, Software,
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22 Comments.

  1. Tabassum March 23, 2009 at 15:48

    thanxx
    so much
    please keep bloggin
    please reply to me
    tabs

    Reply
  2. David May 9, 2009 at 03:23

    Perfect directions. I am a happy man again. Thank you.

    Reply
  3. Janis June 2, 2009 at 15:38

    I HATE,HATE,HATE IE8 and couldn’t figure out where to unistall it until I found your blog. Thank a million.

    Reply
  4. John June 14, 2009 at 09:18

    I naively upgraded to IE8, and it would not even open. Fortunately, I also have a computer from my employer which allowed me to find these instructions, and now I\’m OK on IE7. Thank you very, very much!

    Reply
  5. Emanuel July 1, 2009 at 20:14

    thank you so much….
    idk why they made IE8 so scuky…

    Reply
  6. Mike Smith August 24, 2009 at 04:27

    Internet Explorer 8 is as stable as Opera and Firefox. it does not crash a lot like IE7.

    Reply
  7. Taylor September 2, 2009 at 05:03

    i am pretty much satisfied about the features and stability of Internet Explorer 8. it is much better than IE6 or IE7.

    Reply
  8. Pete Puckett September 7, 2009 at 15:18

    I want to uninstall IE8 but nothing frickin works now. I can open the start menu but clicking on anything provides no response exccept that the hour glass comes up for 20-25 seconds then the all icons disappear for a few seconds, come back and everything is just the same. I have spybot but cannot open it to get rid or adjust it. I cannot initialize the run command either. Any program I try to open does not open. Sure is a nice looking desktop though. I have two other computers that are connected to the internet and run just fine. (Presumably w IE7) Can I download something on a zip and see if it will help?

    Reply
  9. Pete Puckett September 7, 2009 at 15:57

    I wasn’t able to uninstall because control panel won’t even open. I have clicked on system restore but it just pauses a few seconds and goes back to the desk top. All this began last Thursday when I downloaded IE8 because of a Facebook prompt.

    Reply
    • Carbonize September 7, 2009 at 16:16

      As your computer is starting up (before the Windows logo appears) press F8 and it will give you the option to start your computer in safe mode. Safe mode is basically Windows but without a lot of th eextras running. See if you can do a restore or remove IE8 that way.

      Reply
  10. Pete Puckett September 7, 2009 at 17:22

    Well, I did get it to start in safe mode but alas and alack I get the same response on anything I click. It pauses for a few seconds and returns to the display without opening the program. From the start menu I can get ALL PRograms but again when I go to Accessories then System Restore (or any .exe nothing happens. There were other option in the safe start up window. Any that could help?

    Reply
  11. Pete Puckett September 7, 2009 at 17:36

    Actually I just went back to look and Add/remove screen was looking back at me. Apparently just takes forever to load. I went to the IE8 tab but it does not display a button to remove it. It only gives me a link to Microsoft support page. Hmmm.

    Reply
  12. Pete Puckett September 7, 2009 at 21:34

    Ok I followed the link you gave me and I realize now that I need to uninstall Service Pack 3 first. That is in Add/Remove so I initiated the remove feature for SVC Pask 3 but in the end after several minutes of looking and checking. a warning appears saying:”The system cannot find the file specified” The title of the dialogue box is Service Pack 3. Well it shows it to be there in the Add/Remove window. I loaded it (after the IE8)hoping it would solve my problem (No)So any ideas? How can I remove Svc pack 3 if Uninstall can’t find it? Happy Labor Day by the way!

    Reply
  13. Pete Puckett September 7, 2009 at 22:30

    All of the options to remove SP3 require using the RUN feature and typing in a command. The run feature does not work. I’m going to the computer store. Sorry for the inconvenience

    Reply
  14. Acnerdz September 11, 2009 at 16:37

    Internet Explorer 8 seems to be the best browser for me. I can open more than 20 windows simultaneously without crashing. IE7 and IE6 is unstable that if you open more than windows at a time it just freezes or causes the blue screen.

    Reply
  15. Pamela October 22, 2009 at 04:11

    Internet Explorer 8 is so much better than the previous version of internet explorer browser. it is more stable and loads faster.

    Reply
  16. Razel November 2, 2009 at 05:45

    i love Internet Explorer 8 because it is so much stable that the previous versions of IE. IE7 sometimes freezes and causes blue screens on my PC.

    Reply
  17. Garry February 18, 2010 at 02:22

    Ok, I got it working now. Thank you very much for your help. I just hope it stays stable now.

    Reply

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