Ask the Doctor: Rolling Back IE7
Posted 02/17/09 at 07:45:21 PM by The Maximum PC Staff
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I recently upgraded my cable Internet service from 5Mbps to 10Mbps. Not seeing any increase in speed, I contacted my provider’s tech support. The tech said Internet Explorer 7 is loaded with time-consuming security routines and that it is also designed for Vista. Since I’m running XP, he suggested I roll back to Internet Explorer 6 in order to see major improvements in web-page loading speeds. He also said I should uninstall SP3 first, or IE7 would not uninstall. So I tried this on one of my machines. Using Add/Remove Programs, I removed SP3, rebooted, then removed IE7. On reboot, I was back to IE6.
He was right! Even after allowing Automatic Updates to reinstall SP3, web pages are loading twice as fast, or faster.
Now, there has to be a catch, somewhere. I have had no problems (yet) with any of the web pages I’ve visited since rolling back to IE6. Am I putting my system at risk by having less security? Are there features in IE7 I’m missing out on by not using IE7? Is my system’s life in peril without IE7?!
I know you all like Firefox 3, but my question is simply about IE6 vs. IE7. I’m very pleased, so far, with the speedier IE6.
—Robert Bolerjack
Downgrading to IE6 will definitely force you to abandon some of the useful features of IE7—most notably, native tabbed browsing support and the wealth of security patches that Microsoft has issued for the latest IE 7 builds. Add-ons like the MSN Toolbar will replace some of IE 7’s built-in advantages, but IE 6’s numerous vulnerabilities and lack of compliance with web standards will eventually catch up with you. If you want both speed and functionality, we stand by Firefox. Or Opera. Either will give you a better experience than Internet Explorer.
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SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes |
IE plugins/add-ons can cause
Submitted by patrickmaher on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 11:22am
IE plugins/add-ons can cause slow browsing. I figured out recently that Spybot's SDHelper plugin for IE would cause IE7 to load pages really slow, but in IE6 it was fine.
To determine if a plugin is causing the problem you can run IE7 with no add-ons. The shortcut to do that is at Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Internet Explorer (No Add-ons). If IE7 works better with no add-ons you can try to determine which add-on is at fault by going to Tools->Manage Add-ons->Enable or Disable Add-ons.... Use that tool to disable add-ons until you determine which add-on is at fault.
I would
Submitted by billveik on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 9:25am
download and install TCPOptimizer. Review what it shows your current settings to be, then set it to optimize. Review the changes (if there are any). If the changes are significant, that might have translated to poor results with IE7.
Submitted by rpcblast on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 5:16am
When the previous poster asked why he did not see an increase in speed with going 5 to 10, I also am curious. I understand that 7 can be slower than 6, and that makes sense. However, the way the post was written, it implies that 7 and 6 were comparable before the upgrade, now 6 blows 7 away. Even if 7 does have more delays, there still should have been some increase in speed going from 5m to 10..
Submitted by Reliant on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 1:32am
IMO IE6 was a very crappy web browser. Full of holes that allowed malicious attacks. IE7 is much better, but I would still recommend using browsers like Opera or Firefox, or even Google Chrome. Don't give your computer the risk of being infected by a virus using IE6.
Why you are even considering
Submitted by HellTempest on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 8:16pm
Using internet explorer and you are a reader of this magazine is VERY hard to believe.
Use firefox.
Submitted by Brett Schealler on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 7:55pm
forgive me is this is a newbie response, but perhaps most web pages cant serve any faster?
Servers serve content to
Submitted by I Jedi on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 8:37pm
Servers serve content to users at different speeds based on that's servers Internet connectivity at the time. So, just because say you have a 10MBPS connection, you might not get a faster connection to a site because of their server not being able to deliver the content fast enough to you. Works both ways. If one is shittier than the other, it'll affect both.
Submitted by thommo on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 6:17pm
I know the question was IE6 vs IE7 and I don't doubt that webpages may have loaded faster in IE6 but it still doesn't really explain why he didn't get more speed by getting a faster connection.
Submitted by I Jedi on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 7:51pm
The more crude you have loaded onto a web broswer, the slower it'll be, I think.
Submitted by mgalletly on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 8:30pm
IE 7 takes longer than IE 6 because the rendering engine in IE 7 is more complex, and therefore slower. The pages serve at the same speed.
I use IE 7 at work because that's the DOD standard, and I use IE 8 beta and firefox at home.
I am in the same boat. I
Submitted by AntiHero on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 8:56am
I am in the same boat. I have to constantly write IE hacks to make it look good in the two main browsers (IE7 and Firefox) It's a pain in the ass too. Nothin works in both, ever when it comes to CSS files. Honestly, I think Firefox should instantly become the new standard (installed on Windows 7) And instead of making a crappy browser (Because IE8 sucks more than 7) they should concentrate on more important things.
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