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.