# Can you use Windows Update with browsers that aren't IE?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-windows-update-with-browsers-that-arent-ie/290163>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 15, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-windows-update-with-browsers-that-arent-ie/290163 "2005-02-15T06:12:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-windows-update-with-browsers-that-arent-ie/290163/1 "2005-02-15T06:12:19Z")

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You know, like Firefox.

Well, can you?

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**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-windows-update-with-browsers-that-arent-ie/290163/2 "2005-02-15T06:34:34Z")

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Apparently not… I just tried it with Firefox. Here’s the text:

> [@](#):
>
> Thank you for your interest in Windows Update
> 
> Windows Update is the online extension of Windows that helps you get the most out of your computer.
> 
> You need to be running a version of Internet Explorer 5 or higher in order to use Windows Update.
> 
> Download the latest version of Internet Explorer
> 
> Once Internet Explorer is installed, you can go to the Windows Update site by typing [http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com](http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) into the address bar of Internet Explorer.
> 
> **If you prefer to use a different Web browser, updates to Windows may be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center**.

Bolding mine.

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**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-windows-update-with-browsers-that-arent-ie/290163/3 "2005-02-15T15:33:38Z")

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Yeah, you can. Just not the way you are asking about. I run updater, take down the names of the files that it needs to download, take them down, then search for the file names in firefoxes google bar, and download them. It it a lot faster for me, then the whole rigamarol of updater.