XPLite ... Can you REALLY remove IE from XP?

[WorknMan]

Oh yeah, I used to use that (98lite) like 10 years ago when I still tormented myself with a 9x kernal.
There is no way to remove IE from MODERN OSs.
Its so wedged into them, even if you could take it out, your OS would take a crap ...


I noticed that you made that post back in July. However, they have now released a version that works in Win2k/XP. I've been told that there are programs/scripts that will let you download Windows Update stuff without IE. I've also been told that you can use the Gecko ActiveX control and embed it into the OS so that it works like IE.
I know for a fact that the first statement is strue, but I have no idea bout the second. I guess you could investigate it if you wanted to, depending on how bad you wanted to get rid of IE. But as far as I'm concerned, my PC runs fine with IE on it, so I'm not worried about it.

[Shane R. Monroe]

We've looked into XPLite ... It claims to remove it, but it doesn't.

Believe me, we tried.

[Bryan 'KidHype' Smith]

XPLite is of the devil. I ended up doing a system restore rollback because of the damge it did

1) Turning off IE did not do anything. You can still type in a web address from the Explorer window and get to Windows Update as well as browse. That means IE is still there. I think it uninstalls IE like M$ uninstalls IE in XP Service Pack 1

2) At first i thought it was because of the IE removal but Shane never tried the IE removal but XPLie breaks the shell replacement program that we both use called Directory Opus. Not only did it default back to the default shell when you did right click and select, "Open with Dopus" the window was not drawn correctly (and this is WITHOUT USING THEMES!) bad XPLite BAD!!!

3) The final straw. It broke the ability to click on links in The Bat. Popup box said, "Your Browser not found"

I am sorry, another reason why XPLite is full of shit, they say fixing your system back to the way you want it is as simple as rechecking the boxes of components you uninstalled. Thats a bunch of bullshit, it does put back what it removed, but doesnt unbreak what it broke. Like i said, thank God they have enough common sense to set a system restore point before breaking your pc or i would be on fire right now.

I choose to pass on this product at this time.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I didn't attempt to remove IE, so I experienced none of the problems that Bryan experienced.

If you try this program, don't attempt to remove IE.

However, the program works well otherwise. My ONLY complaint was that it took HTTP association away from Opera after the process was over (maybe the problem Bryan had with The Bat links).

I could say "screw this program", but since it gainfully removed Messenger, Outlook, and tons of other crap without incident, I'll still recommend it - if you go in with eyes open (the program makes restore points).

[WorknMan]

Why would you care about removing Messenger and Outlook Express? I understand the implications of removing Internet Explorer rather than just the executable, but is there really any more to Messenger and OE than just their executables? And even if there was, what sort of benefits do you gain by removing them from your system (other than hard drive space, which is plentiful anyway)?
I would guess that as far as OE is concerned, as long as you don't use it, you should have no security issues. (And, as I've said before, Outlook Express, when properly set up, is about as secure as anything else.)

As for XPLite, I was under the impression that you could not remove IE in the demo version, or else I'd try it on a freshly formatted XP to see if I could duplicate the issues that Bryan had with it.

[Shane R. Monroe]

The idea is to remove programs that constantly take over associations or cause problems.

Like goddamn WMP 7+ ...

[WorknMan]

The idea is to remove programs that constantly take over associations or cause problems.

Have never had a problem with either of the 2 programs mentioned taking over file associations. And in the case of Messenger, what kind of file associations are available for it to take over anyway?


Like goddamn WMP 7+ ...

Are you saying you removed WMP8? If so, how do you play WMP video files without hte player? Does Windows Media Classic have the capability to play those files? I read that it can play Real media, but you have to have Real One installed to make that work. Of course, I just found this out about 5 minutes ago, so I'm definitely gonna try it cuz RealOne just sucks ass :)

[DaMenace]

There's prolly a way or plugin for other media players beside Media Player Classic to be able to view windows media videos..
I once got a plugin for Winamp 2 that let me watch Quicktime movies on it..

[Shane R. Monroe]

I refuse to watch WMV. Anytime I've had no choice, MP6.4 has played it anyway.

There are "Real" and "Quicktime" alternatives - which basically hack the codec into the system so you can use any codec player can play them.