Cannot Uninstall IE7 from Windows Server 2003

by admin on January 28, 2008

When trying to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 on a Windows Server 2003 SP2 machine, the Remove button may not be visible in Add/Remove programs. Sometimes the button is visible, but clicking it displays the following:

“An error occurred while trying to remove Windows Internet Explorer 7. It may have already been uninstalled.
Would you like to remove Windows Internet Explorer 7 from the Add or Remove programs list?”

KB 948093 explains “This behavior occurs if Internet Explorer 7 was installed on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1. Service pack 2 was installed later than that.”

Microsoft’s resolution is to

  1. Uninstall SP2 and reboot
  2. Uninstall IE7 and reboot
  3. Reinstall SP2 and reboot

Personally, if I was Microsoft I would have included step 4, go directly to Microsoft Update and apply all applicable patches and updates, then reboot again.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Alex April 21, 2008 at 7:42 am

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