Custom Components

  • Article

On this page of the Windows® Internet Explorer® Customization Wizard 8, you can add up to ten components that your users can install at the same time that they install Internet Explorer. These components can be compressed cabinet (.cab) files or self-extracting executable (.exe) files, and can be anything from components you created for your organization to components from Microsoft. For Microsoft components, the most current versions and software patches may be available from Microsoft Update (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=284). To include any components from Microsoft Update in your package, you must bundle the associated files into a custom component.

You should sign any custom code that is downloaded over the Internet to let your users know that they can trust your code before downloading it to their computers. The default settings in Internet Explorer 8 reject unsigned code.

When you add a component, you can specify when to install components in relation to the installation of Internet Explorer. To minimize the number of restarts, you can install the component before or after Internet Explorer in installed, or after the required system restart.

Note

Certain options on this page of the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 8 are only available for certain versions of Windows operating systems.

Item Details

Name

The name of a component that you added using Add.

Install

The install condition you chose when you added the component.

Install on success

The decision you made about installing your component if Internet Explorer does not install on users computers.

Add

Click Add to display the Add a Custom Component dialog. From here, you can specify information about your components that you want to include in your custom package.
  • Name
  • Type the name of your component.
  • Location
  • Type the path to your program, or click Browse to search for it.
  • Browse
  • Click Browse to find the location of your custom component.
  • Install Condition: Install before Internet Explorer
  • Click this option if you need to install a custom component before Internet Explorer is installed (for example, to run a batch file to configure user settings).
  • Install Condition: Install after Internet Explorer
  • Click this option if you want to install one or more Internet Explorer software updates.
  • Install Conditions: Install after system restarts
  • Click this option if your custom component contains system service packs or Microsoft Java Virtual Machine updates.
  • Only install if Internet Explorer is installed successfully
  • Select this check box if you want to prevent a component from being installed if Internet Explorer is not installed on your users' computers. Use this for any component that requires Internet Explorer to be present to be successfully installed (for example, a security update).
  • Command
  • If you specify a .cab file, you must also specify a command to extract the file.
  • GUID
  • A globally unique identifier (GUID) establishes a unique identity for programs, objects, and other items. If your program already has a GUID, type it in this box. If your program does not have a GUID, one is generated for you.
  • Description
  • Type up to 511 characters to describe your component.
  • Parameter
  • You can specify command-line options to run with your custom program. For example, you might want to install your program silently, so that users do not see prompts during setup of your program or Internet Explorer. For more information about using options, see Command-line Options and IExpress.

    Note
    Tools for creating IExpress scripts are installed with IEAK at <SystemDrive>:\Program Files\Windows IEAK 8\toolkit.
  • Uninstall Key
  • Microsoft Update Setup compares this value to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ApplicationName to verify that the component installed correctly.
  • Version
  • Type the serial number that you want to assign to the custom Internet Explorer package you are creating. The correct format for this version number is xxxx,xxxx,xxxx,xxxx. The version is a number and does not include alphabetical characters.

Add

Click Add to clear the fields and add a new custom component.

Edit

Click Edit to edit information about a custom component.

Verify

Click Verify to determine whether the program was digitally signed. Programs installed over the Internet typically need a digital signature that identifies their source and guarantees that the code has not changed since it was signed. Depending on browser settings, users will be warned before the program is downloaded. For more about code signing, see Certificates, Digital Signatures, and IEAK.

Remove

Click Remove to delete the current program from your custom package.

Additional references