Does Firefox Need IE Installed?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeff
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeff

I run XPHome, SP2, and all the updates. I also run IE6.0 and Firefox
1.0.6. I prefer IE.

I thought I'd heard somewhere that Firefox needs IE to run. Is this true?

Also, I'd heard that IE cannot be uninstalled. Can it? I know that that
may cause havoc, and some websites can only be rendered with IE.

And finally, my friend has done may different intallations of Linux, and he
says that they came with Firefox. If that's so, that would indicate the
Firefox doesn't need IE to run.
 
Jeff,

Firefox does NOT need IE to run (who told you that?) but you should keep IE
installed for the reasons you mentioned but also because MS does not allow
other browsers on Windows Update...

It is impossible to uninstall IE in Windows XP.

Zee
 
As far as I know and assume Firefox does not need IE to run. IE is not just
one big program. It uses a multitude of libraries (dll files). The most
important is mshtml.dll - IE's html rendering engine

If you remove IE from you win pc it will cause havoc as many other programs
rely on IE components, notably HTML Help files.

Both FireFox and IE have options to make either browser the default browser
program so it is best to leave all components for both browsers installed on
your machine.

However I have had the experience of making Firefox my default browser and
then switching back to IE, to find that IE had not been returned as the
default browser.

IE is not perfect and it has vunerabilities compared to Firefox, but so long
as you have anti-virus software and a firewall then I have found IE to be
benign and safe. Most ISP's now provide downloads for free-ware anti-virus
and firewall software and your Xp Home machine has a security console (on
the Control Panel) that provides links to places where you can download and
install recommended anti-spy software and firewalls.

There are other browsers out there that use the IE components and have
additional features missing from the current version of IE. Do a search for
the Avant Browser or the DeepNet browsers.
 
Rob Parsons said:
However I have had the experience of making Firefox my default browser and
then switching back to IE, to find that IE had not been returned as the
default browser.
Click to expand...

Did you use Set Program Access and Defaults to restore the default browser
to IE? I did that on Win2K and it worked flawlessly.
 
Internet Explorer and Firefox are two, separate browsers and have absolutely
nothing to do with one another.
You don't need one to operate the other. They are both merely a means to the
internet.
You cannot uninstall Internet Explorer as it is a part of Windows. If you
have the current version of I.E.( 6.0), you can uninstall that so as to
revert to an earlier version, but you cannot remove it altogether.
Not sure what your connection to Linux-Firefox-I.E. Firefox may indeed be
the default browser for Linux, but that means nothing. If you have access
to the Internet, you can always download a different browser as long as the
OS supports it.
 
As far as I know and assume Firefox does not need IE to run. IE is not
just one big program. It uses a multitude of libraries (dll files).
The most important is mshtml.dll - IE's html rendering engine

If you remove IE from you win pc it will cause havoc as many other
programs rely on IE components, notably HTML Help files.

Both FireFox and IE have options to make either browser the default
browser program so it is best to leave all components for both
browsers installed on your machine.

However I have had the experience of making Firefox my default browser
and then switching back to IE, to find that IE had not been returned
as the default browser.

IE is not perfect and it has vunerabilities compared to Firefox, but
so long as you have anti-virus software and a firewall then I have
found IE to be benign and safe. Most ISP's now provide downloads for
free-ware anti-virus and firewall software and your Xp Home machine
has a security console (on the Control Panel) that provides links to
places where you can download and install recommended anti-spy
software and firewalls.

There are other browsers out there that use the IE components and have
additional features missing from the current version of IE. Do a
search for the Avant Browser or the DeepNet browsers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification re: IE/Firefox.

I've got all my machines behind a router, firewalls, on-access and on
demand (purchased) virus scanners, and anti-spyware (AdAware, Spybot
Search & Destroy). I use HiJackThis and occassionally on-line scanners.
I also configured IE with security in mind.

I haven't been burned by viruses or trojans, or spyware.

I have no intentions of changing browsers, but I was curious about what
I'd heard about IE/Firefox. I do like the tabbed browsing in Firefox.
 
Hi Gary.

I am using Win2K (pro) also and on my first attempt I did use Set Program
Access and Defaults.

The symtoms were then that when I launched a link (from say outlook mail
item) Firefox would first of all start and then IE would start. Both
browsers would navigate to the selected link!

When I checked out the http and https protocol keys in the registry I found
that the DDE key value had been changed back to refer to IE to launch links
but that the Command key value had remained pointing to Firefox. Needles to
say the fix was easy, but it seems strange that it did not occur for you.

It may well have been that I also used the options in IE Internet Options to
'check that IE is the default browser'.

Now IE is back as the default browser all is good so I have not worried
about it any more.

Regards.
 
I guess this is another illustration of the principle that there are many
ways for things to get fouled up, but only one way to get them right.


Rob Parsons said:
Hi Gary.
Click to expand...
I am using Win2K (pro) also and on my first attempt I did use Set Program
Access and Defaults.
Click to expand...
The symtoms were then that when I launched a link (from say outlook mail
item) Firefox would first of all start and then IE would start. Both
browsers would navigate to the selected link!
Click to expand...
When I checked out the http and https protocol keys in the registry I found
that the DDE key value had been changed back to refer to IE to launch links
but that the Command key value had remained pointing to Firefox. Needles to
say the fix was easy, but it seems strange that it did not occur for you.
Click to expand...
 
I run XPHome, SP2, and all the updates. I also run IE6.0 and
Firefox
1.0.6. I prefer IE.

I thought I'd heard somewhere that Firefox needs IE to run.
Is this true?

Also, I'd heard that IE cannot be uninstalled. Can it? I
know that that
may cause havoc, and some websites can only be rendered with
IE.

And finally, my friend has done may different intallations of
Linux, and he
says that they came with Firefox. If that's so, that would
indicate the
Firefox doesn't need IE to run.
Click to expand...

You used to be able to get IE for Linux, but it was (not supprisingly)
enormasly unpopulare, and so development stopped. Firefox dose not
need IE, infact I recomend you disabled IE.
 
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