if i were to store videos on a web server, can i access it on a computer using IE? or do i need additional software installed on the web server?

Web servers just store files, so you can store anything on it you want. If the FILE TYPE .avi, mpeg, etc is one that IE recognizes then you should be able to open it within the browser. (The correct application will launch and play it.)

There are considerations however that you need to check.

One remember that videos are LARGE files and at normal internet speeds take time to transfer. So plan on some "wait" times while they download from the server back to you. If you want streaming video the server has to be setup to handle it and you have to setup to deliver it in that format.

Your server (if on a hosted plan) will see large amounts of transfer when someone accesses your videos. So be sure you have plenty of transfer bandwidth or expect some surprise charges when you get hit with overages in transfers.

If you are hosted on a "free" service you will probably find that you exceed your transfer limits very rapidly.

setup properly, you could access videos easily if you just want to download them, if you want them to play in the browser you need a web page setup specially to do that. no extra software but some web page building and I think (could be wrong) you need to add the video to a play list and link to that rather than the video its self