He now tells me that he has deleted Chrome, also the IE that the computer came pre-installed with, and having emptied the recycle bin, cannot restore.
"Emptied the recycle bin" sounds awfully like computer-illterate code for ....
"I've deleted those pesky icons whilst cleaning up my desktop, I think I've deleted the software but in reality I've only deleted the shortcut"
P.S Instead of installing web browsers, if you are determined to help your friend, it sounds like if you are better off getting them to install Teamviewer. You could always email him the minimal "QuickSupport" version.