How to Manually Uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows NT

This article describes how to manually uninstall Internet Explorer for Windows NT 4.0 when you are unable to uninstall Internet Explorer using the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel.

NOTE: Do not follow the steps in this article if you have not tried to uninstall Internet Explorer by using the steps described in the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Before you proceed with the steps in this article, you need to have a current Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) and the Windows NT Setup floppy disks. To create an updated ERD, run the Rdisk.exe tool, and then click Update Repair Info.

Before you attempt to manually uninstall Internet Explorer, install the Standard download of the Microsoft Windows NT Service Pack 4 (SP4) that includes Internet Explorer 4.01, and then attempt to uninstall Internet Explorer using the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel. You can obtain the Standard download of Windows NT SP4 from the following Microsoft Web site: If you are unable to uninstall Internet Explorer after you install Windows NT SP4, continue to follow the steps in this article.

NOTE: Make sure you have the latest version of the Internet Explorer 4.01 Setup program before you begin these steps. You can obtain the latest version of the Internet Explorer 4.01 Setup program from the following Microsoft Web site: To manually uninstall Internet Explorer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs.
2. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click one of the Internet Explorer add-ons that you installed, and then click Add/Remove. Click Yes, if you are prompted to confirm the removal of the add-on. Repeat this step for each Internet Explorer add-on, such as Microsoft ActiveMovie, Microsoft NetMeeting, and Microsoft Outlook Express.
3. Restart your computer.
4. Delete any of the following folders that exist in the <Drive>:\<Winnt> folder
   
   
   • Cookies
   • Downloaded Program Files
   • Java
   • Occache
   • Temporary Internet Files
   
   where <Drive> is the drive letter to which you installed Windows NT, and <Winnt> is the folder in which Windows NT is installed.
   
   NOTE: After you delete the folders in this step, do not restart your computer until you have reinstalled Internet Explorer.
   
   NOTE: If you create custom Java applets, you may want to backup the Java folder.
5. Press CTRL+ALT+Delete, click Task Manager, click New Task, type Cmd.exe in the Open box, click OK, and then rename the following files located in the <Drive>:\<Winnt>\System32 folder, to use a .old file extension
   
   
   • Actxprxy.dll
   • Advpack.dll
   • Cachevu.dll
   • Inet16.dll
   • Inetcfg.dll
   • Inetcpl.cpl
   • Inseng.dll
   • Jobexec.dll
   • Mshtml.dll
   • Shdocvw.dll
   • Shlwapi.dll
   • Url.dll
   • Wininet.dll
   • Wintrust.dll
   • Wsock32n.dll
   
   where <Drive> is the drive letter to which you installed Windows NT, and <Winnt> is the folder in which Windows NT is installed.
   
   NOTE: Use a different file extension if you receive the following error message:
   Duplicate file or file in use.
   For information about renaming files, click Start, click Help, click the Index tab, type renaming, and then double-click the Files topic.
6. WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
   
   In Registry Editor, delete the following registry keys:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
   
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.url
   
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\InternetShortcut
7. Quit Registry Editor.
8. Install the latest version of Internet Explorer 4.01 and if you are prompted to replace the existing components, do so.
9. Restart your computer.