Install and Uninstall Internet Explorer 8

Internet Explorer 8 is currently the latest form of Microsoft’s browser and is available as a beta test version. It follows on from version 7, which introduced tabbed browsing in response to growing competition from Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and others. Version 8 has further improvements including a redesigned interface, RSS feeds and a search box.

How to Install Internet Explorer 8

Before installing Internet Explorer 8, you will need to determine if it is still a beta test version. If it is, then it isn’t in its final release form and so there may be some instabilities and possible conflicts. However, it has reached beta 2 and so most of these problems should be resolved by now.

You also need to be sure that your system can support Internet Explorer 8. In general, it can only be installed on later versions of Windows – Vista, XP and Server 2003 and 2008. These should also have the latest service packs installed, which need to be final versions.

You should also look at the release notes for Internet Explorer 8 because there may be issues that you need to know about. These may have workarounds that you can use if they occur during or after installation.

If you decide to go ahead, download Internet Explorer 8 from the Microsoft website. You will need to choose the version of Windows to which you are installing and can only install if you have a genuine version of the operating system.

Follow the instructions to download and install Internet Explorer 8. If the installation fails, possibly due to the version of Windows, a message will tell you why it was unsuccessful and an installation troubleshooting guide is available from the Microsoft knowledgebase. Otherwise, the installation will complete and you can restart your computer and open Internet Explorer 8.

How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 8

Having installed the new version of the browser, you may want to delete Internet Explorer 8, either because it is causing you problems or since you plan to use a different browser altogether. However, Internet Explorer is now considered an integral part of Windows and cannot be removed entirely — at the best, you will roll back to a previous version when you delete Internet Explorer 8. Furthermore, if you are running Windows Vista, Internet Explorer is considered an ‘update’ rather than a program and so does not appear on the list of programs.

To uninstall Internet Explorer 8 from Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, select Add or Remove Programs at the Control Panel, choose Internet Explorer 8 at the list of programs and click Remove. For Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, select Programs and Features at the Control Panel, then click the View Installed Updates link. Choose Internet Explorer 8 at the link and click UnInstall this update to delete Internet Explorer 8. In either case, you will revert to the previous browser version.

The reason you can’t get rid of Internet Explorer altogether is that parts of it are used by the operating system and so removing it will cause problems.