> ...why is it necessary to enable the Windows Firewall?

Because you should not be connected to the internet without a firewall: I
recommend disabling any third-party firewall and then enabling the Windows
Firewall prior to installing or uninstalling an IE upgrade or Windows
Service Pack.

> I think you missed a couple of thinks in my post...

Nope, didn't miss anything. If you don't have such a Restore Point
available, I'd say you have two (2) options now:

1. Uninstall IE7 then do a Repair Install; cf.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917964

NB: See http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/200...and-xpsp3.aspx. You
may have to uninstall SP3 before you'll be able to uninstall IE7.

2. Backup your personal data, then do a format & clean install of Windows;
cf. http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps

After the clean install, you'll have the equivalent of a "new computer" so
take care of everything on the following page before otherwise connecting
the machine to the internet or a network and before using a USB key that
isn't brand-new or hasn't been freshly formatted:

5 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/com...nced/xppc.mspx

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...5afa8ed33e121c

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched (after a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...66ae41add7dd2b

Reference:

No-charge support for Internet Explorer 8 installation, set-up and usage
(only) is available via the phone based on your locale through 31 December
2009. Customers must be running Windows XP or Windows Vista in a non-domain
environment.
=> US & CA Residents: 1-866-234-6020
=> Other locales: https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...px?&prid=13043
==
~PA Bear [Agent]

Stewart Berman wrote:
>> All components of ZAISS (i.e., anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall)
>> should have been disabled and the Windows Firewall enabled prior to
>> installing and uninstalling IE8, Stewart.
>
> I can understand disabling anti-vrus, etc. (which did not appear to
> interfere with either installing or uninstalling IE8 -- at least no
> problems were reported.) but why is it necessary to enable the Windows
> Firewall?
>
>> If IE8 is uninstalled, a Restore Point predating the install of IE8 might
>> resolve your issues.
>
> I think you missed a couple of thinks in my post:
>
>>> I found a script that is supposed to list all system restore points and
>>> it
>>> only listed the ones for July 2 and 3. It appears something wiped out
>>> all
>>> of my system restore points before the July 2 one was created. (I also
>>> tried accessing them from System Restore and it also only listed the two
>>> repair points.)
>
>>> According to MS Updates the last update applied to the machine was The
>>> 2007
>>> Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) on June 14, 2009. It says
>>> IE8
>>> was installed on June 14, 2009 -- before Office 2007 SP2 was applied.
>>> (Office 2007 SP2 is not removable so I doubt I could go back before IE8
>>> was
>>> installed as that would require rolling back the Office 2007 SP2 patch.
>>> I
>>> removed IE8 on June 20, 2009.
>
> There are no restore points before the IE8 installation.
>
> "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABearMVP******.com> wrote:
>> All components of ZAISS (i.e., anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall)
>> should have been disabled and the Windows Firewall enabled prior to
>> installing and uninstalling IE8, Stewart.
>>
>> If IE8 is uninstalled, a Restore Point predating the install of IE8 might
>> resolve your issues.
>> ==
>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
>> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002
>>
>> Stewart Berman wrote:
>>> Windows XP Pro SP3 with all priority patches -- with the IE8 high
>>> priority
>>> patch reverted.
>>>
>>> Using Zone Alarms Internet Security Suite 8.0.298.035 for both
>>> anti-virus,
>>> anti-spyware and firewall. They are always running.
>>>
>>> Please note all of these were installed and operational when IE7 was
>>> originally working -- before I applied one high priority patch (IE8) too
>>> many.
>>>
>>> AFAIK, no Norton or McAfee product has been installed since the last
>>> rebuild of this machine.
>>>
>>> I found a script that is supposed to list all system restore points and
>>> it
>>> only listed the ones for July 2 and 3. It appears something wiped out
>>> all
>>> of my system restore points before the July 2 one was created. (I also
>>> tried accessing them from System Restore and it also only listed the two
>>> repair points.)
>>>
>>> According to MS Updates the last update applied to the machine was The
>>> 2007
>>> Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) on June 14, 2009. It says
>>> IE8
>>> was installed on June 14, 2009 -- before Office 2007 SP2 was applied.
>>> (Office 2007 SP2 is not removable so I doubt I could go back before IE8
>>> was
>>> installed as that would require rolling back the Office 2007 SP2 patch.
>>> I
>>> removed IE8 on June 20, 2009.
>>>
>>>
>>> "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABearMVP******.com> wrote:
>>>> Please state your full Windows version (e.g., WinXP SP3; Vista x64 SP2)
>>>> when posting to this newsgroup.
>>>>
>>>> What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
>>>> subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than
>>>> Defender)? What third-party firewall (if any)? Were any of these
>>>> applications running in the background when you installed and/or
>>>> uninstalled IE8?
>>>>
>>>> Has a Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this machine
>>>> (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought it)?
>>>>
>>>> Just asking for now!! Do NOT use such a Restore Point yet!! => Do you
>>>> have
>>>> an available Restore Point which predates the install of IE8?
<paste>
> I "upgraded" to IE8 as part of installing recommended updates and
> discovered that it does not support Personalized Favorites. As my
> favorites menu is rather large and complex this pushed me to revert to IE7
> which I did on June 20, 2009, and made sure the Enable personalized
> favorites menu option was checked. Unfortunately, IE did not revert to
> actually personalizing the favorites menu.
>
> The knowledge base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257128
> is titled: Enable Personalized Favorites Menu Feature Does Not Take Effect
> Immediately
> However it states:
> "If infrequently-used menu commands or shortcuts are still not demoted
> after you restart Internet Explorer, you may need to wait for as much as a
> week or more for the item to be demoted. "
>
> It is now two weeks and I still do not have a personalized favorites menu.
>
> Any suggestions on how to fix this would be appreciated.