Internet Explorer Batch Mode Setup Switches

You may want to control the way that Setup is run. You can use command-line switches to choose the installation mode, specify a quiet mode (which removes or reduces the prompts the user receives), or control whether the computer is restarted after installation.

You can have users include these switches when they run Setup, but a more typical scenario is packaging Internet Explorer with another program, such as IExpress, for a batch installation.

The IExpress wizard helps you pass switches to Setup for another program. When using IExpress with Internet Explorer switches, the Internet Explorer switches are placed inside the IExpress expression as follows:

Ie5setup <Iexpress switches> /c:" ie5wzd <Internet Explorer switches>"

If you are installing Internet Explorer 5 over an existing installation of Internet Explorer 4.0 by using command-line switches, you should make sure to include the Offline Browsing Pack component. If it is not part of all installation options, then you should add this as a required component using the /E: switch. The component ID name to use is MobilePk.

IExpress Switches

The following are frequently used IExpress switches that control the extraction process during Setup. They are not specific to Internet Explorer:

• /Q - Specifies quiet mode, or supresses prompts, when files are being extracted. This switch does not supress prompts when Windows Update Setup is running.
• /Q:U - Specifies user-quiet mode, which presents some dialog boxes to the user.
• /Q:A - Specifies administrator-quiet mode, which does not present any dialog boxes to the user.
• /C:<> - Specifies the path and name of the Setup .inf or .exe file.
• /R:N - Never restarts the computer after installation.
• /R:A - Always restarts the computer after installation.
• /R:S - Restarts the computer after installation without prompting the user.
• /T:<directory path> - Specifies the target folder for extracting files

Internet Explorer Switches

You can use the following switches to control Internet Explorer Setup:

• /Q - Specifies a quiet "hands-free" mode. The user is prompted for information that isn't specified.
• /B:iebatch.txt - Specifies the batch script file to use.
• /Q:A - Specifies a quiet mode with no user prompts.
• /Q:C - Specifies a quiet mode with the Cancel button not displayed, so the user cannot cancel Setup. The Internet Explorer Customization wizard uses this switch if you select the Install package silently option when you are installing as a corporate administrator.
• /M:[0|1|2|3...] - Specifies the installation mode. For customized IEAK packages, 0 refers to the first installation choice, 1 refers to the second choice, and so on (for example, 0=minimal, 1=typical (default), 2=full).
• /E:ComponentID,ComponentID - Specifies extra components to be installed regardless of the installation mode. Use this switch to specify components that aren't a part of the installation type you specified in the Customization wizard. This switch also overrides settings in the batch text file, if used. The ComponentID is a string that uniquely identifies a component; you can find the corresponding string in the component sections of the Iesetup.cif file.
• /S:""#e"" - Designates the source path of Ie5setup.exe. The ""#e"" refers to the full path and name of the .exe file. Note that the path must be surrounded by two pairs of double quotation marks.
• /R:N - Suppresses restarting the computer after installation. If you suppress restarting, your program should take care of restarting the computer. Internet Explorer is not configured correctly until the computer is restarted.
• /D - Specifies that you want to download only the files for the current operating system.
• /D:1 - Specifies that you want to download files for Microsoft Windows and Windows NT operating systems.
• /G: - Runs specified installation sections in Iesetup.inf. Separate sections with commas.
• /X - Installs Internet Explorer without the shell, icons, or links. This option is useful for hosting browser controls in your own application.
• /X:1 - Installs Internet Explorer with the shell, icons, or links, but does not take over default browser or http protocol associations.
• /P - Reports the required component and disk space cost for an installation. It enables you to see how much disk space will be used based on the installation options selected.
• /F -(Fix) Reinstalls all items on the user's computer that are the same version or newer. Using the /F switch ensures that no component is replaced with an earlier version.

Examples

Here are some example scenarios:

• The following expression performs a quiet installation. It does not prompt the user, and the computer is not restarted after installation:

  ie5setup.exe /Q:A /C:"ie5wzd /S:""#e"" /Q /R:N"

• The following expression overrides the Ie5sites.dat site list and installs Internet Explorer from the specified location:

  ie5setup.exe /C: "ie5wzd /L:""\\yourserv\yourdir\yourlist.dat"" /S:""http://www.yourserver.com/directory/ie5setup.exe""

  This expression would be used to point users to another download location (for example, in another country) without rebuilding your IEAK package.