Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
IE7 has been out for over a year now, and while continuing to run IE6 remains an option, there's no real reason not to upgrade.
I have a laptop that has Windows XP installed. I am working with Internet Explorer 6. Should I update to IE7? Some people told me there are a lot of problems with 7. I keep getting pop ups to upgrade. Should I?
•
I'm a little concerned about those popups, but my short answer is yes, I believe that it is now safe to do so.
In fact, you might have to at some point.
Let's review how you should prepare, and how you should upgrade...
•
IE7 has been out for over a year now and while it has some user interface differences that I find a little annoying, it appears to be quite stable and usable for most people. Certainly no mater what browser you use, there will always be a few people who have a problem; that's not unique to IE7. By and large IE7 seems to be doing quite ok.
Like I said, I'm a little concerned that you're getting a pop-up. I'm actually unaware of any pop-up notification for the IE7 upgrade, but I could be wrong. I would not click on that popup to perform the upgrade, that's for certain.
I would, however, take these steps:
-
Back up. Back up your entire system. This is just good practice whenever you're about to perform a major upgrade. IE7 definitely qualifies as "major" simply because IE is such an integral part of Windows.
-
Set a Restore Point. I actually have very mixed feelings about restore points, since they don't restore everything people expect them to, but it certainly doesn't hurt to set one before your install. (Even though, I believe, the install will also automatically set a restore point.)
-
Visit the Windows Update web site. There you will see a list of available updates, both critical and non-critical, that are available for your machine. IE7 should be one of them. Select it and proceed with the installation.
After you've installed IE7 you'll have a few changes to get used to. The location of some of the commonly used controls have changed, for example. You'll also have an opportunity to begin using "tabbed browsing", a convenient way to keep multiple web sites open in the browser without having to have many, many browser windows open.
You'll note that I mentioned above that at some point you might have to upgrade to IE7. The rumor (and it is only a rumor, to my best knowledge) is that the IE7 upgrade will become mandatory at some point and that IE6 will no longer be supported.
On a personal note, while I have installed IE7 on my machines, I actually run Firefox as my primary browser. It's somewhat safer, and I find many of the extensions available for Firefox very useful. I still use IE7 for a handful of web sites that still require it.
Article C3283 - February 4, 2008 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
February 9, 2008 9:55 PM
I also get ppop-ups from Windows Update, about once a month, to download IE7, even though I have told Windows Update not to notify me about IE7.
I go by the theory "If it's not broken don't fix it". IE6 works and the few people I know who installed IE7 did not like it and immediately uninstalled it.
When Microsoft stops supporting IE6 and IE7 becomes mandatory I will have to install it, but until then I will stick with IE6.
February 15, 2008 11:35 AM
This is a repeat of a comment I tried to post on 2/6 but it got deleted. When I tried to install IE7 from the official MS site on my XP Pro w/SP2, I received Error 0x80072EE2. This says I wasn't able to connect to Windows Update. It referred me to this KB article which suggested I should add Windows Update to the IE7 trusted user site.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836941
Why would IE7 not recognize Windows Update as a legitimate and safe site? I reverted back to IE6 and had no problem accessing WU. I tried downloading IE7 from an alternate MS site and had the same problem.
My computer is free of malware and I followed all MS install instructions. This leads me to believe IE7 still has some issues. Likewise, MS warns not to attempt a Repair Install of XP without first going back to IE6. Presumably this warning would also apply to a System File Check since the same install disk is used to repair/replace files.
Seems to me there are more than enough IE7 issues to avoid it until absolutely necessary. Just as an aside, I've had no problems at all with Firefox. Pretty sad that a 3rd party app works better than the "real deal".
February 18, 2008 4:44 AM
I have used it since the public beta, totally safe to use, and I love it, its gewd.
June 26, 2008 4:34 PM
What is it that Firefox makes your computer more "secure" from than IE7 (or any IE for that matter)? I have NEVER gotten an answer about this question, all I read is "Firefox is more secure" but never from WHAT exactly? It's very vague and pushes me to the limits of sanity thinking about. I can go to the local Volvo dealer and ask them "What can the S-80 protect me from that the Ford Escort can't?" and have the dealer tell me everything the Volvo has that the Escort doesn't and why the S-80 is safer. BUT can I get that sort of information about what Firefox (or IE) "secures" me from? NO!
I am in need of a comprehensive side by side list of what Firefox secures me from vs what IE secures me from (or does not secure me from). Then I can compare the two and make a sound judgement. I have never found this, only the vague "its more secure" statement. So until that time I will stick to IE.
Okay that was my rant for the day. Thank you.
June 28, 2008 9:43 AM
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
In my opinion (and some will disagree - even violently -
with me on this) the single biggest reason that FireFox is
more secure is that more people use IE. The authors of
malware choose to target the bugs and vulnerabilities in IE
- - that way when they are successfull they'll have a larger
base of users that they can infect.
Like all software, FF has bugs and security vulnerabilities.
Peraps fewer than Internet Explorer, but there are bugs. But
if FF had 80% market share (which it might someday), I think
you'll find that it will start being exploited as well.
I think that FireFox may be built on a more solid code base
(fewer bugs), and being open source more accessible to peer
review (fewer vulnerabilities), and being a non-corporate
product FF will probably be able to respond to issues more
quickly. But there will still be issues.
Personally I prefer FireFox not because I feel any more
secure, but because I like its feature set and extensibility
options better.
Leo
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)
iD8DBQFIZmoaCMEe9B/8oqERAitnAJ9ymNxQswLYH2XLwwSStnP22D3RvACfZsu0
w9QRTJroXUYV6cMjBop1Gi0=
=+DPv
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
•
Comments on this entry are closed.
If you have a question, start by using the search box up at the top of the page - there's a very good chance that your question has already been answered on Ask Leo!.
If you don't find your answer, head out to http://askleo.com/ask to ask your question.