Bert Coules wrote:
"Paul" wrote:

If you have a really old version of IE, something like IE11 needs
a DirectX update.

To be honest, I'm not at all sure that this computer has *any* version
of Internet Explorer: I've only ever used Firefox. Thanks for the
thought and the tips.

Everything since year 2000 shipped with IE on it.

Look for "iexplore.exe".

Use your Agent Ransack for example, and see how
many copies you've got and in which folders.

Some will be in WinSXS and those don't count (that's
a cache area of sorts, used for maintenance - do
not delete that folder!).

Doing Properties on the EXE, will give a release
number, and there's at least one web site with a list
of values.

One of the files in the folder, is an "HTML engine",
and is used for functions such as .chm (help) files.

This is why Microsoft used to claim that IE was
"essential" to the OS. Because they managed to
use the engine for stuff. When you "remove" IE using
various means, the folder stays and so does the engine,
because the engine is "essential" :-) Uninstalling
iexplore.exe means removing access to that executable
and that is all. Most of the rest stays put.

When you go to activate Windows XP, IE is used as part
of the activation procedure. And in recent years (2012 or
newer), the activation will not complete unless the user
installs a later IE version (need support for https or so).
The height of foolishness. Later Windows are not hobbled
like that.

Some day, in Windows 10, IE might just disappear. As
there are other engines about. (Metro applications are
made from Javascript and HTML, that sort of thing.)
Metro applications have a "fake EXE", which is a
container for a manifest, a list of components that
need to be loaded. When you spot a Metro EXE, and
double click it, the screen blinks... and that's
all that happens. It's because the EXE part of the
EXE is a stub, and it "exits immediately" if clicked.
Metro ones only start if "launched" - like a boat ramp,
they have to slide down the cradle to be started.

The 64-bit version of Windows 10, has both a 64-bit
iexplore.exe and a 32-bit iexplore.exe. It was a demo
carried out by Microsoft, to show developers how you can
have both (each in a separate folder, not together).
There may be some limitation on ActiveX
that requires the 32-bit one. I don't use IE, so
can't say for sure what the various versions are
good for.

Paul