Many companies use tools that are not compatible with newer versions of Internet Explorer. As a result, complications often arise when Microsoft pushes out new versions of IE as an automatic update. Since Internet Explorer 8 is included with the standard Windows 7 install, Microsoft does not include a Windows 7 version for download.
This process will downgrade you from your current version to the version that you previously installed. If you currently have 10, but had 9 previously and need to downgrade to 8, then you will need to downgrade from 10 to 9 and then repeat the process to go from 9 to 8.
To downgrade Internet Explorer in Windows 7, do the following:
- Open “Programs and Features” from the Control Panel
- Click Turn Windows features on or off
- Uncheck “Internet Explorer 10” (or whichever version you currently have) and click Yes when asked, “Do you want to continue?”
- Click OK and the uninstall will continue
- Reboot when prompted
Sometimes this will restore the previous version and no further action is necessary; HOWEVER, most of the time you will need to continue with the following steps:
- After rebooting, open “Programs and Features” in the Control Panel
- Click View installed updates
- Locate “Windows Internet Explorer 10” (or whichever version you’re removing) listed under “Microsoft Windows”
- Select the update and click Uninstall
- Click Yes when prompted “Are you sure you want to uninstall this update?”
- Click Restart Now when prompted
Once Windows is done rebooting, do the following to complete the process:
- Open “Programs and Features” in the Control Panel
- Click Turn Windows features on or off
- Check “Internet Explorer 8” and click OK
- Restart when prompted
If you need to downgrade further (i.e. from IE9 to IE8) just rinse and repeat.
Congratulations, Time Traveler! You’ve successfully transported back to 2009!