Don't install Internet Explorer 8 (beta)!
I thought I'd get the jump on things and install the publicly available beta version of Internet Explorer 8. (I do some web page design, and I figured I'd check to make sure everything still worked.)
Since the System Specs for Instant Watching say "IE6 or newer," I figured I was okay. Nope. When I tried to watch a movie, I got the "you don't meet system requirements" page.
And that was just the beginnings of my problems. I'm running Windows XP and had recently installed Service Pack 3, which means that I couldn't just uninstall IE8. I had to do a system rollback (whee!).
Guess what? Yup. With Service Pack 3 on XP, it's a BAD idea to uninstall IE8. My version of IE7 now has no menus, the title bar is busted, and tabbed browsing no longer works. About all IE7 is good for is watching movies instantly. Oh, and I can no longer get to Internet Options on the Control Panel.
I whined at NetFlix Tech Support about it (and to be fair, the guy went out of his way to help me figure this out). I have three browsers on my PC (and another three on my Mac), but there's only ONE I can use to watch movies instantly. Come on, NetFlix! There's a reason we use other browsers: stability, speed, flexibility, security. And, oh yeah, they don't totally hose themselves when you try to uninstall them.
So, if you want to watch movies instantly DON'T install IE8. Even if you don't screw up Windows like I did, you still won't be able to watch movies with it.
[There is a thread here that explains how to get a plug-in for Firefox to watch movies instantly using it. This does work, so I've sidestepped my problem for now.]
Thread:
http://community.netflix.com/forum/topic/show?id=1993323%3ATopic%3A...
Since the System Specs for Instant Watching say "IE6 or newer," I figured I was okay. Nope. When I tried to watch a movie, I got the "you don't meet system requirements" page.
And that was just the beginnings of my problems. I'm running Windows XP and had recently installed Service Pack 3, which means that I couldn't just uninstall IE8. I had to do a system rollback (whee!).
Guess what? Yup. With Service Pack 3 on XP, it's a BAD idea to uninstall IE8. My version of IE7 now has no menus, the title bar is busted, and tabbed browsing no longer works. About all IE7 is good for is watching movies instantly. Oh, and I can no longer get to Internet Options on the Control Panel.
I whined at NetFlix Tech Support about it (and to be fair, the guy went out of his way to help me figure this out). I have three browsers on my PC (and another three on my Mac), but there's only ONE I can use to watch movies instantly. Come on, NetFlix! There's a reason we use other browsers: stability, speed, flexibility, security. And, oh yeah, they don't totally hose themselves when you try to uninstall them.
So, if you want to watch movies instantly DON'T install IE8. Even if you don't screw up Windows like I did, you still won't be able to watch movies with it.
[There is a thread here that explains how to get a plug-in for Firefox to watch movies instantly using it. This does work, so I've sidestepped my problem for now.]
Thread:
http://community.netflix.com/forum/topic/show?id=1993323%3ATopic%3A...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Howard on -
I don't think I'm running SP3, probably only SP2 at this point.
Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 beta(it allowed for backwards compatibility for IE7 use) a while back for developers, which worked fine for me in terms of viewing "Instant Watch". However the new Internet Explorer 8 beta is for user testing, that's where there's a problem. I recall reading an article somewhere that Microsoft acknowledges a compatibility issue with the current build in terms of running Netflix IW. They are working on it, but it'll probably take a long time. I'm sure it's not on their top priorities list.
I didn't have any problems uninstalling IE8beta for IE7. Just thought people should know.
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Permalink Reply by R1oneRedbull on -
care to share how you unstall IE beta for IE7 with service pack2? thanks
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Permalink Reply by Knaldskalle on -
Firefox ftw....
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Permalink Reply by jampony on -
Here's another thread that was already created about this. Adrian from Netflix has some good info that's very helpful.
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Permalink Reply by R1oneRedbull on
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Shoot no wonder!!!!!!!!!!!!! no wonder i cant play . it says not compatible! now what
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Permalink Reply by Robert Gidley on -
You can uninstall IE8 beta, you just end up with a semi-busted IE7 (no menu bar, you can't set favorites, no tabbed browsing). If you are running XP with Service Pack 3, you can't use "Add/Remove Programs" to uninstall IE8. Instead, you need to go to the Start Menu:Accessories:System Tools and then choose "System Restore" and find the saved entry where you installed IE8 (Windows automatically created a restore point).
Once you're back to IE7, go to www.firefox.com (you'll be redirected) and download the Firefox browser. It's faster, more secure, and will work correctly (except for Instant Watching--for that you'll still need to use your busted IE7).
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Permalink Reply by David Regenspan on -
Well, finally, a reason to have Vista! I made the same mistake, but my new machine came with Vista 64 bit SP1. At least all I had to do was a system restore to a few hours earlier. I once called Netflix tech support about a different problem and was told that eventually they would have their own instant viewing software and not be tied, as they are now, to Windows Media Player. That was a long time ago. I do wish they would make it possible to watch on all major browsers and--dare I say it?--on Mac and Linux.
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Permalink Reply by Biff on -
It's not that hard, first uninstall IE8 then reinstall an older version of IE. Or better yet install Firefox, Opera or some other web browser that doesn't suck like IE does.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Gidley on
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Actually, Biff, it's not that simple. With XP and Service Pack 3, you no longer "uninstall" IE. You have to do a system restore to get rid of IE8 and go back to the earlier version of IE. Even if you then reinstall IE7 from a fresh downloaded copy, it's still busted.
And while I love my Firefox, you can't use it to Watch Instantly.
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Permalink Reply by Biff on
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Well it worked on my machine. But, I did find that there is a bug, based on the order things were installed, which causes your problem for some people. Here's the solution.
Just typical bad programming by Microsoft. I use the add on for FF that lets me view WI. True it uses IE to open inside of FF, but still don't have to hassle with the IE interface. I uninstalled the new IE and reloaded IE6, but it works for WI and that's all I use IE for, so good enough for me.
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