how to ban IE??

[drvarunmehta]

how do i completely ban IE from running on winxp pro? can i run windows update from firefox? also is it possible for firefox to open by default instead of IE when i check my mail through msn messenger?

[technoteen]

no you cannot use windows update from firefox, microsoft requires you to use ie for using windows update

for the third question you will have to set firefox as your default web browser
you can use "set defaults" feature from "add remove program"
or go to tools>options in your firefox, in the general panel there aso the option for making it the default browser, use it

[enoonmai]

I found a site with this info that allows you to disable and enable Internet Explorer on the fly. Check it out here:

http://sillydog.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2677

If you dont want to do this, just go to
"Set Program Access and defaults" , navigate to "Custom" and uncheck the "Enable access to this program" checkbox next to Internet Explorer (works only with SP2) Of course, like technoteen said, you can change the "Choose a default web browser" from "Internet Explorer" to "Mozilla Firefox" here again.

As the others said, you cannot run WU from Firefox. It requires IE, thats mandatory, but you can always use AutoPatcher XP or download and install the updates manually.

[drvarunmehta]

firefox has always been my default browser. but even then msn messenger opens IE by default

[abhijeet_ghosh]

Originally Posted by drvarunmehta

firefox has always been my default browser. but even then msn messenger opens IE by default

Its the same with me. Is there a way to get MSN Messenger to open firefox instead of IE?

[enoonmai]

As far as I know, the only way you can successfully have MSN Messenger open Firefox instead of IE, is to install Messenger Plus! (make sure you select NOT to install the sponsor program during installation) and then install StuffPlug-NG and then you can configure it to open Firefox instead of IE.

Download Messenger Plus and StuffPlug-NG here.
http://www.msgplus.net/download.php
http://www.stuffplug.com/?act=downloads

[drvarunmehta]

i installed messenger plus and stuffplug but the software works only in my administrator account and not for other users. do i have to install it separately for every user?

[enoonmai]

Just make sure that the programs Messenger Plus! and StuffPlug-NG are put in the common startup for all users, so that they will start irrespective of the user.