How to completely remove Internet Explorer 6 from XP system?
I am still beta testing this procedure, but so far, it has worked well. Try it at your own risk, I recommend doing this on a newly loaded computer, one that you can crash if needed.
Copy the following onto a floppy as a .txt file. You will need it to delete the files. Now, keep reading.
You will need
A. A hard drive with windows 2000 sp1 or lower
B. The XP drive you want to IE remove IE remove from
C. Bios access to set the boot drive.
D. A copy of windows 98 or just IE 4.
Boot up windows 2000. Run Regedit.exe, make sure it is selected to My Computer. do a search for SFCDisable. Change the value of this to ffffff9d. Reboot the computer. (this disables windows file protection.)
Now, Double Click "my computer", go to "tools", "folder options", View, and un-check the following:
*Hide extensions for known file types
*Hide protected operating system files, click "yes" to the dialogue box
*Show Popup description for folder and desktop items
Check the following:
*Display the full path in the title bar
*Display the full path in the address bar
*Show hidden files and folders
Hit "apply"
Shut down.
Add the XP drive.
Make sure bios is set to boot to the drive that has 2000 on it.
Boot to 2000.
NOW, the easy part:
I am assuming that if you want to remove IE you also want to rid your computer of virus express (outlook express). Do this first, then IE.
Go to start, search-for files and folders. Point the "look in" bar to the XP drive only (usually "d")
Now, search and destroy... Do these in groups. Copy paste the line of filenames into the search box. Hit search. Wait for the searching to stop. Look at the list to see that mistaken files didn't get found. (yes, you want to delete the .pf files) Do edit, select all. Right click on the selection, delete. The files may not instantly disappear from the screen. Empty the recycle bin. Now hit search again. The files should be gone. Do the same for all of the below groups.
Virus(outlook) express/Outlook
Group 1: inetcomm.dll, msoeacct.dll, msoert2.dll, msoe.dll, msoeres.dll, msimn.exe
Group 2: oeimport.dll, oemiglib.dll, oemig50.exe, setup50.exe, wab.exe, wabfind.dll
Group 3: wabimp.dll, wabmig.exe, csapi3t1.dll, directdb.dll, wab32.dll, wab32res.dll
Group 4: msoe.txt (not necessary but for my own satisfaction)
Internet Exploder (IE 4,5,6 and possibly 7)
Basic IE files:
Group 1: iexplore.exe, HMMAPI.DLL, INSTALL.INS, trialoc.dll, icwconn1.exe, icwdl.dll, icwres.dll
Group 2: icwutil.dll, icwx25c.dun, msicw.isp, phone.ver, icwconn2.exe, icwhelp.dll, icwrmind.exe
Group 3. icwx25a.dun, inetwiz.exe, msn.isp, state.icw, icwconn.dll, icwip.dun, icwtutor.exe, icwx25b.dun
Group 4: isignup.exe, phone.icw, support.icw
Extended background files to delete:
Group 1: actxprxy.dll, cdfview.dll, iepeers.dll, iesetup.dll, ieuinit.inf, iexplore.exe, imgutil.dll
Group 2: inetcpl.cpl, instcplc.dll, mshta.exe, mshtml.dll, mshtmled.dll, mshtmler.dll, msident.dll
Group 3: msidntld.dll, msieftp.dll, occache.dll, sendmail.dll, tdc.ocx, webcheck.dll
Group 4: wininet.dll
Search for and Manually delete url.dll. You may also find libcurl.dll (open office file) and msdaurl.dll which should not be deleted.
You do not need them to boot, but it is recommended you replace the following, as they are critical to the functionality of some programs, like wincue for winamp, yahoo messenger, etc.
Place these in the XP drive/windows/system32 folder
wininet.dll - extract from windows 98. Version 4.72.3110.0 tests ok
url.dll - extract from windows 95c (ie3) Version 4.70.0.1155 tests ok
urlmon.dll - extract from your windows 2000 installation.
OK, thats it. Make sure there are none of the deleted files left in the XP dll cache.
Say your prayers.
Shut down windows 2000.
Remove the hard drive.
Set bios to boot to the only remaining drive.
Boot XP.
Log on.
Once booted, go to My computer, type http://www.google.com. If connected to the internet, a window should popup asking you where you want to save it at. Or, nothing happens at all. I have had some configuations in which an "explorer has generated errors" dialogue will occurr, and explorer will reboot and refresh the desktop. These are ALL SIGNS of successful removal of IE. Install your own browser, Opera 7.2 works best, Mozilla Firefox is also great. Short of mozilla creating a fake activex, you are completely immune to spyware and popup generators. Just try to install istbar - it won't install, but will crash and burn trying! 180searchassistant (msbb.exe) will try eating 100 percent of your cpu, the generate errors and die. But, you'd have to get it through a non-activex installer. Good luck. (rosoft audio tools used to do this, crashed many radio station systems!)
Have fun !
