Upgrading IE 7 to IE 8 on Vista

[Chim]

I have a friend who needs to upgrade her IE 7 to IE 8 on her Vista computer so that her PMs will work on the MyOpera Community.  It was proven IE 7 was the problem.

Anyway, my friend is NOT computer savvy.
What is the quickest and easiest way for her to upgrade her IE?

Is there a simple way whereby she can just Update OVER her current IE 7?
You know ... so that she doesn't actually have to engage in uninstalling her IE 7 and then installing IE 8.
Or is the only way to uninstall her IE 7 and then install IE 8?

Are there any weird and / or complex prompts she's likely to encounter?
The less decisions she has to make, the less Settings she has to mess with ... the better.

[dynamic]

Just install it, you don't remove old versions of IE to upgrade.  I've never seen an IE upgrade lose settings.  Furthermore if Windows Updates were on she should have had it by now, though a manual link is below:

https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=79154fb4-c610-4a1e-811d-dfe0f1dd84d1

[Chim]

Dynamic ... the reason her IE 7 hasn't already automatically upgraded to IE 8 is because IE 8 is considered an optional upgrade.

But, I think I finally found what another friend had told me to use.
At first I couldn't find that to which he was referring, but I think I now found it.

From going through the motions a while ago, what it involves is:
(1)  Click on Windows Update in the Control Panel.
(2)  Click on the Custom Button.
(3)  Click on Software, optional.
(4)  Check the Internet Explorer 8 Box.
(5)  Click on Review and install updates.
(6)  Click on the Install Updates Button.

At least that's what the Steps seemed to be on my Windows XP.
Hopefully they're pretty much the same on her Windows Vista.
Theoretically, this should be easier for her since it doesn't involve any uninstalling or installing.  It's just simply initiating an Update.

Follow up question:  Have I heard correctly before?
If one upgrades to a higher IE version ... you can no longer go back DOWN?

[Hermite15]

What is the quickest and easiest way for her to upgrade her IE?

... heard of Windows update? ... IE7 is dead and IE8 almost is, no need to start a thread about that.... and yeah, I understand that you have issues with optional updates

ps: to your last question, if IE7 came with the install (Windows setup) and you upgrade to IE8, then of course you can revert back, but what for

[Chim]

(1)  It's NOT per se that I have issues with optional updates.
While I'm not computer illiterate and not a novice, by the same token, I am not a Computer Geek by any stretch of the imagination.  So, I really try to be cautious with what software I install that has just come off of Beta status because if the -- You Know What Hits the Fan -- and my computer gets crippled, I may not be able to get out of the jam myself.

(2)  Like I said, this is for a friend of mine ... NOT for me.  So, in this case, the fact that IE 8 wasn't in place already has nothing to do with me and my famous alleged optional updates issues. 

[bob3160]

Chim,
It's a simple update. In your case, it's certainly also something new. It's been done billions of times.
Pretty soon it'll be time to upgrade IE8 to IE 9. the RC is already pout so the final isn't far behind.