Solved Is IE8 no longer supported by Win7?

[idahosurge]

I got a new laptop and it has Win7 64b and IE9 on it. All the links I can find at Microsoft for IE8 do not show a download link for Win7 and when you try and use the link for Vista or Server 2008 you get a message that says your OS is not supported.

After googling and searching the net for an hour I finally found a link at SoftPedia, but after I downloaded IE8 and went to install I get the same error message "your OS is not supported". Same results for both the 32b and 64b versions.

I can not stand IE9!

How in the heck do you get IE8 installed on a Win7 computer now?

I have a Win7 desktop and laptop at home with IE8 so I know that you use to be able to install it. The laptop is less than two months old, it came with IE9, but somewhere I got IE8 and installed it. Now I can not find a link to IE8 any place that will work.

Any ideas?

 

[whs]

Yeah, that is a problem. M$ in their infinite wisdom let you only migrate up - but not down. The only way I see is to burn the installation disk, slipstream that and take IE9 out. But make sure you have another browser in the installation disk so that you can download IE8.

 

[stve]

You do not download IE8 its part of Win 7, you have to open Windows update & uninstall IE9 .
You will then have IE8 back.

 

[idahosurge]

This is a Toshiba laptop so there is no installation disk. Also IE9 is not listed under Programs so I can not uninstall it.

There must be a way since on the Clevo laptop I bought less than two months ago I was able to get IE8 installed. It maybe that on the Clevo LT I had a Win7 DVD that installed IE9, but it was listed and I could uninstall it. I really do not remember what I did, but I did get IE8 installed.

 

[seavixen32]

What is it about IE9 that you don't like?

It is far more secure than IE8, but if you really do have an aversion to IE9, have you considered using Google Chrome instead?

 

[Teerex]

As far as I know, it is in the Installed Updates section. Always has been.

Open Windows Update, look to the lower left corner of that window, click Installed Updates and scroll until you find it.

 

[whs]

You do not download IE8 its part of Win 7, you have to open Windows update & uninstall IE9 .
You will then have IE8 back.

If IE9 comes as default, that would not work - I think.

 

[Teerex]

SP1 can be made permanent, but I don't think IE9 can.

 

[Kari]

As far as I know, it is in the Installed Updates section. Always has been.

Open Windows Update, look to the lower left corner of that window, click Installed Updates and scroll until you find it.

Open Control Panel > Uninstall a program > View installed updates (Control Panel Category view) or Control Panel > Programs and features > View installed updates (Control Panel Icon view), select IE9 and uninstall it.



Kari

 

[whs]

Kari, the way I understood, the IE9 came with the intallation - not as an update. That way it would be part of the system and may be difficult to remove. But maybe I am wrong.

 

[roncerr]

...the way I understood, the IE9 came with the intallation - not as an update...

It depends on how one defines "installation". If it's hardcoded into Windows 7 SP1 that's one thing. But if it came with the OP's "Installation" from the company that manufactured the PC, that's another. When Windows 7 first came out a friend of mine was telling me about the new "Dock". Since I never saw that I had to look it up to discover it's really the "Dell Dock", added by Dell, which had no connection to Windows or Microsoft except as an added application.

As far as SP1 is concerned, I added that to my original Windows 7 and it did not upgrade my version of IE. In my case IE9 only appeared as an optional update on Windows Update, and can be easily hidden. But it's easy to install it thinking it's required since Microsoft may call it "important".

 

[Kari]

Kari, the way I understood, the IE9 came with the intallation - not as an update. That way it would be part of the system and may be difficult to remove. But maybe I am wrong.

You are most probably right. Thanks for pointing that out.

Kari

 

[marsmimar]

If IE9 was installed at the factory by Toshiba, and if they removed the uninstall option, I don't think there's any way to uninstall IE9 without doing a reinstall of the operating system (probably using a pre-SP1 full install or upgrade disk so IE8 will be the default browser.)

In the alternative I think the best you can do is turn IE9 off. The core components will remain on your computer so other applications that depend on IE will still function, but IE9 will not be your active browser. So make sure you have another browser (Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc) available.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5023-windows-features-turn-off.html

 

[stve]

If IE9 was installed at the factory by Toshiba, and if they removed the uninstall option,

Why on earth would Toshiba bother to remove the uninstall option , it's probably not even possible.
With Windows 7 to remove IE9 you remove the IE9 update & IE8 is automatically restored.

 

[marsmimar]

Why on earth would Toshiba bother to remove the uninstall option , it's probably not even possible.
With Windows 7 to remove IE9 you remove the IE9 update & IE8 is automatically restored.

IE9 was originally offered as an "update" and updates can usually be uninstalled. Here's a Seven Forums tutorial and the official Microsoft article.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/24373-windows-update-uninstall-update.html

How do I install or uninstall Internet Explorer 9?

Why would Toshiba bother to remove an uninstaller? For the same reason they (along with most manufacturers) install bloatware and otherwise customize a machine. It's their product and they can do whatever they please, even to the point of deciding what's best for the eventual buyer. Like not being able to remove IE9.

If the uninstaller is removed, the update usually cannot be removed without some serious hacking of the system. To that end, I found these old Microsoft forum threads about uninstalling IE9 if it's not listed under installed updates. Disclaimer: use at your own risk.

uninstall ie9 - Internet Explorer 9 is not listed in updates - Microsoft Answers

Methods to Uninstall / Remove IE9 - Microsoft Answers

 

[idahosurge]

You do not download IE8 its part of Win 7, you have to open Windows update & uninstall IE9 .
You will then have IE8 back.

This worked, thanks to all!

The first time I uninstalled IE9 the LT hung up on the "Preparing to configure Windows, do not shut off the computer" screen. After 15 minutes I shut it off with the power button, turned it back on and it went right back to the same screen. After 10 minutes I shut if off again and booted into safe mode. Safe mode said windows update failed and would set the LT back to the last settings. After two more reboots it was back to normal with IE9. Went ahead and tried it again and this time it uninstalled IE9 and updated everything without a hitch.

I now have IE8.

 

[idahosurge]

Kari, the way I understood, the IE9 came with the intallation - not as an update. That way it would be part of the system and may be difficult to remove. But maybe I am wrong.

IE9 was installed on the PC, but was listed under updates. It probably has to do with Toshiba's Win7 install routine.