Comp Gurus: how do I remove the IE stink from my computer...

[Pretzellogic]

...because, from what I read, it can't be done. If you trash everything related to Internet Explorer, it will be reloaded. I really hate windows.

I would also like to remove the message program as well, but it won't let me. ARGH! I don't want your bad programs, stop trying to force them on me.

I just want my computer to run as well as possible. ANy help is appreciated.

 

[1Canuck2]

You can't remove IE but you can remove Messenger.
To remove Messenger, go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs
Then press the Add/Remove Windows Components button

Windows Messenger is one of the choices and ti can be smoked.

IE is there for good as Windows Explorer and other Windows interfaces use it.

You don;t have to surf thr web with IE though. The best alternative right now is Mozilla FireFox, it absolutely rocks and is head and shoulders above Netscape or Mozilla and has many IE like features (and more).

 

[batmang]

to keep msn messenger from starting up, do a start>run, type in msconfig, click on the Startup. in their make sure MSMSGS is unchecked, that is the preinstalled windows messenger service. msnmsgr is msn messenger which will by default boot with windows, uncheck that one if you dont want msn messenger starting when you boot your pc.

as for removing IE, you cant really remove it, its PART of windows itself. windows explorer, IS internet explorer. if you dont want to use internet explorer, just install another web browser; netscape, firefox, etc.

i recommend firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

 

[Pretzellogic]

I'm actually using firefox to write this message. I love it. I still get the occasional pop-up from internet explorer, though. Bugs the hell out of me.

 

[Sir Nuke]

well you have already been told...but its true...IE is molded into the windows software....it shares files....if you were able to remove every file that runs IE...windows would stop working as well. This is ONE of the things that good ol' Bill was being sued over.....and the attempt was to make him seperate them....Bill Won this one....you are just stuck with IE in your computer, that is till you start using a different OS.......just don't use it. When I first started computing, IE was only in version 3....and it totally sucked, there were tons of stuff you couldn't do on the web with it....and Netscape was there and did it all. I used Netscape for years.

 

[orangezoom]

to keep msn messenger from starting up, do a start>run, type in msconfig, click on the Startup. in their make sure MSMSGS is unchecked, that is the preinstalled windows messenger service. msnmsgr is msn messenger which will by default boot with windows, uncheck that one if you dont want msn messenger starting when you boot your pc.

as for removing IE, you cant really remove it, its PART of windows itself. windows explorer, IS internet explorer. if you dont want to use internet explorer, just install another web browser; netscape, firefox, etc.

i recommend firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Hey this is great, I thank you for this nice suggestion. I hate having to close that every time the computer starts, I wish I knew about computers like some of you guys, and girls.

 

[jred321]

I'm actually using firefox to write this message. I love it. I still get the occasional pop-up from internet explorer, though. Bugs the hell out of me.

internet explorer doesn't cause popups...

 

[1Canuck2]

IE doesn't cause pop-ups, but it allows them to be spawned and includes no facility to easily stop them, thus your favourite porn site takes advantage of this nad kills you with pop-ups of a woman being humped by a dog (not that that has ever happened to me).

Newer browsers like Firefox, as well as some add-on utilities for the likes of IE, include the ability to block pop-up code from running, and are thus a nice thing. Pop-up free porn is just around the corner.

 

[jred321]

here, let me help with stopping popups http://www.download.com/Ad-aware/3000-8022-10214379.html?tag=lst-0-1

 

[1Canuck2]

Ad-aware won't stop all pop up, it rmoeves spyware that causes the ongoing pop-ups that occur when you are not surfing, but when surfing, pops-ups can be triggered by the sites you visit, and ad-aware won't help.

It is a good tool, an essential part of keeping your PC clean, as is an AV program, but FireFox and some pop-up blockers are doing something different in that they aim to kill website pops from page visits.

 

[jred321]

doesn't the google toolbar too?

 

[1Canuck2]

Yeah, I think so but I don't use it.

 

[niv]

the google toobar works pretty dang good actually. that and norton internet security...i don't get pop up's anymore

 

[Newf]

you can actually remove msn messenger completely.

1. Start / Run
2. Then enter in the following string: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
3. Hit enter and read the pop up box.

That's it, done, it's gone






and another trick

By default, WindowsXP does not display all the programs you can add or remove.
To show this list:

Edit the \Windows\Inf\sysoc.inf file

In the Components section, simply remove the word hide.
This will leave two commas together (like on the rest of the items).
Then you can go to the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / Add/Remove Windows Components and the new items will be displayed.

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7


Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

 

[Pretzellogic]

By default, WindowsXP does not display all the programs you can add or remove.
To show this list:

Edit the \Windows\Inf\sysoc.inf file

In the Components section, simply remove the word hide.
This will leave two commas together (like on the rest of the items).
Then you can go to the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / Add/Remove Windows Components and the new items will be displayed.

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7


Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

Thanks for the first tip. I didn't follow you on the second one. Can you explain how to do this in a little more detail. Where do I find this file, and how to I edit it?

 

[rubixcubix]

another quick and dirty way to kill windows messenger is to edit the registry
start>run
regedit
then remove it from where ever it is listed in there (i forget where, its been a while, but you can find it if you dig a little) just becareful inthere, the registry is not something you want to mess up, but just knocking out windows messanger doesnt hurt anything

 

[jred321]

Thanks for the first tip. I didn't follow you on the second one. Can you explain how to do this in a little more detail. Where do I find this file, and how to I edit it?

im in w2k right now, so this might not be exactly right, but it was there in w2k. c:/windows/inf/sysoc.inf . just open it, it'll open with notepad or something like that. edit it, click save.

 

[Pretzellogic]

im in w2k right now, so this might not be exactly right, but it was there in w2k. c:/windows/inf/sysoc.inf . just open it, it'll open with notepad or something like that. edit it, click save.

I'm running Win XP, and I can't find the "inf" folder.

 

[jred321]

i just checked at home, it's a hidden folder. tools->folder options->view tab->show hidden files or folders

 

[Pretzellogic]

i just checked at home, it's a hidden folder. tools->folder options->view tab->show hidden files or folders

Uh, where is the "tools" folder. My file search is not working, and I cant find it in the windows folder.