Its very hard but not impossible, go to a forum like
Overclockers and do a search there. It may have undesired consequences also. You may remember the euro anti-trust cases against M$ which were based around the fact that up until W7, IE shipped as part of the configuration of the OS and was not really a separate, removable browser or program like other operating systems used. The euro's decided this was anti-competitive because it effectively prevented users from choosing to use another browser.
It may be better just to disable it as much as possible.
Basically once you have picked a browser you want to use, and I would recommend Safari or Chrome as two of the better ones, then at least make them your default browser and remove any shortcuts to IE - that should improve things.
Give consideration to making the upgrade to W7 as your OS too, Vista really was a dog and even with my Apple bias, I reckon W7 has come a hell of a long way in closing the gap.
Also consider running Microsoft Security Essentials as your AV, its quietly revolutionised the AV scene for MS boxes, no one wants to talk about it in the industry because its free, light and good - and not made by a 3rd party!
