Removing IE and OE

My ISP provides customised versions of IE and OE that have their logo and other things embedded. These often cause problems, and I would like to delete them and reinstall a clean version. Control Panel won't let me remove IE, only modify it. Can I remove it any other way, such as through the registry editor? What are the steps to follow? I am using IE6 on Windows 98.

Thanks.

Alistair

 

alistair--You have not told us what the "problems" are.
Have you tried running IE and OE after you have started up your ISP? I did this for many years with AOL. Once AOL (ISP) was up and running I started up the unadulterated IE (which came installed on my PC as OEM) in a separate window. Ran fine--just like normal IE, which it was. It sounds like you already have a full version of IE6 on your PC. But if not, you can download and install it from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
or
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/
.

 

The problems are varied and include lockups, very slow response and corruption of other files such as dial-up networking. Main problem at the moment is response time, regardless of whether I dial in first then start OE or vice-versa. The same versions of IE and OE caused major problems with my laptop, and technicians said that such problems were quite common with the ISP-provided software. Formatting the HD on the laptop fixed that, but I don't want to do that on the PC - I just want to get rid of the applications so I can do a clean reinstall and remove the potential for further problems.

I am running the latest version of IE6, updated from the ISP's OE5.5.

Alistair

 

Here and here.

EDIT: I have just read your follow-up post. Following the above steps will NOT actually solve your problems - it will simply remove the branding from IE.

What do you mean by "slow response times "? Is IE taking a long time to connect? Is it slow to load? Is your connection slower than you would expect?

 

Removing the "branded" IE and OE is all I want to do. I can only relate to my experience with the laptop and the more minor problems with my PC, and the comments of two technicians and a few other users that the ISP's CD-ROM versions of IE and OE should be avoided as they are known to cause problems of the type I describe. Maybe their removal won't help my PC, but I still want to do it.

By slow response time I mean frequent delays from the time I click before anything happens, but also a few times a day I can get no response at all and have to restart IE and OE. After I restart them, all is well for a while.

Alistair

 

The links I posted simply provide instructions as to how to remove ISP branding from within the current installation of IE/OE (ie the name of your ISP being specified within the IE/OE window titles). This branding is *not* the cause of the problems nor will following the instructions provided within the links resolve the problems.

What *can* sometimes cause problems is ISP specific software such as dialler utililities. This can usually be removed via Add/Remove programs and you can then create your own connection using Dial-up Networking in the Control Panel.

Before doing this, I suggest that you check with your ISP as to whether there are any issues in relation to the uninstallation of their software and to establish what settings you need to use when manually configuring your connection.

Did you try running the IE Repair Tool?

 

What Virus Scanner are you using

What Virus scanner are you using ? check it is not set to check all files sometimes changing the setting from just program files to all files can cause a system to slow down .

 

To Brett: Yes, tried the repair tool - no change. Thanks for other suggestions - will try them when I get time.

To Alboy: McAfee VirusScan. Only program files are scanned. Thanks for your thoughts.

Alistair

 

alistair--Assuming you have given your present ISP a chance to solve the problem, it sounds like you should choose a different ISP. Earthlink gets good ratings. I do not feel your problems are with your present ISP's browser, but rather with your ISP's servers, connection speeds, etc.