But will that automatically reinstall IE6?
When you uninstall IE7, the system reverts to IE6, no need to reinstall IE6.

To forestall further automatic upgrades to IE7 from the Microsoft Windows Automatic Update Service...

1. Open Internet Explorer and go to the following site
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
2. When the Update page opens, click on Custom
3. Uncheck the box for Windows Internet Explorer 7.0 for Windows XP
4. Check the box for Don't show this update again
5. Check the boxes for any other updates you wish to download and install them

Source: http://www.pchell.com/support/ie7uninstall.shtml

You still have IE 6 , you can keep IE 7 and use IE 6.
Umm, IE 6 (exe) or standalone IE 6?