I have been trying to uninstall IE7 for an hour and a half now with nothing to show for my efforts.

I have tried everything.

1. Program doesn't show up in Add/Remove programs (despite folder option of "show hidden folders/files" being checked.

2. Tried Microsoft's instructions of typing various things into the run menu, but that doesn't work.

3. Tried going into the registry and changing Dword value to "UserInstalled" but that doesn't work either.

I do not know why they make IE7 so difficult to uninstall.

If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it.

ETA: IE7 doesn't show up in the default add/remove in control panel, in CCleaner's add/remove programs section, or Revo Uninstaller's program either. It is like it doesn't exist except in the Registry. Arrrgghhhh!

It's like stage 4 metastasized cancer, only worse.


Be sure to reboot so the registry changes take effect.


CJ

Microsoft does not want you to uninstall it.

Assuming you are using XP, You have to uninstall service pack 3 first, then you can uninstall IE 7 from add/remove programs, then reinstall service pack 3.


You are welcome

More than likely they put some code in it that will later cause you to need yet more Microsoft stuff so they do not want you to remove it. Thats how Microsoft works. They make you need them.

I should have mentioned that I am using Vista. Arrrgghhh!

If I wasn't so scared of going to something new to me like Linux, I'd do it in a heartbeat. MS making programs difficult to uninstall on purpose really ticks me off.

its b/c IE ties into everything
try uninstalling any IE, most are difficult - some are impossible.

just stop using it & load a real browser.  

There is no way to remove IE7 from vista. You could see about getting the EU version, but IE is integral to Vista.

After some more research I discovered this. Because I have Vista, ridding IE7 is not an option, and IE6 won't run on Vista anyway, only XP, so it will remain.

I use FireFox 100% of the time, but I wanted IE6 because I need an email client and I wanted Outlook Express (not included in IE7).

I really liked Thunderbird, but it would constantly crash while in cahoots with my main web based email service Gmail.

Are there any other stable email clients besides Thunderbird and Outlook express that I could use in a POP3 environment with Gmail?

Why do you need an email client with gmail?

XP is dogshit, just like all microsoft products

every once in a while it gets so fucked up that you have to reformat the hard drive and reinstall everything

now that made everything plug and play it is 10x worse

I think you would be better off reinstalling you operating system and don't install IE7.

I've been playing with Windows 7 and the only mail option from Microsoft is Windows Live Mail. I was a bit skeptical, but so far it has preformed pretty well. It's a decent enough Outlook Express alternative.

If that doesn't for you, there's always Thunderbird.

1. I want real folders, not "conversation labels".

2. I want all email to reside on an email client directly on my computer, not just on google's web site.

3. I think the Gmail notifier deal is piss poor.

4. I want the ability to send read receipts, delivery confirmations, etc. just like the full blown version of Outlook

5. I want an email client to be quietly minimized in the task tray while sending and receiving every 1 or 2 minutes.

ETA: I wasn't aware of the existence of this so called "Live Mail" until the earlier poster pointed it out, so I am now playing with it. It appears to be pretty darned close to Outlook Express, so I may have found a solution.  

Yeah, don't even start using it in my opinion.

My predecessor at this job thought it would be a great idea to foist IE7 on as many machines as she could, damn the consequences.

I'm still reaping the whirlwind on that one with added workload.

Gotta love it!

So, use a LiveCD until you get used to Linux.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_CD

to uninstall ie7
Create a restore point just in case(it can save your ass) then:
go to explorer
click the tools tab>folder options>viewchoose show hidden files(while you're there go ahead and uncheck  hide extensions for known file types  and uncheck hide protected operating system files. click yes when prompted

click apply and then ok.

In explorer , expand local disk(c)
scroll down to WINDOWS and expand
you'll see ie7(in blue) expand,
you'll see a folder called spuninst
click it and in the pane you'll see spuninst.exe. This will uninstall ie7
-you'll see a warning stating that the following programs dependent on ie7 may not function correctly (there will be a list including windows updates,java updates etc) If this is acceptable continue and you'll be back to ie6 in a matter of minutes.

disclaimer -as the saying goes, this is advice is worth what you paid for it but i 've actually did this twice today alone. it does work.