Uh Oh.. I deleted Internet Explorer

boxerrussell · #1 10-25-2006, 12:04 PM

I accidentally deleted our internet explorer on my home computer. My mom was on this morning and a message popped up saying that there was an update available, so she updated it and, of course, had to restart the computer when the update was finished.

After the computer rebooted, she was no longer able to access anything dealing with the internet. A pop-up notice stated that there was a problem and we could send the error or not send. Anyway it remained like this for a few hours so I decided that I would uninstall and reinstall the IE. Well, I got as far as deleting IE but now i'm stuck on how to reinstall it.

Can anyone help me?

Louise501 · #2 10-25-2006, 12:11 PM

Firstly go to your start bar, settings, control panel. In there, go to Add/Remove programs, if you're on XP there will be a tab fpr Add/Remove Windows Components along the side, in anything else it's at the top I think. In there is a list of things, IE being one of them, tick the box and press continue and that should work.

boxerrussell · #3 10-25-2006, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise501

Firstly go to your start bar, settings, control panel. In there, go to Add/Remove programs, if you're on XP there will be a tab fpr Add/Remove Windows Components along the side, in anything else it's at the top I think. In there is a list of things, IE being one of them, tick the box and press continue and that should work.

Thanks. I'll try that when I get home. *cross your fingers!*

boxerrussell · #4 10-25-2006, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sidhewlf

If that doesn't work you should also have it on your original install discs.

Which discs would those be? What would they have on them?

Maddie's dad · #5 10-25-2006, 04:11 PM

I wouldn't reinstall the operating system. You will lose everything if it isn't saved to a cd. Just click start, then programs, then accessories, then system tools, then system restore. It will prompt you to put in a date to restore back to. Just set it back far enough to before the upgrade was installed. Then everything should go back to as it was before. -Jan

**Maniago** · #6 10-25-2006, 04:19 PM

I wouldn't use the restore disk, as said you will loose all data. You could just download IE again.

boxerrussell · #7 10-26-2006, 06:24 AM

Well we couldn't get it back with the add/remove program, and we don't have any discs for the computer. My mom said it all came loaded when we bought it. Our computer has so much crap on it, that we were planning on restoring it anyway, so we're going to buy a couple of those things you plug into the USB port and save everything we want to keep. Then we'll restore it completely. Thanks for your help.

daydreamer · #8 10-26-2006, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxerrussell

I accidentally deleted our internet explorer on my home computer. Anyway it remained like this for a few hours so I decided that I would uninstall and reinstall the IE. Well, I got as far as deleting IE but now i'm stuck on how to reinstall it.

Can anyone help me?

Two things...1) are you in fact running XP? 2) Can you describe the process you used to "delete" IE?

If you did it how I'm thinking you did (finding and deleting any & all files/folders associated with IE), and were unable fix using an earlier system restore point, then it's possible that a complete reinstall may be your only option. However, before doing so I would try the following:

1) Using 'System Restore' attempt to restore to an earlier restore point. If that doesn't work then...

2) Back-up all, or as much of, your data as possible and then attempt to reinstall or repair IE (Warning: Some of the steps in this process, towards the end, may require you to edit/modify the registry so be sure to read in it's entirety). If that doesn't work then...

3) Back-up all, or as much of, your data as possible and reinstall your OS.

Something a lot of people don't realize is how closely integrated IE is into the operating system (OS) and how many programs and OS functions rely on it's code. For example, IE is something that is not only used for browsing the Internet but also your local system (all local drives), any systems connected to your network and it is also has built-in FTP capabilities. For those reasons you won't find (and if you did I'd be interested in hearing about where) that you can simply remove/uninstall IE within XP (2000, NT, ME & 98 are different beasts and in most cases you will find it in the Add/Remove programs list). The reason the suggestion to attempt a reinstall IE from the Add/Remove Windows Components list didn't work for you is because all that option is good for in XP is adding/removing access to IE from the Desktop and Start Menu. In other words, unchecking that box won't necessarily uninstall/reinstall IE from your computer rather it removes/provides access to the program via icons that are accessible on your desktop and in the Start menu. Link that confirms the above information

It sounds as though you may have already made the decision to backup your data (which I'd recommend anyway), cut your losses and start over but I just figured I'd offer up my suggestions anyway. Good luck!

boxerrussell · #9 10-26-2006, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daydreamer

Two things...1) are you in fact running XP?

Well, I can't really say for sure. I was messing with the tutorial for the system last night (don't remember exactly what it was or how I got there), and it showed on the screen "Windows 2000", and then I saw it flash "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition." So I'm not really sure.

Quote:

2) Can you describe the process you used to "delete" IE?

Here are the steps I took: from the c drive; program files; Internet Explorer. Then I right-clicked on the IE link and deleted it. However, since I still couldn't figure out how to reinstall it I went to the recyle bin and restored everything that was deleted. So now I have it back, but we're still having the same problem with it as before I deleted it (something about an unexpected error occuring and needing to shut it down).

Quote:

1) Using 'System Restore' attempt to restore to an earlier restore point. If that doesn't work then...

Mom tried that. We don't have any backed up files to restore to.

Quote:

2) Back-up all, or as much of, your data as possible and then attempt to reinstall or repair IE (Warning: Some of the steps in this process, towards the end, may require you to edit/modify the registry so be sure to read in it's entirety). If that doesn't work then...

I will print the information from that website and take it home to my Ma.

Quote:

3) Back-up all, or as much of, your data as possible and reinstall your OS.

I think we will end up doing this, eventually, even if step #2 works. Our computer is, by technology standards, old. We have so much crap on their that we don't use, it would be easier to restore it back to the original state than to dump what we don't use.

Thanks for all your suggestions guys!

Lola's mum · #10 10-26-2006, 02:57 PM

You shouldn't have to re load the whole OS, just chose to install internet explorer when it gives you the options when you insert the disk.
I've just downloaded internet explorer 7 and boy is it different from 6

If you have msn on your computer couldn't you go to the msn homepage and then once on the net find interent explorer download from microsoft site?