How to Uninstall IE7 and Install IE6.

Hopefully the above has helped, but if you're in the same boat as my friend, you may need more.  

Here are some cut/pastes of what I believe may help, not knowing your exact IE 7 version, and will incliude the source link for more.  Also wondering if you'd prefer to keep IE 7 and/or fix it, since it does have enhancements and security isssues that are positive.  We had some concerns upon initial installation, but vastly improved overall, in my humble opinion.

Uninstalling Internet Explorer 7 RC1

To uninstall Internet Explorer 7 and restore Internet Explorer 6 when using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Click Add or Remove Programs.
Scroll down to Windows Internet Explorer 7, click it, and then click Change/Remove.
If you cannot find Internet Explorer 7 in Add or Remove Programs, click Start, click Run, type %windir%\ie7\spuninst\spuninst.exe, and then press ENTER.

Note: %windir% is the location of your Windows directory, which can usually be found at C:\Windows. To do this, you need to have "view hidden folders" enabled.

Uninstalling Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3, Beta 2, Beta 2 Preview, or Beta 1

To uninstall Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3, Beta 2, Beta 2 Preview, or Beta 1 and restore Internet Explorer 6 when using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003:

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Click Add or Remove Programs.
Scroll down to "Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3", "Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2", or "Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview", click it, and then click Change/Remove.
If you cannot find any version of Internet Explorer 7 in the previous step, select the Show Updates check box at the top of the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, scroll down to Windows XP - Software Updates, select "Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview" or "Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1", and then click Change/Remove.
If you cannot find an Internet Explorer 7 entry using Add or Remove Programs, try running these commands. Each is for a different release of Internet Explorer 7, so only one will succeed. To run any of these commands, you need to have the View hidden folders option enabled. In the commands below, %windir% is the location of your Windows directory, which can usually be found at C:\Windows. To run these commands, click Start, click Run, and then type one of the following:

%windir%\ie7beta3\spuninst\spuninst.exe.
%windir%\$NtUninstallie7beta1$\spuninst\spuninst.exe.
%windir%\$NtUninstallie7bet2p$\spuninst\spuninst.exe.
%windir%\$NtUninstallie7b2pmx$\spuninst\spuninst.exe.
%windir%\$NtUninstallie7beta2$\spuninst\spuninst.exe.
If the uninstall process causes the computer to stop responding while removing Internet Explorer 7, restart the computer, delete any custom sound schemes created after installing the Internet Explorer 7 Beta, and then try to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 again.

Internet Explorer 7 Fails to Uninstall from Specified User Account

If you see an error message saying that you cannot uninstall Internet Explorer 7 from this user account, you can bypass the check by following these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer.
Right-click the Internet Explorer key, click New, and then click DWORD value.
Type InstalledByUser as the name, and then press ENTER to finish creating the new registry value.
Try to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 again.

Source for more:  http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/aa740486.aspx

Good luck,
":0) Asta

I have a simpler idea. If you are running XP, all you have to do is using system restore to roll back to the time before IE7 installed. If you need a procedure to perform system restore, check the below URL:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

K

i tried uninstalling from the add/remove programs.  it did remove the ie7 folder from c:\windows.  however when i try to install ie6, it tells me a newer version is already installed.  i don't want to roll back because i don't want to loose data from 2 months ago.  when i uninstalled ie7, ie6 did not automattically appear again.  do i have to delete anything out of registry?

When you load your current Internet Explorer, and choose HELP ABOUT what is the version shown?

if IE6 does not show, go to Add/Remove Programs > Components, and make sure Internet Explorer is selected.

If no joy, IE7 corrupted your system.  Go to Start > Run and type sfc /scannow
and hit OK.

Reinstall Windows XP SP2 to restore IE.

You don't need to reinstall IE6. It comes back automatically. To completely remove IE7 do the following steps:

1. Uninstall IE7.  Go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and uninstall Microsoft Internet Explorer.  If you cannot find Internet Explorer 7 in Add or Remove Programs, click Start, click Run, type %windir%\ie7\spuninst\spuninst.exe, and then press ENTER.

Note: %windir% is the location of your Windows directory, which can usually be found at C:\Windows. To do this, you need to have "view hidden folders" enabled.

2. Then prevent IE7 from automatically downloading. You can still manually download IE7 in the future.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4516A6F7-5D44-482B-9DBD-869B4A90159C&displaylang=en

K

Yup, sfc/scannow to restore all windows system files. Good idea, war1.

K

Inkevin,

You copied my note about uninstalling IE7 from another post.  You should have reference the comment.

 I was walking a friend through how to do it.  After uninstalling IE7, he told me it was still IE7 on the machine.  It's was really IE6 when I had him go to the Help then About.  Thanks for the help.

":0)  That's what I thought.  Happy you're  happy.  Asta

war1,
You were right. I have just noticed it. I have got this answer from my friend while we are chatting. I didn't know it was from you. Anyway, you have got your credit. I will check the reference next time.

cheers,

K