ditching explorer?

im running windows xp and i wanna totally remove internet explorer, outlook express, and windows media player from my system, but i dont know how. i know that its possible to do an uninstall from the control panel, but all that does is makle the folders for these programs hidden. i expect that the windows protection thing(dunno what its called) will probably replace the files if i delete them, so i'm look for some instructions on really uninstalling these. there are also a few problems that i think might arise from doing this and i wanted to ask about those:

1. how closely is explorer(file manager and desktop) intertwined with internet explorer? they seem to be exatly the same thing and i'm afraid that internet will still exist through explorer after i remove it.

2. how will i get windows updates? i know i could do the automatic update thing without using explorer, but how would i choose which updates i want or dont want to get? i dont need any free demos of frontpage, etc. if there is a way to select your updates without using internet explorer or a web browser, i'd really like to know about it.

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=265413

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hey seem to be exatly the same thing and i'm afraid that internet will still exist through explorer after i remove it.

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Tried it, got an error when i tred an web address through explorer !

from what i can gather, windowsupdate requires ie and the automatic update program doesnt, but i havent found a way to run the automatic update program only when i need it, short of turning on automatic updates with the settings "everyday" at "the current time" and then disabling automatic updates when they're finished installing. the problem with this is i have no way to reject some of the update packages, it just gets everything. i was hoping that a. there is an easier way to get updates without ie b. there is a way to select the updates i want without using ie.

as for that other thread, my question never really got answered about the updates and there aren't any directions on uninstalling ie(except microsoft's bs directions). im assuming i could follow the same directions to disable wmp and outlook too. ms says

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By default, Internet Explorer 6 is preinstalled in all versions of Windows XP and cannot be removed.

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but i think if i disabled the windows protection stuff and deleted the registry entries and internet explorer files, it would work. i was hoping there were some good instructions on how to do it easily and cleanly somewhere.

http://www.genericgeek.com/index.php?q=node/431
this looks like a good solution to the update problem if anybody else is interested

if i enable automatic updates with the "notify me but dont automatically download or install them" option, will it allow me to select which updates i want to download and install or will it just say "there are updates, click ok" and then download everything i dont have and install. it would also be nice if i could say "i never want to download this update" so it doesnt bug me saying there's a new update constantly after i decide not to download and install something.