[thelist] IE Service Pack Updates v Full Browsers

[DreamWriter]

This is my first post. Spinhead encouraged me to join this list to ask my
questions about the browsers stored on evolt.org. Thank you.

I want to download the service packs only, not the full browsers, for
Internet Explorer. If you do not have the service pack updates and only have
full browsers, can you tell me where to get just the service packs for
Internet Explorer 5, 5.5, and 6.0? They are not on the Microsoft site any
more. If the service packs are on your site, how can I tell the difference
between them and the full browsers?

WHY THIS IS NEEDED:

Windows Me is a very unstable operating system, but I'm stuck with it. It
crashes a lot, gets corrupted easily, and often requires a Windows
reinstall. It is usually not possible to uninstall IE 6 SP1 and its service
packs first because most of them have no uninstall option, do not show up in
Add/Remove Programs, or will not uninstall even if they do show up there.
When I reinstall Windows Me after IE 6 SP1 has been on there, then what I
get is a mixed browser that's both part IE 5.5 and part IE 6 SP1. This mixed
browser will not always upgrade to IE 6 SP1. Sometimes it will, but
sometimes the installation of IE 6 SP1 will fail. In that case, the only way
to get 6 back on there is to install the service pack for IE 5.5 SP2.
Currently, that service pack is only available as a Windows Update for
Windows Me, but it is an "active setup" download, not the full update. When
Microsoft ends support for Windows Me, they will do away with the url for
the "active setup," making the "active setup" installer no good.

If it is not possible to download just the service packs for Internet
Explorer, do you think that using the full browser install of IE 5.5 SP2
will accomplish the same thing as putting the IE 5.5 SP2 service pack update
on there? I just want to get IE 6 SP1 back on there -- whatever I have to do
to accomplish that (short of reformatting the hard drive). Thanks.

P.S. If Windows XP Pro was not so different from Windows 9x and was not so
picky about hardware and software and network setup (user level rather than
share level access) and was not so expensive, I would put it on here. The
cost to buy the operating system and implement it and have a technician come
out here to re-configure the network is beyond my means. The full retail
operating system itself is $300 (oem won't cut it, and neither will an
upgrade version). The hardware needed for XP compatibility would be more
than that. Some of my software would need to be updated to later versions,
and that's another expense. A technician visit? That would be pricey per
hour. Let's not dwell on that. I'll get depressed and start
hyperventilating!