If removing IE8 Updates doesn't work and IE8 disappears from the list in Add/Remove you can run this at the cmd prompt:

%windir%\ie8\spuninst\spuninst.exe

It warns you about possible instability due to updates that may have been installed after IE8 (click Yes) - then it rolls you back to whatever version you had before.

It worked for me and I haven't noticed any instability. 7 is faster and doesn't wobble.

rev