# Is there any way to get rid of IE? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704 "2011-07-03T11:20:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/1 "2011-07-03T11:20:51Z")
I hate Internet Explorer and I want to uninstall it and remove all traces of it from my computer. Is it possible to achieve this? I run Windows XP for home. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/2 "2011-07-03T11:55:40Z")
Windows uses IE for several tasks like My Computer as well as browsing. I think there is a way to remove it, but why not just use another browser as default and ignore IE? There are some web sites that simply won’t work in non-IE browsers, so you might want to keep it around for such emergencies. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/3 "2011-07-03T15:44:41Z")
This is a question that almost led to the breakup of Microsoft. Look up the antitrust case called “United States v. Microsoft”. > **[United States v. Microsoft Corp.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft)** > > United States v. Microsoft Corporation, 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), was a landmark American antitrust law case at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally maintaining its monopoly position in the personal computer (PC) market, primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers (OEMs) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer and use other programs such as Netscape ... IE is so tightly integrated into the OS that I agree with Musicat’s suggestion, unless your religion forbids you to use a computer with IE on it. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/4 "2011-07-03T16:14:47Z")
> [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > I hate Internet Explorer and I want to uninstall it and remove all traces of it from my computer. Is it possible to achieve this? I run Windows XP for home. Thanks. No. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/5 "2011-07-03T16:57:28Z")
poo ☹ Oh, well. Thanks anyway guys. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/6 "2011-07-03T17:01:40Z")
George, I hope you understand that we’re not saying you need to **use** IE. You can use a different browser without actually getting rid of IE. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/7 "2011-07-03T17:34:29Z")
Someone _ **did** _ claim to be able to remove Internet Explorer from Windows. The concept brought out a lot of debate – people said it was impossible, because IE is too integrated into the OS, or at least ill-advised, because it’s needed for other components, which is what Microsoft claimed during EU hearings. But a number of people have done it, and it led to quite a an edit war – both sides grudgingly agree to say that the OS install has been butchered. FWIW, I did run my computer this way following the instructions for a while, and it was a kinda cool thing to do, but sometimes, I do need IE to browse. At any rate, if the OP is as crazy as me, here’s where you can read about it. [http://www.vorck.com/windows/index.html](http://www.vorck.com/windows/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/8 "2011-07-03T22:31:53Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > George, I hope you understand that we’re not saying you need to **use** IE. You can use a different browser without actually getting rid of IE. Oh yeah, that’s understood 🙂 I use Firefox for everyday browsing. It’s just that I’ve got a couple of apps (Napster being one) which somehow seem inextricably linked to IE. In the last couple of days I’ve been getting tons of error messages which basically stop these apps from working. No idea what’s causing them, I think my computer might just be getting old. Anyway, in my frustration I started thinking about the feasibility of removing IE altogether but it sounds like it’s a pretty essential Windows component, so nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/9 "2011-07-03T22:39:17Z")
The IE executable is iexplore.exe. You could always delete that and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/10 "2011-07-04T00:11:09Z")
> [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > Oh yeah, that’s understood 🙂 I use Firefox for everyday browsing. It’s just that I’ve got a couple of apps (Napster being one) which somehow seem inextricably linked to IE. In the last couple of days I’ve been getting tons of error messages which basically stop these apps from working. No idea what’s causing them, I think my computer might just be getting old. Anyway, in my frustration I started thinking about the feasibility of removing IE altogether but it sounds like it’s a pretty essential Windows component, so nevermind. There are Firefox extensions which mimic ie, saving you from opening an extra programme. I’ve never tried it with Napster, and haven’t had to use it for ages, but it always worked for the websites (primarily .gov domains) which only worked in ie. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/11 "2011-07-04T03:01:01Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > There are Firefox extensions which mimic ie, saving you from opening an extra programme. I have IETab extension in my Firefox, but I’m pretty certain it needs IE installed to work. I imagine that others do too. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/12 "2011-07-04T04:25:48Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > The IE executable is iexplore.exe. You could always delete that and see what happens. I hope you are good with a DOS box if you do that… iexplore.exe is Windows Explorer - what you use to access the file system. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/13 "2011-07-04T05:14:29Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > iexplore.exe is Windows Explorer - what you use to access the file system. Really? I thought they were two distinct programs–that Windows Explorer was **explorer.exe**. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/14 "2011-07-04T05:19:44Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Really? I thought they were two distinct programs–that Windows Explorer was **explorer.exe**. They are. **iexplore.exe** is Internet Explorer. **explorer.exe** is Windows Explorer. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/15 "2011-07-04T05:38:26Z")
I need to get an eye exam… but still, there are many, many DLLs that do the heavy lifting of Internet Explorer - and which are critical to the functioning of Windows, so you can’t get rid of it all. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/16 "2011-07-04T07:16:58Z")
You need IE to access Windows Update, without which (arguably) you cannot keep your computer fully secure and stable - I’m not sure if Automatic Update requires IE, but that gives you less control of the process than you get if you use WU. I agree with the others that said to just leave it in place, largely ignored, and use a different browser. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/17 "2011-07-04T10:24:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have IETab extension in my Firefox, but I’m pretty certain it needs IE installed to work. I imagine that others do too. I’m not sure about that, but it saves you opening yet another programme, which can be a problem or older or slow computers, like the one George Kaplin was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/18 "2011-07-04T10:38:02Z")
iexplore.exe is more or less a “wrapper” around the actual web rendering “guts” of Internet Explorer (classically mshtml.dll and shdocvw.dll.) Simply removing iexplore.exe won’t do too much damage but there are other programs out there (Steam, for example) which are hard-coded to open IE for webpages instead of calling the user’s default web browser. So, you’d break those other programs. Getting rid of mshtml.dll and shdocvw.dll will break a ton of stuff, and you _really_ don’t want to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/19 "2011-07-04T10:43:56Z")
There is a really easy way to completely divorce yourself from IE, which I’m surprised nobody has mentioned… [spoiler]Go and live in a cave! (c’mon - you thought it was going to be ‘get a Mac’) [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704/20 "2011-07-04T11:06:23Z")
besides, I don’t get what the issue is anymore. as long as you aren’t dumb enough to still be using Internet Explorer 6, you should be fine. IE 8 is pretty much as good as any browser in terms of security now. and if the problem is that you’re “morally” opposed to the OS vendor embedding an HTML rendering engine into the OS, then don’t use any PC at all. 'cos OS X uses Webkit for more than just Safari, and the two major \*nix desktop environments do the same. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-get-rid-of-ie/587704.md?page=2)