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Upgrading to Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2

  • Article

I am here to tell you how to upgrade to IE8 Beta 2. IE8 Beta 2 system requirements are the same as IE8 Beta 1 and it’s currently available in English, Chinese Simplified, German and Japanese. Stay tuned for more localized IE8 Beta 2 versions to be available shortly.

Windows XP or Windows Server 2003

Getting Ready

Before you start IE8 Beta 2 installation, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

  • Uninstalling IE8 Beta 1

If you have Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 installed, the  IE8 installer will automatically uninstall any earlier versions and then install the latest version of IE8 Beta2 for you. You will be prompted to reboot twice. The first reboot is to remove IE8 Beta 1 from your machine and the second one to complete the IE8 Beta 2 installation. When you launch Internet Explorer, you can open the Help->About Internet Explorer dialog to see the version number 8.0.6001.18241.

  • Getting required updates for IE8 Beta 2

There is 1 update required when running IE8 Beta 2 on multi-core XPSP2 x86 computers:

Knowledge Base Article 932823 or Knowledge Base Article 946501 - This update resolves a problem in which an access violation occurs when an application exists on a Windows XP SP2-based multi-core computer. It will be installed automatically if you select “Install the latest updates” option in Setup Wizard.

Windows XP Service Pack 3(SP3) users only

The only time we encourage you to manually uninstall Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 prior to upgrading to IE8 Beta 2 for Windows XP users is if you happened to install Windows XP SP3 after installing IE8 Beta 1.

To see if you need to manually uninstall IE8 Beta 1, check these things:

  • Is your computer running Windows XP SP3?

Click on the Start Menu and then right click on My Computer and then click Properties

On the General Tab under System it’ll say Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3

  • Is the remove option for IE8 Beta1 grayed out?

From the Start menu, open Control Panel and click Add or Remove Programs

Select Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 and you are unable to click on the Remove button.

If you answered yes to both questions, you will be able to install Internet Explorer 8 Beta2, but once installed, you will not be able to uninstall either IE8 or Windows XP SP3 later. The Setup Wizard will warn you prior to installation:

Windows XPSP3 Install Warning Dialog

If you chose to continue, Windows XP SP3 and IE8 Beta2 will become permanent. You will still be able to upgrade to later IE8 builds as they become available, but you won’t be able to uninstall them.

To avoid getting into this situation, we strongly encourage you to follow these steps before installing Internet Explorer Beta 2:

  1. Uninstall Windows XP SP3
  2. Uninstall IE8 Beta1
  3. Re- install Windows XP SP3
  4. Install IE8 Beta2

See my earlier blog post on Internet Explorer and Windows XP SP3 for more information.

Windows Update

Internet Explorer Beta 2 will be offered to those Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems that have IE8 Beta 1 installed and have Automatic Updates turned on. A prompt in your Windows task bar will alert you when IE8 Beta 2 is ready for installation. The language version of IE8 Beta 2 offered is based on the your Windows Operating System Language version. For example, if your computer is running a Chinese Simplified or German version of Windows, you will be offered IE8 Beta 2 in Chinese Simplified or German respectively. For any other Windows languages, Internet Explorer 8 will be offered to you in English. Again, this only applies to those systems that have IE8 Beta 1 installed.

Localized Versions

When installing localized versions of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 on XP or Windows Server 2003 please remember that the base language of the operating system must match the IE8 language you are trying to install; otherwise the Setup Wizard will display an error.

More information about installing localized versions of IE8 Beta 2 can be found in the release notes.

Uninstalling IE8 Beta 2
  1. From the Start menu, open Control Panel and click Add or Remove Programs
  2. Click Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 and then click Remove.
  3. Your computer will be reverted to Internet Explorer 6 + previous IE6 security updates or Internet Explorer 7 + previous IE7 security updates depending on what you had before the upgrade.
  4. You can confirm that by clicking Help, then About Internet Explorer next time you launch Internet Explorer.
  5. Be sure to check for any new security updates.

Windows XP And Server 2003 Add/Remove Programs Screenshot

Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008

Getting ready

Before you start installing Internet Explorer 8 beta2, there are a couple of things you need to do to prepare your computer:

  • Uninstall Internet Explorer 8 Beta1

You need to manually uninstall earlier builds of IE8 before installing IE8 Beta 2.

    • Open Control Panel and click Programs.
    • Click Programs and Features, and click View installed updates.
    • Wait for the full list to be populated and then select Windows Internet Explorer 8.
    • Click Uninstall this update.

After uninstall is complete, restart the computer. Your computer will be reverted to Internet Explorer 7 + previous IE7 security updates.

  • Getting required updates for IE8 Beta 2

Knowledge Base Article 937287 - This update helps improve reliability and performance when you install or remove Internet Explorer 8 and future individual updates from Microsoft. Without this update, IE8 setup will be blocked: “Setup cannot continue because one or more updates required to install Windows Internet Explorer 8 are not present.”

Knowledge Base Article 943302 – This update addresses known application compatibility issues in Windows Vista. It will be installed automatically if you select “Install the latest updates” option in the Setup Wizard.

Knowledge Base Article 957055 – This update addresses a known compatibility issue between RealNetworks RealPlayer 11 and Window Vista Service Pack 1. It will be installed automatically if you select “Install the latest updates” option in the Setup Wizard.

You are now ready to install IE8 Beta 2. After IE8 Beta 2 installation is complete, the final screen of the Install Wizard indicates that Internet Explorer installation completed successfully.

After you restart your computer and launch Internet Explorer, you can open the Help->About Internet Explorer dialog to see the version number 8.0.6001.18241.

Localized versions

In Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, we significantly improved the installation experience for localized versions of Internet Explorer 8 beta 2. Unlike Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, the base language of Windows does not need to match the Internet Explorer 8 language version in order for a successful install. When your user active language matches the Internet Explorer 8 language you installed, then IE8 will appear in the desired language. You will still be able to use IE8 in all other scenarios, but it will appear in English as a fall back version.

More information about installing localized versions of IE8 Beta2 can be found in the release notes.

Uninstalling IE8 Beta 2
  1. From the Start menu, open Control Panel and click Programs
  2. Click Programs and Features and click View Installed Updates (located in the left side menu)
    Note: The complete list of installed updates takes a moment to update.
  3. Select Windows Internet Explorer 8 and Uninstall
  4. Your machine will be reverted to IE7 + previous IE7 security updates
  5. You can confirm that by clicking Help, then clicking About Internet Explorer next time you launch Internet Explorer.
  6. Be sure to check for any new security updates.

Uninstall IE8 Beta 1 for Vista

Uninstall IE8 Beta 1 for Vista

What do I do when I run into issues installing IE8?

Check out the knowledge base article on Troubleshooting IE8 installation. If after trying the recommended workarounds you still can’t install IE8, go to the IE Beta Newsgroup to see if there are any known solutions available. Microsoft MVPs and IE Team members are monitoring this newsgroup and they will help address your issues.

Thank you,

Jane Maliouta
Program Manager

Edit: Updated KB957055 link; added note to uninstall steps for Vista

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    PingBack from http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1556

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    IE8 beta 2 has been released. Go get it; let's see what works and what doesn't. See also the release notes. I'm currently downloading it; more news when I have it....

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    E’ stata da poco rilasciata la beta 2 di Internet Explorer 8. Potete leggere sul blog del team le informazioni

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Download links XP SP2/SP3 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=33fb40fd-2ee2-476a-a152-ed03734691b3&DisplayLang=en Vista/Server 2008 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6ef71415-646f-4279-8b6b-193435ab2d80&DisplayLang=en

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    La beta 2 di Internet Explorer 8 è stata rilasciata , ho pensato di prendere qualche screenshot per “illustrare”

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    We’re excited to release IE8 Beta 2 today for public download. You can find it at http://www.microsoft

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Today, the Internet Explorer Team has made available Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 for all to download.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    So I take it it's possible to install localized beta 2 over English beta 1? If so, good to know. Would be nice to hear when are other languages due.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Will there be a VPC Image for beta 2?  Or can the beta 1 VPC be upgraded? (I guess I'll find out the answer to the second question myself...)

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    VPC IMAGE NEEDED BADLY The only one that is out there that hasn't time-bombed already is terribly under powered for memory allocation (please increase, or unlock the memory setting!!!!!!!!) And as Milo said, we need a new VPC image anyway... I don't want to have to re-install all the extra stuff I need to test (again) in another few weeks... on top of today's re-install.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    We’re excited to release IE8 Beta 2 today for public download. You can find it at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Did I miss something or does the article lack the download links?

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Hello, Five months after launching the first beta of Internet Explorer 8 and more than 2 million downloads

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    E' disponibile la beta 2 di Internet Explorer 8.0. Per chi volesse avere maggiori informazioni può

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    VPC images are on their way. @Michal Till: The first link in the post for "system requirements" points to the download page: www.microsoft.com/ie8

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    "I am here to tell you how to upgrade to IE8 Beta 2. IE8 Beta 2 system requirements are the same as IE8 Beta 1" hi, do you plan to release a version to the Linux system?  ( i have a EEE PC 901 ) Thanks in advance

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    "I am here to tell you how to upgrade to IE8 Beta 2. IE8 Beta 2 system requirements are the same as IE8 Beta 1" hi, do you plan to release a version for the Linux system?  ( i have a EEE PC 901 ) Thanks in advance

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    After installing IE 8, it restarted my system and will not boot up, just keep retrying to boot but nothing.  I tried to F8 to safe mode but nothing, this is killing me, I am running vista home premium. Any Help?

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    What takes any other browser 3 minutes to accomplish, four hours have been spent and not, yet, back to zero. Microsoft comes through again in its usual style and grace.

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    i canot fin IE8 beta 1. I follow all the steps and my control panel only show me the updates of this month, not before. What can i do?

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Microsoft hat sich vor der Veröffentlichung einer Beta-Version des kommenden Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) nun doch (einigermaßen überraschend) dazu entschlossen, die ggü. IE6 und IE7 standardkompatiblere Darstellung von Webinhalten standardmäßig zu verwende

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    I'm using Vista SP1 and have tried the steps illustrated, however when I go into "View installed updates" I don't see "Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2" in the list of updates. What else can I do to remove the IE8 from my system?

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Se poate descărca . Dacă v-ați jucat cu beta1, trebuie să-l dezinstalați. Detalii aici . Tudor ne povestește

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    A resumable download manager...

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    I installed the beta 2 today, but as soon as I wanted to use the ShareThis button on my WordPress blog it froze up completely.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 is available for download. You can download it from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    Le blog de MSDN indique comment passer à IE 8 bêta 2.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    With the release of IE8 Beta2, I thought it might be interesting to pull together some useful tips for

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    I've already crashed IE8 three times.  Once was a hard crash where IE8 didn't come back, and the other two times, you can't quit IE8 as it keeps "recovering". The two "recovering" issues were caused by going to news.google.com and right clicking a bunch of pages open (about 20-30).  Then start closing them.  A couple of the tabs don't close and they say the recovered from a crash.  Then after you've "closed" them all, a few of the tabs are unclosable.  And the browser itself is unclosable. The unrecoverable crash is caused by going to: https://www6.intersourcing.com/www/templates/utilities/TreeView.asp. I'd live to file these as bugs but I see no way to do it, so I'll guess I'll just do it here.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    Link available?   Thanks, Bart

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    I didn't read all the warnings first, and made a mistake by installing Beta 2 over Beta 1.  I now cannot uninstall beta 2, beta 2 blinks and closes silently when I try to open it, and I thus have no IE at all!  Add/remove has no remove option, so I can't uninstall it. My system is thus one step closer to being Microsoft free, I guess.... however, this means I can no longer use Windows Updates either!   I'm pretty keen to have a solution here, otherwise it may well be that suffering pain moving to Ubuntu gains a compelling nature.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    ie8beta 2 when browser opens went into a debugging frenzy then crashed explorer exe.double click on my computer- then it sits and no response end program now popup click yes sol long explorer- reboot and same situation. thnk goodness for acronis.my advice stay away, xpprosp3

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    For the past 12 years, I've been building websites and working with different Web technologies. I'd have

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    For all you WU users who happen to be running Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 on a Windows XP or Windows Server

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2008
    Internet Explorer Beta 2 won't start for me, or stay started for that matter. I've installed/uninstalled it over four times already and once I click on the icon (any IE icon) to start the application it opens for half a second and then closes. Below is a list of things I have already tried. I've reset IE8 and IE7 to all default settings and I've uninstalled many add-ons and toolbars figuring that would fix the issue. I can get into the settings via the control panel but nothing I have changed there works. I've tried no add-on mode with no luck and I've also tried getting rid of the discuss office toolbar only to more disappointment. I usually run my computer with most services disabled but I also tried enabling most of them only to find IE8B2 still not working. I don't know what else to do. My system is a P4 3GHz 2GB DDR running WinXP Pro SP3. It seems to install fine but refuses to start for more then a half a second. When I click the IE8B2 icon the "iexplore.exe" task shows for a split second in the windows task manager but then disappears. I'm lost...

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    I have yet to try out the newest version of IE so I'm curious to see how well it works.

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    why can't microsoft do anything right? you would think after 15 years they could make reliable software without bugs

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    what idiot issues beta code that you can't uninstall? Jeesh - as if I needed another excuse to stick with FireFox.

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    Steve B...   (and other negative posters) Re "I didn't read all the warnings first" Well... your bad luck then and you get all you deserve.  READ THE RELEASE NOTES!

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    For all you negative posters... it's a beta version!  You get the good with the bad!  Like anyone who tests beta software... you should know it may mess with your system... you should not expect it to be perfect (yet)... you're testing for your own (and many others) benefits (i.e. to iron out bugs) etc etc. Unless you've had no experience with any beta software before, here's some advice... take an image of you system before installing beta software!  Or be prepared to rebuild your system if it goes wrong!  This goes for MS betas and other companies betas (that have messed my system up before too... but do you see me crying).

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    For all you negative posters... provide CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK to MS so it gets fixed OK!!! Read http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/05/ie8-beta-feedback.aspx So sign up to MS Connect, or install the "Webpage Problem Beta Add-On", or somehow provide CONSTRUCTIVE feedback that MS can use... and be thankful that you can play a part in making this software better and more compatible for ALL!

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 29, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2008
    +Open Control Panel and click Programs. +Click Programs and Features, and click View installed updates. +Wait for the full list to be populated and then select Windows Internet Explorer 8. +Click Uninstall this update. Problem: Windows Internet Explorer 8 isn't in the full list. Am I stuck with IE8 beta 1 for life now?

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2008
    My new xp sp3 cannot boot after I installed it... safe mode, last known, I tryed everything... all I get is a quick blue screen and the system restarts....... any help?

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2008
    I followed the following procedure exactly, yet IE8 Beta 2 still exists on my XP laptop?!  How do I revert back to IE7? Uninstalling IE8 Beta 2   1. From the Start menu, open Control Panel and click Add or Remove Programs   2. Click Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 and then click Remove.   3. Your computer will be reverted to Internet Explorer 6 + previous IE6 security updates or Internet Explorer 7 + previous IE7 security updates depending on what you had before the upgrade.   4. You can confirm that by clicking Help, then About Internet Explorer next time you launch Internet Explorer.   5. Be sure to check for any new security updates.

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2008
    please, someone from ie8 beta team post something to help us uninstall ie8 beta.x!!! Or at last post a comment to know you are reading us!!!!!

  • Anonymous
    August 31, 2008
    过去的一周大家谈论的焦点之一就是新发布的 IE 8 Beta 2 浏览器。关于 IE 8 Beta 2，驱动之家、cnBeta 等很多网站都转载了来自 MSDN IE Blog 八月份的一则声明，《 Windows

  • Anonymous
    September 02, 2008
    To all looking for a VPC image to test IE8 beta 2 without risk to your pc.  CrossBrowserTesting.com has brought two configurations online with the latest IE8 beta 2 version installed.  You can test your sites via our service without any worries about changing your local configuration.  For those that do not know about our service - we provide 5 minute testing sessions at no cost.  For longer sessions, and priority service, we have an inexpensive service which starts at $1 per 5 minutes, and decreases in cost from there. FYI, Ken

  • Anonymous
    September 02, 2008
    Hi, I tried to upgrade to IE 8 Beta 2 under Vista Ultimate 32 and I inadvertently picked the XP version. After trying to intall it and getting a message saying I had an incompatible operating system, I tried to install the correct version, but then got an message saying I needed to uninstall IE8 first.  IE 8 does not appear in my list of installed programs nor on my list of installed updates. My guess is there is some registry key that's been set. Anyway, how can I fix this problem so I can install IE 8 beta 2?  Thank you very much!  -David

  • Anonymous
    September 07, 2008
    So once you install IE 8 Beta 2 on XP SP2 with only IE 6 installed, you can't remove it - at least not once you upgrade to SP3, which I did after installing the latest IE Beta. There is no Add/Remove entry for it in the Add/Remove Programs applet. There is no Uninstaller for it in the Internet Explorer Program Folder on the C: drive. On top of that, if you add or remove address, navigation, or bookmarks bars from view in IE 8b2, the Compatibility View button disappears, never to be seen again - and if you use IE's built in dev tools to edit your CSS, the Compatibility dropdown menu found under "Tools" in the Toolbar becomes grayed out and unusable. Even for a Beta these are completely unacceptable mistakes on Microsoft's part. The browser slowly but surely destroys itself and for us SP3 upgraders, there's no way to remove it? You people at MS have GOT to be kidding.

  • Anonymous
    September 07, 2008
    theres a lot of problems with the unistall process un beta1 and also in beta2. Please FIX this!.

  • Anonymous
    September 08, 2008
    I want to upgrade my IE to version8

  • Anonymous
    September 08, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 16, 2008
    In August 2008, Dean announced the release of IE8 Beta 2 in English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified),

  • Anonymous
    September 16, 2008
    La Béta 2 d'IE8 était déjà disponible depuis le 28 Août en version anglaise . Ce n'est seulement que

  • Anonymous
    January 26, 2009
    E’ stata da poco rilasciata la beta 2 di Internet Explorer 8. Potete leggere sul blog del team le informazioni