Deploying Internet Explorer 7.0 from a Slipstreamed Windows XP CD

System Requirements:

  • Windows XP Home Edition
  • Windows XP Professional Edition

The Problem:

This article follows on from my integrating Windows XP SP3 with Windows Media Player 11 guide. The aim of the article is to discuss the simplest way to deploy Internet Explorer 7.0 from the CD, automatically and without using third-party software.

 

More Information:

Yes, there are automated, third party integration methods for this, but you wouldn’t use them in a commercial environment (sensibly).

If you want IE7 to install, and are not fussed about it being ‘integrated’ then the following will get you to where you want to go under both XP Home and Professional Edition. It should also work with the soon to be released Internet Explorer 8 come its RTM towards the end of the year.

Please note that the following is CASE SENSITIVE and should be followed to the LETTER:

  1. Open c:\integrated (from the XP SP3 + WMP11 Slipstream Guide) or substitute with your own folder with the CD files inside where applicable
  2. Create a new folder called:
    $OEM$
  3. Create a new .txt file in c:\integrated\$OEM$\ called:
    CMDLINES.TXT
  4. Open CMDLINES.TXT in notepad and add:
[Commands]
“rundll32 setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 128 .\OPTIONS.INF”
“cmd /c start /min cmd /c .\AddOEM.bat”
  1. Create a new .bat file in c:\integrated\$OEM$\ called:
    AddOEM.bat
  2. Open AddOEM.bat in notepad and add:
mkdir %SystemDrive%\$Setup
copy .\IE7INST.exe %SystemDrive%\$Setup
  1. Download IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu.exe (the IE7 installer) into c:\integrated\$OEM$\
  2. Rename IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu.exe to IE7INST.exe
  3. Create a new .inf file in c:\integrated\$OEM$\ called:
    OPTIONS.INF
  4. Open OPTIONS.INF in notepad and add:
[Version]
Signature=$CHICAGO$[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=IE7Updt.AddReg

[IE7Updt.AddReg]
HKLM,”Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx\1001″,”IE7 Update”,,”%30%\$Setup\IE7INST.exe /passive /nobackup /update-no /forcerestart”

  1. Open c:\integrated\i386
  2. If it does not already exist, create a new .txt file called:
    unattend.txt
  3. Open unattend.txt in notepad and enter the following, integrating or overwriting (recommended for novices) the entire file content with:

;SetupMgrTag

[Data]
MsDosInitiated=”0″
UnattendedInstall=”Yes”

[Unattended]
UnattendMode=ProvideDefault
OemPreinstall=No
TargetPath=\WINDOWS

  1. Burn the revised c:\integration folder to disc as normal to create a bootable slipstream CD

If you have followed these steps correctly then you will be able to install the integrated XP SP3 + Windows Media Player 11 package that I demonstrate how to build here and have IE7 installed by the time you first get to the desktop.
There will be an extra reboot involved as the updated Internet Explorer is applied during the initial post-install startup.

Should you wish to patch Internet Explorer 7.0 as part of this process, you will need to modify the AddOEM.bat, OPTIONS.inf and contents of the $OEM$ folder with the patch files, file copy commands and installation processes. Do remember to ensure that the RunOnceEx run number is > 1001 so that the patch is applied after the installation of IE7.

You will not be able to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 from the machine using these scripts. If you require uninstallation support for IE7 then remove “/nobackup” from the OPTIONS.INF file IE7Updt.AddReg line.

Known Issues

  1. This method causes a reboot before the completion of the first boot to a user desktop. There is a quirk involved in this which means that the account that you configure during setup (administrator under XP Professional) will ultimately load with luna, the Windows XP visual style disabled. You can re-enable this from Desktop in the Control Panel should you want to use Windows Luna.
  2. The folder $Setup will remain on the root of C:\ after the installation has completed. You can safely delete this folder.