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I can not use either IE or Firefox since I have downloaded Google Chrome. I don't even have Chrome set as my default anymore but it opens up anyway. I need to use IE in order to download updates for Windows Movie Maker and I can only download it using IE, thanks to good old Microsoft. And no where can I find a way to access IE on my computer. It is not shown in programs and no shortcut was created on my desktop in the download. Any suggestions? I got to get this video down and I am on a tight deadline. Thanks.

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When I read "I can not use either IE or Firefox since I have downloaded Google Chrome" I thought you meant voluntarily ! :D How can anyone use IE after using chrome ;-) But seriously, I have never had a problem with Chrome and all other explorers work as expected. – Preets Oct 21 '09 at 14:41
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9 Answers

up vote 14 down vote

Try going Start > Run... and entering iexplore then hit enter.

As for Chrome taking over, I've never had any problems with it, and any choice to make it the default browser has been left to me. It definitely does not delete shortcuts to other browsers. If the shortcuts have disappeared by themselves, it's possible you have gotten a virus or some other malicious software installed.

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11 seconds. 11 seconds! I'd have you beat if I had faster Internet :) – Randolph West Oct 21 '09 at 14:30
Having the shortcut disappear is likely due to no longer being often used, and unlikely to be due to a virus or malicious software. No need to scare Jodi. – dlamblin Oct 21 '09 at 15:57
@dlamblin: you are right that it could be the desktop cleanup wizard and/or it fell off the active programs list - those are likely options. But, it seems unlikely that the OP wouldn't be able to find any icon in that instance. – AnonJr Oct 21 '09 at 16:53
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up vote 5 down vote

Run "iexplore.exe" from the Start > Run menu (or Win + R if the Run menu isn't there).

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up vote 5 down vote

Could it be that you change something that has to do with the "Default Programs" configuration?

You don't specify which version of Windows you're running. In XP, it's in Control Panel - Add or Remove Programs, "Set Programs Access and Defaults".

**

In Windows 7, it's in Control Panel - Default Programs - "Set program access and computer defaults".

If you uncheck "Enable access to this program", you won't be able (normally) to run the program. It will remove the entry in the Start Menu for instance.

However Google Chrome should not change this itself. It's only changed by the user. I have Chrome, IE and FF installed and can access the 3 of them without problem.

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IIRC if you disable access to Chrome, it'll go ahead and uninstall itself right then and there. – ephemient Nov 30 '10 at 22:15
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up vote 3 down vote

To answer your question, absolutely not, Google Chrome does not take over other browsers no matter what.

I recommend you just browse to %ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\ which is usually C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\. There you will find the internet explorer program's icon and you can drag it to your start menu and either make it a permanent item above the often used items (from which it has disappeared due to disuse) or drag it into the the programs submenu of the start menu.

You can similarly do this for Mozilla Firefox.

You might be amused by the fact that changing the location in an regular explorer window from wherever it is in the file system to http://www.myfavoritesite.com/ (I would have said google, but maybe you don't like google any more), would change it from windows explorer to internet explorer implicitly.

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up vote 2 down vote

More generally, from either Start->Run (WindowsKey+R) or a command prompt:

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
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up vote 2 down vote

The other responses are good for running IE.

My question for you -- are you sure Chrome isn't your default browser?
Click the wrench in the upper right, go to Options, and then the Basic tab. The last item should be Default Browser and it should say "Google Chrome is not currently your default browser."

For IE, the setting is under Tools - Internet Options - Programs tab. You have the option there to make it the default.

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up vote 2 down vote

Loads of good answers, but I'll add something which may be useful. If you want to make Firefox the default, you can go to Tools, Options, Advanced. Click the "Check now" button (check if FF is the default browser) and it'll give you the default state and should offer to make it so. This should kick Chrome from being the default and you should then be able to make as defult what you want.

If you want FF as defult, you can use the IE tab addon to check for windows updates. Personally I'd recommend this instead of using IE but it's up to you of course!

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up vote 1 down vote

i have Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome installed on the same machine, and I can use any of them without problems.

Internet Explorere is located at

c:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE

so if you make a shortcut there it should run

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up vote 1 down vote

We are currently working in a Windows domain with XP workstations installed through ghosted images with a custom configuration that includes Chrome.

Lately there has been a truly odd issue that occurs after multiple users use the same workstation. We do observe the Internet Explorer icon on the user desktop has been changed to a Google icon and the icon now spawns a copy of Chrome. Efforts to replace the IE icon will work but eventually will be overwritten.

I do not believe this is part of a vast conspiracy, however this quirky behavior has occurred on our network. We have considered that there may be an issue with the configuration of Chrome as it was installed on the original machine before the Ghost image was created. We also realize that the Google Pack is a better version ( albeit beta ) to use in a Windows domain rather than the version commonly downloaded from google.com/chrome

Just wanted to let you know that the earlier person posting is not obtuse or insane.

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It's me again. Further investigation yielded a quick-fix for us. Replacing the registry value HK_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\chrome.exe with iexplore.exe replaced the Internet Explorer icon to the desktop AFTER existing user profiles were removed from the Documents and Settings folder. Existing user data in the Documents and Settings folders, specifically in the respective <user>\desktop and template\desktop folders would not be replaced by the registry change, so that user data was removed in our case and the desktop was allowed to rebuild upon the user's next login. – agnivac Nov 12 '10 at 13:36
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