Installing IE7

After 5 long years -- which they surely regret -- Microsoft is bringing Internet Explorer into the 21st Century. It's a nice browser, comparable to Firefox and more secure than IE 6.

Right now, installation is the crux of the matter for most people. IE7 makes major changes to Windows because they are so intertwined. The upgrade has gone well for most people, but there is a chance that IE will break one or more of your programs.

It could even wreck Windows for you. I upgraded the club's Medion desktop to IE7, and after that, it would not start. Instead I got the error message "NTLDR is missing."
I did manage to fix it.

You will want to install IE7. The security improvements are important -- even if it's not your primary browser. Many other programs use IE in the background. They'll use whatever is installed. You don't want them using IE 6. ;-)

Preparing and installing

Update: Another take on installing IE7, including problems that people are having with IE7, and troubleshooting advice.

Microsoft tried to make the upgrade to IE7 as foolproof as possible. I'm not sure how goes if you're not a fool. Taking the steps below should reduce problems when installing IE7, no matter where you fit in. ;-)

  1. Don't let Windows Updates do it for you. If you get a notice from automatic updates, just say "No" or "Ask me again". Eitherdownload IE7 (or use a CD),
  2. Make sure your computer meets minimum requirements -- note particularly that you must have Windows XP upgraded to SP2.
  3. Do some exploring (pun intended), starting with the resource links below.
  4. Backup everything you can't afford to loose.
  5. Disable IE 6 Add-ons [Tools in the menu > Manage Add-ons... > disable all the add-ons one-by-one]
  6. Exit or disable security programs -- antivirus, antispyware, and intrusion detection -- that do real time scanning. Do not turn off your firewall.
    Note that just closing your security program's window is not the same as "exit". You may need to use Task Manager to kill some of the background tasks. [Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open > Processes tab > select and "End Process"]
  7. It's good to be online (but close IE 6) while you install IE7.
  8. If you have installed any of the pre-release versions of IE7, for example Beta 3 or RC1, you'll want to read the release notes as well. You might want to read them anyway. :-)
  9. When IE7 installation has finished, enable the add-ons you still want to use.

Now that wasn't bad, was it? ;-)

IE7 resources