Is it ok to remove Internet Explorer from my computer?

Win7 Home Prem 32-bit

I use Firefox as my browser of choice but my computer came with Internet Explorer pre-installed.

Is it safe to remove Internet Explorer from my computer completely or will this cause any problems?

Paul

Posted 2010-04-17T08:19:16.003

Reputation: 733

Answers

Windows 7 was built in such a way that uninstalling IE 8 should not affect most programs. (Note that Windows 7 was released with a version without IE in Europe)

However, there will be some legacy applications that may use IE in one way or another. And always there will be some sites that will work properly only in Internet Explorer.

So uninstalling it will have no benefits for you.

Ganesh R.

Posted 2010-04-17T08:19:16.003

Reputation: 4 869

Thanks for replies everyone - i'll leave it where it is then. I guess i should keep it up to date as well. Will Windows Auto Update do this anyway!? – Paul – 2010-04-20T10:21:56.197

@Paul Yes Windows Auto Update will keep your IE and PC up-to-date. – Ganesh R. – 2010-04-21T04:37:16.693

The potential for problems outweigh any rewards, I would think. If you don't want anyone to run the exe there are other ways to do that without removing it from the system.

Using group policy to restrict access to programs (Link shows windows 2000, but the same instructions apply in windows7)

RJFalconer

Posted 2010-04-17T08:19:16.003

Reputation: 9 791

Personally, I wouldn't try to.

I think IE has (or at least used to have) many tie-ins and hooks into to the OS, and removing it could prove problematic.

Simply don't use it would be my advice.

Take a look at this link: MozillaZine

Andy

Posted 2010-04-17T08:19:16.003

Reputation: 1 177

Keep in mind also that many programs are using IE as html engine, and removing it can mean that these programs won't work correctly anymore.

Steam, for example is using it (not for long, though, the next version of the client is based on Webkit).

Gnoupi

Posted 2010-04-17T08:19:16.003

Reputation: 7 909