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 for a batch installation.

You can use the following switches:

• /Q - Specifies a quiet "hands-free" mode. The user will be prompted for information that isn't specified.
• /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 will not be able to cancel Setup. This switch is used by the IEAK wizard if the Install package silently option is selected 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=standard install (default), 1=enhanced, 2=full).
• /I:[Y/N] - Indicates whether or not to install the Windows Desktop Update. The default is "Y."
• /S:""#e"" - Designates the source path of Ie4setup.exe. The ""#e"" refers to the full path and name of the .exe file.
• /U:""<path>"" - Specifies the path (HTTP, file, or network in Universal Naming Convention format) for installation cabinet (.cab) files. Do not use /U for CD-ROM installations.
• /R:N - Suppresses rebooting after installation. If you suppress rebooting, your program should take care of rebooting the computer; Internet Explorer will not be properly configured until the computer is rebooted.
• /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 Ie4setup.inf. Separate sections with commas.
• /L:""<path and name of site list>"" - Substitutes the path and name of the Ie4sites.dat site list. Specify full path (HTTP, file, or network in Universal Naming Convention format) and the name of the site list file. In your site list file, use the same structure and syntax as Ie4sites.dat.
• /X - Installs Internet Explorer without the shell, icons, or links. This option is useful for hosting browser controls in your own application.

• If you disable rebooting, you must ensure that your program reboots the users' computer. Internet Explorer will not be properly configured until the computer is restarted.
• Paths should be surrounded by two pairs of double quotes: ""<path>"".

To use batch-mode Setup switches, use Wextract, an extraction utility based on Internet Express technology. The following are frequently used Wextract command line switches:

• /Q - Quiet mode
• /QU - User-quiet mode, which presents some dialog boxes to the user
• /QA - Administrator-quiet mode, which does not present any dialog boxes to the user
• /C:<> - Path and name of the Setup .inf or .exe file
• /R:N - Never reboot
• /R:A - Always reboot
• /R:S - Silent reboot
• /T:<directory path> - Target folder for extracting files

Here are some example scenarios:

• The following expression runs the third installation option:
  ie4setup.exe /C:"ie4wizd.exe /S:""#e"" /M:2"
• The following expression performs a quiet installation, with no user prompts and no reboot afterward:
  ie4setup.exe /Q:A /C:"ie4wzd /S:""#e"" /Q /R:N"
  
  Note that the placement of quotation marks is important, and that the path is surrounded with two pairs of double quotation marks.
• The following expression overrides the Ie4sites.dat site list and installs Internet Explorer from the specified location:
  ie4setup.exe /C: "ie4wizd.exe /L:""\\yourserv\yourdir\yourlist.dat"" /S:""http://www.yourserver.com/directory/ie4setup.exe""
  
  This expression would be used to point users to another download location—for example, in another country—without rebuilding your IEAK package.