Internet Explorer 6 ... Personality Disorder

  • Thread starter Thread starter WoofWoof
  • Start date Start date
W

WoofWoof

Win2K Pro with windows/IE updates current as of
about a month ago (including the IE6 and IE6-SP1
updates).

I'll describe the problem in two parts which are
presumably related (but who knows?).

Part-1:

- trying to install an app which fails because it
says it requires IE 5.5 or greater (I ostensibly
have IE6 of course).

- check IE Help > About. Curious ... it has a
background graphic that says "Internet Explorer 5"
but the version says "6.0.2800.1106"

- Check another system with same installation and
same update status. It says "Internet Explorer"
(no version on the background graphic) with the
same version number of "6.0.2800.1106". On this
system, the app will install normally.

I see no differences in IE operation between the
two systems and I'm sure the problem system mostly
acts like IE6 but apparently it presents itself as
something of a mix.


Part-2:

- check recent updates. There are 7 critical,
including one (KB890923) relating to IE6-SP1.
So I install these seven and reboot.

- when I reboot and start IE, I get a message
saying "IE-5 Is not my current default browser
...." So it still has some remnant of IE5

- If i go to IE Help > About I now get an error
box over the info window (undefined error).

- if I go to <Add/Remove Programs) to undo the
last update, all the text in the window is missing
and I only have the icons.

- Luckily (or perhaps even good planning) I have a
reasionably recent backup and was able to restore
the partition. However, I'm still left with the
problem described in part-1 (and unable to install
the latest updates).

- just to check, I did the update twice (restoring
from the backup in between) in case the update
hadn't worked properly. Same result each time.


In principle, it would seem to me that the best
solution to try would be to uninstall/re-install
IE and update it. However, IE is such an integral
part of the windows installation that I'm not sure
if that's possible (?).

Failing that does anyone have any other suggestions?
 
About four years ago I used the regedit described in this article to
reinstall IE. I know the article says for Windows XP, but I used it
successfully on Windows 2000. Seems like after setting "IsInstalled" to 0,
and after restart then IE/OE reverted back to IE5.0 Then you can just run
the setup again for IE6

How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q318378

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Win2K Pro with windows/IE updates current as of
| about a month ago (including the IE6 and IE6-SP1
| updates).
|
| I'll describe the problem in two parts which are
| presumably related (but who knows?).
|
| Part-1:
|
| - trying to install an app which fails because it
| says it requires IE 5.5 or greater (I ostensibly
| have IE6 of course).
|
| - check IE Help > About. Curious ... it has a
| background graphic that says "Internet Explorer 5"
| but the version says "6.0.2800.1106"
|
| - Check another system with same installation and
| same update status. It says "Internet Explorer"
| (no version on the background graphic) with the
| same version number of "6.0.2800.1106". On this
| system, the app will install normally.
|
| I see no differences in IE operation between the
| two systems and I'm sure the problem system mostly
| acts like IE6 but apparently it presents itself as
| something of a mix.
|
|
| Part-2:
|
| - check recent updates. There are 7 critical,
| including one (KB890923) relating to IE6-SP1.
| So I install these seven and reboot.
|
| - when I reboot and start IE, I get a message
| saying "IE-5 Is not my current default browser
| ..." So it still has some remnant of IE5
|
| - If i go to IE Help > About I now get an error
| box over the info window (undefined error).
|
| - if I go to <Add/Remove Programs) to undo the
| last update, all the text in the window is missing
| and I only have the icons.
|
| - Luckily (or perhaps even good planning) I have a
| reasionably recent backup and was able to restore
| the partition. However, I'm still left with the
| problem described in part-1 (and unable to install
| the latest updates).
|
| - just to check, I did the update twice (restoring
| from the backup in between) in case the update
| hadn't worked properly. Same result each time.
|
|
| In principle, it would seem to me that the best
| solution to try would be to uninstall/re-install
| IE and update it. However, IE is such an integral
| part of the windows installation that I'm not sure
| if that's possible (?).
|
| Failing that does anyone have any other suggestions?
|
 
Sounds worth a try .... especially as I've only
just restored from backup anyway.

When you say "run the setup for IE6" does this
mean there's a standalone installable/upgrade for
IE6 that I can download from somewhere?
 
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