I Think My Computer Is Finally Dying On Me..Can I Unintall Internet Explorer?
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
May 2, 2010 10:30am CST
As a few people will know on MyLot my computer is very old, as in September 2001 old. When it was bought (desktop) it had 256MB, that was it. Fortunately, I was able to upgrade by another 1GB which helped its performance significantly. I also use Mozilla Firefox now as opposed to Internet Explorer but my machine is slowing down again and I don't know what to do about it. I have uninstalled a couple of programs I don't need plus I have the free version of AVG Anti-Virus that hasn't found anything either.
Now, my question is this...because I am using Firefox can I uninstall Internet Explorer? Would that free up some memory? As far as I know the memory side of things is OK, it's not full but whenever I play a video or scroll down a web page with pictures on it the scrolling side of things "sticks" and is most annoying. The tower unit whirrs a lot as well when this happens.
If you want to know the make it's a Sony Vaio Desktop with a TFT screen, new speakers and a relatively new Advent wireless keyboard and mouse.
Any ideas on what may be happening? Is it possible to speed it up? I only hope no-one is trying to hack into my computer. I had a spell of doing those click email thingies but I don't do that anymore. Please do not use this discussion to help me find a reliable site, I just want to know if there is anything that can be done to revive my computer without spending money.
Thank you my friends.
1 person likes this
8 responses
@samafayla33 (1856)
• United States
3 May 10
have you tried opera or chrome? These browsers are lightening fast as opposed to firefox and chrome. one thing that tended to lag my old 150mb 1 gig desktop was avg antivirus..I put antivir on it and it ran much quicker. Talk to a local computer expert in yout area. Eventhough your pc may have a little age on it, they can still fix it also go to bleepingcomputer.com and fixya. They may have something you need there.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
Thanks for that info, it's much appreciated.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (74129)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
2 May 10
First of all No you can't uninstall Wondows Internet explore. If you do, your windows will reinstall it next time you start your computer. But, if you keep your computer clean, you should get more speed out of it.
Defragment your entire drive. Use disc clean up. Anything to help the machine perform to its max.
@purplealabaster (22085)
• United States
3 May 10
This is not entirely true. You can uninstall Internet Explorer without Windows reinstalling it the next time you start your computer. However, if you do uninstall IE it tends to create system errors, and your computer may crash, so it is very strongly recommended that you do not uninstall it unless you know how to fix your computer if it crashes.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
I will bear this in mind, thank you so much for your suggestions.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
Thanks for that purplealabaster. I haven't uninstalled Internet Explorer but I've got rid of a few other things instead. At present the computer seems fine but it depends on what I am doing. I have only been on this site so far today so I will keep everyone posted as to what will happen when I visit other sites.
Thanks again.
@derek_a (10873)
•
3 May 10
I uninstalled Internet Explorer from my old machine because I never used it, and it seemed to work OK. I was running XP at the time but now I am running Vista and have far more memory. Internet Explorer doesn't seem to do anything at all so I have left it there and I've got Firefox as my default browser. _Derek
_Derek@derek_a (10873)
•
4 May 10
Hi Janey, I think that if you don't run Internet Explorer the computer should be OK. I find it messes my computer up as it's so slow in comparison to Firefox. I.E. loads quickly at first, but then freezes when loading some webpages. Firefox take a little more time to load, but then once it is up and running, it is very fast loading other pages. _Derek
_Derek@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
Hiya Derek! I haven't uninstalled Internet Explorer...decided against it in the end. did a few other things instead and so far it's been OK although I've only been on this site. Fancy that lol.
1 person likes this
@snam23 (3157)
• United States
2 May 10
Well, almost nine years of use from one computer is very good. I admire your ability not to jump at the newest thing that technology may bring us.
As for your computer, I would recommend try downloading and running CCleaner. It will clean out any cache and temporary files and anything else you want. It will also fix any registry errors it may find. And also, as the person before me said, you should try disk fragmentation as well. I don't think uninstalling Internet Explorer will help much if you have sufficient amount of disk space left.
In my opinion though, I think it is time to get a new computer. If you look online, there are sometimes sales and good deals from trusted sites like Amazon. You can get a decent computer for under $1000. Also, another reason to upgrade is your monitor. A new LCD screen might make your computer experience better.
If you go to Amazon and go to the computers/desktop category, you can sort by price and find one that you can afford but still like. Read some of the reviews and even go to a Best Buy or something to try it out or ask an employee.
Good luck with your computer! I hope you can get it fixed or get a new one soon!
I admire your ability not to jump at the newest thing that technology may bring us.
As for your computer, I would recommend try downloading and running CCleaner. It will clean out any cache and temporary files and anything else you want. It will also fix any registry errors it may find. And also, as the person before me said, you should try disk fragmentation as well. I don't think uninstalling Internet Explorer will help much if you have sufficient amount of disk space left.
In my opinion though, I think it is time to get a new computer. If you look online, there are sometimes sales and good deals from trusted sites like Amazon. You can get a decent computer for under $1000. Also, another reason to upgrade is your monitor. A new LCD screen might make your computer experience better.
If you go to Amazon and go to the computers/desktop category, you can sort by price and find one that you can afford but still like. Read some of the reviews and even go to a Best Buy or something to try it out or ask an employee.
Good luck with your computer! I hope you can get it fixed or get a new one soon!@snam23 (3157)
• United States
3 May 10
Yeah, iMacs get a lot of complaints, especially from designers and photographers, although the Mac OSX is amazing.
Like I said, there are some very affordable ones on Amazon. Here is a link to try:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_72_0?rh=n%3A560798%2Cn%3A!560800%2Cn%3A262739011%2Cn%3A10305251%2Cn%3A14014421%2Cp_36%3A138897031%2Cp_72%3A184320031&bbn=14014421&ie=UTF8&qid=1272842914&rnid=184302031
Here is the cheapest one I found:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Integrated-Graphics-Wireless-Keyboard/dp/B002TI42YG/ref=dp_cp_ob_ce_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1272842940&sr=1-1
You could also try joining and search and earn at Swagbucks towards Amazon gift cards. They are in dollars but I just got mine today! PM me if you are interested or visit my profile for the banner.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
I do have a TFT and it was probably one of the first, slim LCD screens that came out at the time..resolution 1024 x 9..something or other lol. I was very lucky in that respect as the screen is still going strong and never hurts my eyes. I once saw a lovely-looking iMac in a shop and was dismayed to see a glass-fronted screen that wasn't non-reflective! 
I was amazed at this considering how expensive it was. Thankfully, the monitor I have has no glass front therefore no nasty reflections.
I live in the UK but accept your recommendation for a new computer. I would get one if I had the money. Thanks anyway my friend, I know you are trying to help me.
I was amazed at this considering how expensive it was. Thankfully, the monitor I have has no glass front therefore no nasty reflections.
I live in the UK but accept your recommendation for a new computer. I would get one if I had the money. Thanks anyway my friend, I know you are trying to help me.
@udayrao2 (781)
• India
3 May 10
If you need to make it faster then do some or all of the following:
-clean up yr browsing history in the browser
- the remove all temp files
-then use the disk defrag in system tools as this will also help tho it takes a lot of time
- then remove start up programs which you do not use use
- delete unwanted /unused programs as well as files etc from the disk.( photo/image and movie files use a lot of space so remove unwanted ones)
Regarding the 'whirring ' I had the same problem- I used a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust and that noise is no more.
Maybe after you do the above the speed will improve. Try it - no harm.
And one more thing - if you do not mind spending some more - you can go for a DVD ( if you have a writer on your comp) or buy an external USB hard disk and then save all files you need but do not use at present, this is what I did to free the memory - and then what you save there is for keeps - anytime in future you need it you can always access.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
Thanks very much for all that detailed information. You have obviously done your research! I have got rid of a few unwanted files and I was amazed at how much stuff I had since my computer was fixed a few weeks ago. Computers have an annoying habit of storing everything, even browsing histories, which can be annoying at times. I will keep my eyes and ears open to ensure I don't download much (which I don't anyway) but you know what I mean.
I have no money to replace it so it will HAVE to carry on working I'm afraid!
@udayrao2 (781)
• India
3 May 10
Hi Janey
I forgot but I think a 250 GB external Hard drive will be quite economical and serve you quite some years - I bought mine when that size was introduced some years back - nut now it has become very cheap because very regularly Hard drives with higher capacities are introduced and the earlier ones become cheaper + then you can shift most of your filkes there too for keeps
@hofferp (4734)
• United States
2 May 10
Yeah, I'd get an external hard drive, too, and put everything on it. I have a dual 500GB 2008 XPS 410 DELL computer and I've filled it up completely with pictures (I make videos in my business) and music. I bought a 1TB external hard drive and have back-up everything on to that drive. I'm planning on buying a 2nd external hard drive (even bigger) to use just for music and pictures, so I can get them off my hard drive. I've simply run out of space, but I still have a lot of speed. Sorry, but it'll cost a little money if you want to really get some peace of mind.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 May 10
Sorry, I should've mentioned this when I started the discussion. Firstly, I lost a few photos when my computer was fixed last year but I'm not that bothered about that. Since then I very, very rarely download anything and MyPictures hardly has anything in it. I don't download videos either. I have problems just browsing sites I have always browsed and if there's sites that requires scrolling then it slows my computer down even more. My computer still has a fair amount of memory on it as, like I said, I don't download stuff.
@dante_off (607)
• India
3 May 10
First uninstall AVG and go for Avast free edition, I don't think uninstalling IE will help in anyway because as it is not in system start up process, neither it takes much memory...
Delete the unnecessary restore points if you have any, end processes that you do not need from Start-Run-msconfig-Hit Enter
Under the start up tab deselect the processes which you do not need...
Run registry cleaner and most importantly regularly defragment your disk drives.
Hope this helps.
~Cheerio~
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
I have deselected a few things that I don't need so I'm hoping it will be OK. I did make the mistake of deselecting something regarding sound which didn't help so I needed a System Restore to get that back!
@kisses1981 (163)
• Philippines
4 May 10
i think the reason why your computer is getting slower is because of your antivirus.
my suggestion is try another AV and deffragging your hard drive can help too.
second thing is upgrading your videocard for faster display responces.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
4 May 10
Thanks very much for those suggestions. I'll see what I can do. The videocard sounds an interesting one, I'll do some research on it. Welcome to MyLot!
