Windows Update Setup for Internet Explorer and Other Internet Tools

The Windows Update Setup wizard makes it easier for administrators to distribute Internet Explorer. It is also easier for users to install Internet Explorer and to recover failed installations.

The Setup wizard is small and compact; it contains a bare minimum of code necessary to give the client Internet access and provide a basic level of file download capabilities.

The process begins with a small setup package. This self-extracting file can be downloaded to the computer by using an existing browser, or it can be copied directly onto a computer with no existing browser. It can fit on a single floppy disk and download very quickly.

Setup works differently on UNIX operating systems. The UNIX functionality in the IEAK supports the more common UNIX method of installing the customized product on only a few servers. Users can then run Internet Explorer from this location rather than installing the product locally. This configuration is recommended for UNIX installations.

Advantages of the Windows Update Setup wizard

This small setup package also allows setup to collect information about the host computer before download begins. Setup uses this information to intelligently manage the download of Internet Explorer 5 .cab files and make installation as efficient and problem-free as possible. Downloading this small setup package at the beginning of the process has many advantages, including the following:

• Speed: It takes about two minutes to download IE5setup.exe over a 28 kbps link.
• Users receive feedback early in the setup process if there is not enough disk space (rather than waiting until after a long download phase that may fail).
• All user options are collected at the beginning, so users do not have to be present while the files are downloaded and installed.
• If the link to a distribution server is not reliable and you need to reconnect, the download picks up where it failed previously. This process gets the user closer to a complete installation each time setup is run, instead of starting over from the beginning.
• When a link to a distribution server cannot be reestablished, setup automatically tries other distribution servers.
• Users receive useful progress information about the download (not just bytes per second, but how long in minutes they have before installation is complete).
• When the current version of a component is already installed, the files are not re-installed unnecessarily.
• You can create and run a custom download package without rewriting setup.
• Unnecessary temporary files can be removed from the hard disk to free disk space for installation.

For an illustration, see Windows Update Setup for Internet Explorer and Other Internet Tools.

The setup process

After IE5setup.exe has gathered all the needed information from the user and the computer, it downloads the necessary .cab files from one of the official Microsoft distribution servers on the Internet. Because setup has already inventoried any existing Internet Explorer 5 components on the computer, and has already asked the user which components are desired, it does not download any unnecessary .cab files.

The next phase of the Setup wizard uses the traditional setup program (ACME) used by many Microsoft products. At this point, the only difference between the Setup wizard and traditional setup is that the .cab files are in a folder on the local hard drive rather than on a removable disk or network drive.

If you are an intranet administrator, you can create a custom setup package (also known as an IExpress package) without rewriting setup. To do that, you create a custom version of IE5setup.exe using a tool named IExpress.

Logging features

Enhanced logging features simplify user, administrator, and Microsoft troubleshooting of setup problems. The Setup wizard creates the following two log files that help you pinpoint any issues that may occur. The log files appear in the Windows or NT folder:

• Active Setup Log.txt: Logs all actions during the Setup wizard or component installation. Refer to this log if Internet Explorer 5 components are not installed properly. For more information, see Error Log Information for Active Setup Log.txt.
• RunOnceEx Log.txt: Logs all actions during Dynamic Link Library registration. Refer to this log if you receive a message stating that a specific .dll file did not register properly, or if any unexpected dialog box appears during the final phase of the setup process.