If you experience a recurring problem when you use Windows Internet Explorer, you may try to repair or reinstall the program to fix the problem. Although this may sound intimidating, this article offers the most direct, trouble-free methods to perform this task. Windows 8.1 and Windows 8. Turn off the Internet Explorer features.
by Martin Brinkmann on September 20, 2013 in Internet Explorer - Last Update: December 31, 2013 - 26 comments
Internet Explorer 11 is a big step forward for the default Windows system browser. It is faster and more standards compliant than any other version of IE. That makes it a prime candidate for an update.
The final version of the browser is however only available on Windows 8.1, a free update for all systems running Windows 8. Microsoft Windows 8 ships with Internet Explorer 10, which is upgraded to IE 11 when Windows 8.1 is installed on the system.
Microsoft has made available preview versions of the browser for Windows 7 which upgrades the existing version of Internet Explorer in the process.
Windows 7, which shipped initially with Internet Explorer 8, will be the only operating system besides Windows 8 that Internet Explorer 11 is made available on.
Windows Vista and earlier systems won't get access to the new version of Internet Explorer at all.
Uninstall Internet Explorer 11
If you have upgraded Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, you will notice that you cannot uninstall Internet Explorer 11. What you can do however is turn the feature off in the operating system.
To do so tap on the Windows key to open the desktop interface. Right-click on the start menu and select Control Panel from the menu.
Here you need to click on Uninstall a program under Programs. A list of installed software is displayed on the page that opens up. Select Turn Windows features on or off located in the left sidebar.
Uncheck the Internet Explorer 11 box and click on ok to complete the process. This won't uninstall the browser but will render it inoperable for the most part. Third party tools may still use the Internet Explorer rendering engine though so keep that in mind.
Uninstall Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7
Windows 7 users can uninstall Internet Explorer 11 on their system. It needs to be noted that this restores the previous version of Internet Explorer that was installed on the system. This can be IE8,9 or 10 depending on whether the browser has been upgraded in the past.
- Click on the start menu and select Control Panel from the menu that opens up.
- Select Uninstall a program under Programs.
- Internet Explorer 11 is not listed in the installed programs listing. It is listed as an update, so select View installed updates from the left sidebar.
- The browser is listed in the Microsoft Windows group. You have two options to find it here. Either click on the first entry and type Inter in rapid succession, or sort the whole listing by date.
This removes Internet Explorer 11 from the Windows 7 system and replaces it with the version of the browser that was installed before it. On my system, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, that was Internet Explorer 8. You can then keep using that browser, or update to Internet Explorer 9 or 10 instead.
You can install the browser again at a later time by downloading the update again from the Microsoft website.
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