Steps to take if your IE 8 opens up with the 64 BIT browser in Windows 7,
You have two (2) versions of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), IE8 64-bit and IE8 32-bit. IE8 64-bit is the default.
There isn't a 64-bit version of Flash Player (at least not yet). While IE8 64-bit is your default browser , Flash content should open in IE8 32-bit. If you know a page has Flash content (or is dependent on one or more ActiveX Controls), open an instance of IE8 32-bit to access the page.
IE64-bit is a "level 2" browser; Flash and ActiveX Controls are only supported in "level 1" browsers (e.g., IE 32-bit). See Levels of browser support on this somewhat related page: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263526.aspx#section2
The executable for IE8 32-bit is located here:
C:Program Files (x86)Internet Exploreriexplore.exe
The executable for IE8 64-bit is located here:
C:Program FilesInternet Exploreriexplore.exe
Browse to the proper Program Files folder and create a shortcut to that version of iexplore.exe
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Then using IE8 32-bit:
1. Download and save to the desktop the Flash Player Uninstaller
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/current/uninstall_flash_player.exe
2. Download and save to the desktop the Flash Player Installer
http://www.macromedia.com/go/full_flashplayer_win_ie
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Then...
Right-click the uninstaller and select Run as Administrator
Reboot.
Right-click the installer, unzip it and select Run as Administrator
Reboot.
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Then...
Verify that IE8 32-bit is opening by default.
When you right-click the IE icons in the Quick Launch area, the Start Menu and the desktop then choose Properties, what's in the Target field?
(From an earlier post by Peter Csaszar...)
Targets should be either:
IE8 32-bit "C:Program Files (x86)Internet Exploreriexplore.exe"
IE8 64-bit "C:Program FilesInternet Exploreriexplore.exe"
Modify those Targets to be "C:Program Files (x86)Internet Exploreriexplore.exe" (include the quotes) and IE8 32-bit should open by default
To create a shortcut to IE8 64-bit for occasional use, browse to the iexplore.exe file at C:Program FilesInternet Exploreriexplore.exe. Right-click iexplore.exe and select Send To | Desktop (create shortcut). Rename that shortcut so you know it's the shortcut to IE8 64-bit.
To verify that IE8 32-bit is the default, try this link http://www.microsoft.com. When the browser opens look at Help | About Internet Explorer. If there's no mention of 64-bit, the 32-bit version is the default. If you've disabled the Menu bar, you will have to right-click the IE toolbar and put a check by Menu Bar to have Help available (or just press ALT to make enable Menu bar temporarily).
