Restoring current version of Internet Explorer

[Vieux Richard]

Is there a way of reinstalling the current version rather than the "factory-fitted" or "original" version of IE & OE? e.g. IE 4.72 came with the Windows 98 installed on the PC but it was subsequently upgraded to 5.0 or 5.5 via a download. When IE has to be reinstalled for whatever reason, it doesn't seem smart enough to reinstall the 5.5 but instead reinstalls 4.72 which confuses the hell out of a lot of users when they can't find their mailbox folders and assume that all has been lost!

[Force Flow]

Yes. Uninstall the upgrade, then reinstall it. Or, upgrade to an SP or IE6. Or, reinstall the same version over top the existing version (i.e. - you have 5.5 installed, so you install/repair 5.5 via the downloaded files)

[Vieux Richard]

I think I should have made my question a little clearer. In fact, it could be relevant to any other s/w but I mention IE because that was what me think to ask this question.
The reason I never use Windows Update is that I cannot be sure that after getting the latest updates installed then, whenever that particular s/w needs to be uninstalled/reinstalled - the version that is reinstalled is NOT the latest version (updated from Windows Update) but the version that Windows has filed away somewhere else from the original Windows installation. (in its CAB files?)
I was not thinking so much of a reinstall from the CD, as in many cases my customers only have the "image file of Windows" supplied by the OEM & all this does is to reinstall the O/S.
Is my question clearer now?

[Force Flow]

Do you mean that you want to work around the windows update?

Just go to www.microsoft.com and download the network installations of whatever software you want to upgrade, be it the O/S or Office with a SP, IE or WMP upgrade.

Hope that helps

[Vieux Richard]

Let me try & explain my question in another way. Say I had purchased a DELL PC in 2000 with Win 98 & Internet Explorer 5.01 already installed. Then I downloaded IE version 6.0 from M$ website and installed it on the system. One day Windows 98 can't get Outlook Express working & the only way is to reinstall Outlook Express. So you uninstall OE and reinstall. Fine but the only problem is that it is not OE 6.0 that's reinstalled but OE 5.01. which is not the same s/w.
So the question is how do you prevent Windows reinstalling the "orginal" Outlook Express (5.01) - because that's the version that Windows thinks it should install unless you tell it otherwise? I'm trying to avoid customers having to re-download when they need to re-install.

[Redo40]

The easies way would be to download the upgrades and burn them to a cd. If you install anything off of say a Dell cd it is going to install what originally came on the machine.

[Vieux Richard]

OK, burn any updates to a CD. That's pretty straight forward I imagine for most s/w. However, with Internet Explorer, the download utility updates the current version installed. Where are the update files to back up in case a reinstall is required?

[Redo40]

For Internet Explorer you can get it here, it has the installer and all, don't have to be connected to the internet to install.