Installing Internet Explorer 9

After extensive research, planning, testing, and analysis, the final step in the deployment process is rolling out your installation of Windows® Internet Explorer® 9 to your users. This section describes the steps to follow when you are ready to deploy Internet Explorer 9.

Internet Explorer 9 installation prerequisites

One prerequisite update is required to run Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Two prerequisites are required to install Internet Explorer 9 on Windows Vista® Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Server 2008 SP2. When you run the Internet Explorer 9 installer, it automatically downloads and installs this update.

For more information, see Prerequisites for installing Internet Explorer 9. Also, the table below describes the prerequisite updates.

Title Description Download links

Update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

This update provides new functionality and performance improvement for the graphics platform. This update provides performance improvements when you print from XPS-based applications to GDI-based print drivers. This update resolves some streaming issues that are related to Media Foundation.

KB2454826

Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library Update for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2

The Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library contains the latest advancements in modern graphics technologies for gaming, multimedia, imaging and printing applications. It includes updates to DirectX to support hardware acceleration for 2D, 3D and text-based scenarios; DirectCompute for hardware accelerated parallel computing scenarios; and XPS Library for document printing scenarios.

KB971512

Platform Update Supplement for Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2

This update provides fixes and improvements to graphics, media foundation, and print functionality in Windows Vista SP2 and in Windows Server 2008 SP2.

KB2117917

Note

The prerequisites for Windows 7 are also included in Windows 7 SP1. When installing Internet Explorer 9 on a computer with Windows 7 SP1 already installed, a reboot may not be required during the installation.

Selecting the right version of Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9 is available for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2. The following table lists the operating systems and architectures supported, along with the Setup file name for each.

Note

The file names listed in the table are for the U.S. English language versions of Internet Explorer 9. The file names for other language versions vary according to the three-letter language code at the end of the file name. See the list of available languages and corresponding three-letter language codes below.

Operating system Architecture File name

Windows Vista

x86

IE9-WindowsVista-x86-ENU.exe

Windows Vista x64 Edition

x64

IE9-WindowsVista-x64-ENU.exe

Windows 7

x86

IE9-Windows7-x86-ENU.exe

Windows 7 x64 Edition

x64

IE9-Windows7-x64-ENU.exe

Windows Server 2008

x86

IE9-WindowsVista-x86-ENU.exe

Windows Server 2008

x64

IE9-WindowsVista-x64-ENU.exe

Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 edition

x64

IE9-Windows7-x64-ENU.exe

All versions of Internet Explorer 9 can be downloaded from the Windows Internet Explorer 9 website at https://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages.

Multi-language support in Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9 is currently available in the following languages:

Arabic - ARA

English (US) - ENU

Indonesian – IND

Romanian - ROM

Vietnamese - VIT

Catalan - CAT

Finnish - FIN

Italian - ITA

Russian - RUS

Bulgarian - BGR

Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) - ZHH

French – FRA

Japanese – JPN

Slovenian - SLV

Croatian - HRV

Chinese (Simplified) – CHS

German – DEU

Korean - KOR

Spanish – ESN

Estonian - ETI

Chinese (Traditional) – CHT

Greek - ELL

Norwegian – NOR

Swedish - SVE

Latvian - LVI

Czech - CSY

Hebrew - HEB

Polish - PLK

Thai - THA

Lithuanian - LTH

Danish - DAN

Hindi - HIN

Portuguese (Brazil) - PTB

Turkish - TRK

Serbian (Latin) - SRL

Dutch - NLD

Hungarian - HUN

Portuguese (Portugal) - PTG

Ukranian - UKR

Slovak - SKY

Note

Additional language support will be available at a later time after Internet Explorer 9 is released.

Internet Explorer 9 provides multi-language support in two forms:

  • Localized versions of Internet Explorer 9.

  • Multilingual installations made possible by language interface packs (LIPs).

There are the following exceptions:

  1. LIPs are not available for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Therefore, Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 ships in 36 languages, as Internet Explorer 9 is not available in 4 LIP languages for those operating systems.

  2. Some localized versions of Internet Explorer 9 are not available for the x64 versions of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Language packs for Internet Explorer 9 are available for download at the links below. Note that operating system naming within the language packs files (.msu) are named differently than the file names for the Internet Explorer 9 executable.

Description Download links

Language packs for Windows 7 (x86/x64), and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64)

Language packs

Language packs for Windows Vista SP2 (x86/x64) and Windows Server 2008 SP2 (x86/x64)

Language packs

Additional considerations for a multilingual deployment

Internet Explorer 9 supports multilingual deployments with language packs. If your users' computers are all using a localized version of Windows, you should deploy the same version of Internet Explorer 9. For example, if they are using the Spanish language edition of Windows, you should deploy the localized Spanish version of Internet Explorer 9.

Alternatively, in multilingual environments, your users may have more than one Windows UI language installed. For example, let’s suppose users have Spanish, French, German, and Catalan Windows UI languages installed on their computers. In this case, you should install Internet Explorer 9 in one of these languages, and then install language packs for the other three. You could install the localized French Internet Explorer 9 package, for example, and then install the Spanish, German, and Catalan language packs.

Signing custom browser package files

Digital signatures identify the source of programs, and guarantee that the code has not changed since it was signed. Depending on the operating systems that users are running and how their security levels are set, Internet Explorer 9 might prevent users from (or warn them against) downloading programs that are not digitally signed.

We recommend you digitally sign the cabinet (.cab) files created by the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9, and any custom components you want to distribute with Internet Explorer 9. If you have a digital certificate, the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9 can sign these files automatically.

For more information about digital signatures, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=157970.

To digitally sign .cab files and custom components:

  1. Obtain a digital certificate.

  2. When you run the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9, specify your digital certificate information.

Preparing the distribution sources

Depending on the type of deployment you select for your organization, you may need to prepare one or more of the following distribution methods:

  • Windows Update or Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)

  • Hyperlink in email or webpage

  • Shared network folder

  • CD-ROM

  • Active Directory + Group Policy

Note

If you plan to distribute Internet Explorer 9 through the Group Policy software installation, you must use a Windows Installer package (.msi file). These packages can be created using IEAK 9.

Windows Update or Windows Server Update Services

Internet Explorer 9 is published as a download through Windows Update, so in organizations where users receive updates directly from Windows Update, Internet Explorer 9 may already have been downloaded to user's computers.

To prevent excessive network traffic and to provide greater control over the packages installed on users' computers, larger organizations may elect to use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). WSUS lets you download a single copy of updates for Microsoft products and cache them on local servers. Users' computers can then be configured to receive updates directly from one or more WSUS servers rather than through Windows Update.

Approving Internet Explorer in WSUS

  1. Open your WSUS administration website (typically accessed through http://WSUSServerName/WSUSAdmin/), where <WSUSServerName> is the name of your WSUS computer.

  2. In the To Do list, select Review synchronization settings.

  3. In Tasks, select Synchronize now to synchronize your WSUS server with Windows Update.

  4. In the navigation bar at the upper right of the page, select Updates to switch to the list of available updates.

  5. Using Search, in the Contains text box, type Internet Explorer 9 to filter the list of updates.

  6. Click Apply.

  7. Select the appropriate Windows Internet Explorer 9 for (Your OS) in the list of updates.

  8. In Update Tasks, select Approve for installation.

  9. In the Approval column, click the link for each computer group that you want to configure, and select the approval level.

  10. Click OK to apply the approval.

Importing from Microsoft Update catalog into WSUS

Any computer that has the WSUS administrative console installed, whether or not it is a WSUS server, can be used to import Internet Explorer 9 release from the catalog site. You must be logged on to the computer as an administrator to import the hotfixes.

To access the Microsoft Update catalog site

  1. In the WSUS administrative console, select either the top server node or the Updates node, and in the Actions pane click Import Updates.

    A browser window will open at the Microsoft Update Catalog Web site.

  2. Install the Microsoft Update Catalog ActiveX® control so that you can access updates from this site.

  3. Search for Internet Explorer 9 on the site and add the updates to your basket.

When you have finished browsing, go to the basket and click Import to import your updates. To download the updates without importing them, clear the Import directly into Windows Server Update Services checkbox.

As an alternative to importing Internet Explorer 9 from the Microsoft Update catalog site into WSUS, early enterprise adopters can also elect to import Internet Explorer 9 into System Center Configuration Manager 2007. For more information, see Using the Microsoft Update Catalog Site with System Center Configuration Manager.

Using a flat network share

A flat network share is a folder or folder tree that is accessible to network users. It contains the files necessary to install Internet Explorer 9. Installation can be as simple as placing a single version of the installer file in a shared folder, or as complex as creating separate subfolders for multiple architectures and operating system versions. If you work in a multilingual organization, you may want to provide separate folders to hold different language versions.

Note

This media type is used when you build custom browser packages on a local area network (LAN), or when you plan to distribute your packages from a LAN. You can then direct users to the designated directory on your LAN, and they can run the Setup program directly from that location.

Using IEAK 9

If you selected Flat media type in the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9, the wizard places all of the installation files in the \build_directory\Flat folder. With IEAK 9, you can use any language version of the customization wizard to create localized custom packages of the browser in any language that Internet Explorer is shipped in.

Manually creating the flat network share

Internet Explorer 9 uses a single executable file for installation. To create a flat network share manually, copy the file into a folder and make that folder available to network users. To support multiple architectures or operating systems, create subfolders for your installation files that are clearly labeled by operating system and architecture.

Using a CD-ROM

If you selected CD-ROM as the media type during the first stage of the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9, the wizard creates a custom browser package that you can distribute to your users on CD-ROMs. You can copy or move the files from the \build_directory\CD folder to a CD-ROM imaging program. If the media imaging program supports drag-and-drop operations, you can drag the CD folder to the CD-ROM imaging software interface.

For more information about whether your program provides this option, see your imaging software documentation.

Users can then install Internet Explorer 9 by running Setup from the Autorun dialog box that appears when users open the CD-ROMs. Windows Update Setup for Internet Explorer 9 offers users the choice of installing the custom browser package, or viewing more information about the setup process. If users already have the current version of Internet Explorer 9 installed, the Autorun program automatically detects it.

Using Active Directory and Group Policy

Deploying software in this manner is generally recommended only for smaller organizations, with a small number of applications to deploy using a Group Policy object (GPO). This is due to the limitations of targeting and reporting not provided natively with this approach. Additionally, GPO delivered software depends upon .msi installation files, and many software packages are not available with .msi installation file definitions. For more information about GPO and software deployments, see: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=157972.

You can make software available to users in Windows Control Panel. By using Add or Remove Programs, users can manage software on their own computers. However, you can control what software is available to users in Add or Remove Programs by using Group Policy settings.

Add or Remove Programs includes an active web link for each application, which provides users with the support information they need to install certain applications. However, you can overwrite the default link by using the software installation extension of Group Policy. The support link then corresponds to your internal product support resources.

You can also have this link point to a support page. This resource could include information such as an FAQ about a specified application, a help desk article about using the application, or instructions for requesting support. This can save time for both users and help desk personnel.

Troubleshooting the setup process

To troubleshoot Setup:

  • Review the IE9_main.log file in the Windows folder. Each installation creates a log file, which collects information about that particular installation. If an IE9_main.log file already exists, Setup renames the existing log as a .bak file, and creates a new log file.

  • Make sure the download URLs that you specify during Setup are the same as the URLs for the download server.

  • See Troubleshooting in this deployment guide. This section provides information about commonly reported issues and solution strategies.