Solved What is the purpose of 2 instances of Internet Explorer folders

[jsquareg]

I just discovered I have have two instances of a folder name Internet Explorer on my Win 7 64 bit system drive (C. One is in Program Files and the other in Program Files(X86). Iexplore.exe is in the Program Files folder and not in the X86 one.

What is the purpose of the X86 Internet Explorer folder? Can I get rid of it?

Thank you.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

The x86 one is for 32 bit IE, the other is for 64 bit IE. I think its just a default installation thing, but I'm not sure it should/can be removed.

Regards,
Golden

 

[logicearth]

What is with people always trying to delete things...? D:

 

[AddRAM]

I agree with you Logic. Hey let`s mess up our pc then ask for help on the W7F. Everyone needs to just use their computer and stop messing with it. If your going to experiment you should be doing it on a test pc not your pc you use everyday.

 

[Alejandro85]

IE comes in both 32 and 64 bits, and each of those folders is for those 2 versions. In the default start menu it also includes shortcuts for both versions, each pointing to one folder.

I would not touch either of them. Not because they are useful (why would you need both versions at the same time?), but because IE engine is bundled with Windows in a way that you can't get rid of it, as it's used in many places internally by the system. If you delete one, you risk strange errors in either 32 or 64 bits programs that may happen to use it.

 

[jsquareg]

IE comes in both 32 and 64 bits, and each of those folders is for those 2 versions. In the default start menu it also includes shortcuts for both versions, each pointing to one folder.

I would not touch either of them. Not because they are useful (why would you need both versions at the same time?), but because IE engine is bundled with Windows in a way that you can't get rid of it, as it's used in many places internally by the system. If you delete one, you risk strange errors in either 32 or 64 bits programs that may happen to use it.

Thank you Alejandro85. I don't understand why the 32 bit version in there. My initial installation was the 64 bit version on Win7. What is the 32 bit version of IE doing on my machine. Oh well, it doesn't really matter. I will leave things alone.

Thanks again.

 

[logicearth]

There is a 32 bit version because not everything is 64 bit. 32 bit applications that need IE can only use the 32 bit version, same with plugins. 32 bit version of Flash can only be used in the 32 bit version.