There's no doubt that Internet Explorer has
been a prime target of attack for spyware
merchants and other ill-intentioned goons.
That's why many folks have turned to alternate
browsers for their web surfing.
If you are using another browser and don't
use Internet Explorer anymore, there's a case to
be made that you should remove it from your
system. It is, after all, a potential security
threat so, if you don't need it, why not get rid
of it?
Except, getting rid of IE is not that easy.
In fact, with later versions of Windows there's
no satisfactory way of removing it completely
without risking crippling Windows itself.
That hasn't stopped folks from trying to
remove IE, however, and you can find several
techniques documented on various web sites.
Instead of removing IE I favor the simple and
safer approach of disabling it. Sure, it may not
provide the same degree of security as complete
removal but that's a small price to pay compared
to the cost of potentially de-stabilizing
Windows.
There are several disabling techniques but I
suggest the method below as it's simple, easy to
reverse and doesn't interfere with the operation
of the Windows Update service. Furthermore it
should work with any modern version of IE.
Step 1. From IE select Tools/Internet
Options/Connections/LAN Settings.
Step 2. Put a tick in the check box next to
"Use a Proxy Server for your LAN ...”
Step 3. Type in "0.0.0.0" in the address box
and "80" in the Port box. Don't type in the
quote marks of course, just what's inside them.
Step 4. Click OK.
What you've done is set up a dummy proxy
server 0.0.0.0 that goes nowhere. With these
setting IE cannot make an HTML connection to the
internet and vice versa. You have simply and
effectively disabled IE.
There's no magic in the 0.0.0.0 address, any
dead proxy address would work just as well. I've
used that particular address to keep things
simple.
If you ever need to re-enable Internet
Explorer start it up and select Tools/Internet
Options/Connections/LAN Settings from the
toolbar and un-check the box "Use a Proxy Server
for your LAN ...”
