Is It Impossible To Uninstall Internet Explorer ?

[Dr Markus]

I'm using firefox, and wouldn't mind deleting internet explorer to free up some space on my laptop. I did a bit of research on t'internet and.....ok.....i didn't understand most of what was written. So, impossible?

[Uncle Spellbinder]

When I was using Windows, I thought about doing the same thing. But as it takes up no harddisk space at all, uses no memory if not used, I just deleted the shortcut and icon on the taskbar. Same as uninstalling in my book.

[The Dríver]

Nowadays IE is effectively part of the Windows operating system (I think it's integral to Windows Update, for example) and as such, trying to remove it could potentially cause untold havoc. I'd suggest following Uncle Spellbinder's advice and just delete the shortcuts and make sure that Firefox is set as your default.

Bearing in mind that Firefox had a security scare recently it might be worth having something like Opera installed too as an alternative.

[Dr Markus]

Aye I read about that security threat malarkey. My brother who works in computers told me to download an open source operating system as if it’s the done, every day thing nowadays. However he has about 20 years of computing experience behind him and I don’t. Plus I’ll admit I’m a bit afraid because I guess I’m Microsoft works programmed because I’ve been using it since I first starting using computers.

[The Dríver]

Well the security issue with Firefox was fixed pretty damn quick and it's fine now. Bear in mind that a lot of these security flaws won't actually affect the vast majority of users.

Linux/Ubuntu would probably be what your brother is suggesting. I've recently installed it to run alongside Windows on my PC, but I have to admit that even as someone who has reasonable computer skills it was tricky to get the install working correctly. Mind you, now it's there, it's fab.

I realise that this doesn't resolve your disk space issue, but if it's a laptop bought from a high street retailer I wouldn't mind betting that theres' a load of other superfluous software on there taking up space you could otherwise use for something useful...

[JQW]

New machines tend to come installed with all kinds of junk, a lot of it just a demo or time-limited free trial.

Then there's the disk space dedicated to storing the recovery image, around 5 to 15 GB of data that needs to copied to DVD or USB drive before it can be used. Once copied it can usually be free up.

Many vendors also partition the hard drive into two partitions, with one containing the recovery software. In the case of Toshiba, half of the drive space is lost to the recovery partition.

In most cases these recovery partitions can be ignored once the recovery software has been copied off, and the space returned to the main drive. Under Windows 7 you can recover this space with the stand disc utilities whilst running, under earlier Windows versions you need to use an external partitioning tool instead.

[Dr Markus]

but if it's a laptop bought from a high street retailer I wouldn't mind betting that theres' a load of other superfluous software on there taking up space you could otherwise use for something useful...

I’ve deleted/uninstalled one or two things. But to be honest I’d be scared to do that to anything else in case it’s needed.

[The Dríver]

but if it's a laptop bought from a high street retailer I wouldn't mind betting that theres' a load of other superfluous software on there taking up space you could otherwise use for something useful...

I’ve deleted/uninstalled one or two things. But to be honest I’d be scared to do that to anything else in case it’s needed.

Understandable, but worth looking at that same list you look at when you're uninstalling and have a wee glance at the 'last used' date. if it's months/years ago then the likelihood is that it's not essential and it's not something you use, therefore safe to remove. Just steer clear of deleting anything Microsoft or anything you're not sure of that carries the name of your laptop manufacturer and you should be okay. To be on the safe side create a System Restore point before you uninstall anything, then if it all goes horribly wrong you'll be able to revert back to the pre-uninstall position

[wilson]

I used to uninstall IE on every Windows OS up till 7. It was no problem.

Now it doesn't matter.

Go with Chrome and you'll be a happy bunny.

[der nister]

Running a Windows 7 machine I was having all kinds of unstability issues
until i removed Chrome and its tool bar which had piggybacked themselves on
some other update i had needed