How to Manually Uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0

ID: Q175610

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01 for Windows 95

SUMMARY

This article describes how to manually uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows 95 when you are unable to uninstall Internet Explorer with the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel, or the Ieremove.exe tool.

NOTE: The steps in this article cannot be used to uninstall Internet Explorer from Microsoft Windows 98 or to uninstall Internet Explorer 5 from any version of Windows. For more information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q186751 Cannot Remove Microsoft Internet Explorer from Windows 98
NOTE: Do not follow the steps in this article if you have not tried to uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0 by using the steps described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:
Q174265 How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0
Q166313 Removing Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows 95 Using Ieremove.exe


MORE INFORMATION

To uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0 after trying the steps in the articles listed above, use the following steps.

NOTE: If the Windows Desktop Update is not installed on your computer, or if Windows 95 does not start, skip to step 4.

NOTE: Make sure to have your original Windows 95 disks or CD-ROM available before you begin these steps.

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs.


  2. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, and then click Add/Remove.


  3. Click Remove the Windows Desktop Update component, but keep the Internet Explorer 4.0 Web browser, click OK, and then click OK.

    NOTE: Even though you are unable to uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0, the option to uninstall the Windows Desktop Update should be available in the Add/Remove programs tool. If you cannot uninstall the Windows Desktop Update with the Add/Remove programs tool, you must extract Explorer.exe and Shell32.dll from the original Windows 95 disks or CD-ROM. See step 5.


  4. If you installed Windows 95 from CD-ROM and you are using real-mode CD-ROM drivers (therefore you can access your CD-ROM drive in MS-DOS), skip to step 5. If you installed Windows 95 from CD-ROM and you are not using real-mode CD-ROM drivers (therefore you cannot access your CD-ROM drive in MS-DOS), extract the Explorer.exe and Shell32.dll files to a temporary folder. For information about how to extract files, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:


    5. Q129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files
  5. Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press F8, and then choose Command Prompt Only. Type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:
    cd windows\system
    ren inetcpl.cpl inetcpl.old
    ren ole2.dll ole2.old
    ren ole32.dll ole32.old
    ren oleaut32.dll oleaut32.old
    ren olepro32.dll olepro32.old
    ren olethk32.dll olethk32.old
    ren setupwbv.dll setupwbv.old
    ren softpub.dll softpub.old
    ren stdole2.tlb stdole2.old
    ren urlmon.dll urlmon.old
    ren wininet.dll wininet.old
    ren wintrust.dll wintrust.old
    ren shdocvw.dll shdocvw.old
    ren shlwapi.dll shlwapi.old


    6. NOTE: This procedure assumes you do not have files with these names with the .old extension. If you do have files with these names with the .old extension, use a file name extension that is not currently in use.

    If you cannot uninstall the Windows Desktop Update from the Add/Remove Programs tool, type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:
    cd \<windows>\System
    ren shell32.dll shell32.old
    cd \<windows>
    ren explorer.exe explorer.old
    From the original Windows 95 disks or CD-ROM, extract the Explorer.exe file to the Windows folder and then extract the Shell32.dll file to the Windows\System folder. To do so, use the appropriate method:

    NOTE: If you extracted the Explorer.exe and Shell32.dll files to a temporary folder in step 4, copy the Explorer.exe file from the temporary folder to the Windows folder, copy the Shell32.dll file from the temporary folder to the Windows\System folder, restart your computer, and then skip to step 6.

    Windows 95 CD-ROM

    Insert the Windows 95 CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:
    extract /a drive:\win95\win95_02.cab explorer.exe /l windows
    extract /a drive:\win95\win95_02.cab shell32.dll /l windows\system
    where drive is the drive letter assigned to your CD-ROM drive.

    Windows 95 Floppy Disks

    Insert the Windows 95 floppy disk 2 into the floppy disk drive, and then type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command
    extract /a drive:\win95_02.cab explorer.exe /l windows
    extract /a drive:\win95_02.cab shell32.dll /l windows\system
    where drive is the floppy disk drive letter.

    For more information about using the Extract tool, type extract at a command prompt, or see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    Q129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files
  6. Reinstall Windows 95. To do so, insert floppy disk 1 (or the Windows 95 CD-ROM) into the appropriate drive, and then type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command
    drive
    setup
    where drive is either the drive letter assigned to your CD-ROM, or the floppy disk drive letter.


    7. Click No when you receive the following prompt:
    A file being copied is older than the file currently on your computer. It is recommended that you keep your existing file.

    File name: filename.ext
    Description: description of file
    Your version: version number

    Do you want to keep this file?
  7. After Setup finishes, reinstall Internet Explorer 3.02.


    8. Click No when you receive the following prompt:
    A file being copied is older than the file currently on your computer. It is recommended that you keep your existing file.
    NOTE: If Internet Explorer 3.02 is not available to you for reinstallation, or if reinstalling it does not resolve the issue, try reinstalling Internet Explorer 4 in a new folder. For example, if Internet Explorer 4 was installed in the "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer" folder, try reinstalling it in the C:\IE4 folder. This substitutes for reinstalling Internet Explorer 3.02.
You can now reinstall Internet Explorer 4. To completely remove Internet Explorer 4 from your computer, reinstall Internet Explorer 4, and then uninstall Internet Explorer 4. For information about reinstalling Internet Explorer 4, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q170993 How to Install Internet Explorer and Troubleshoot Setup Problems
For additional information about substituting Internet Explorer 4.0 for Internet Explorer 3.02 and Internet Explorer 4.0 Setup does not work, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q189679 Error Message: Setup Was Unable to Install All the Components
Q174549 Reinstalling Windows 95 with Internet Explorer 4.0

Additional query words: 3.00 ie4 manual uninstalling

Keywords : kbsetup msiew95
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,4.01
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto


Last Reviewed: October 21, 1999
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