Microsoft released the final release version of IE7. I added an article with the steps to run IR7 in standalone mode...

Windows Internet Explorer is becoming harder to run without going through the installation process (which basically over-writes the previous version). In previous versions of Internet Explorer 7.0 (BETA 1 and BETA 2), IE assumed default values in the Windows Registry that point to different components of the user-interface. This made it easier to run IE7 in standalone mode with the little help of a tiny batch script by Jon Galloway .

IE7 BETA 3 and later versions; however, do not assume defaults. So for it to work properly in standalone mode we need to set the appropriate classes and interfaces in the windows registry. The interesting thing about this is that as soon as they are loaded in memory by IE, they are no longer required. This means we don't need to wait for "iexplore.exe" to close before performing a registry clean-up.

I programmed a little app that would automate the whole process and run Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate 1 in standalone mode. You can run multiple instances of it with no problem. Click on the picture on the right to see how IE7 Release Candidate 1(top) and IE6 (bottom) can run side by side with the help of my little app.

Why run Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate 1 in standalone mode?

Maybe you are a web developer who wants to test his/her designs on IE7 but want to keep Internet Explorer 6 until Microsoft releases the final version. It's basically a way of running IE7 and IE6 at the same time without having to overwrite the previous version.

What does the program do?

"IE7s.exe" will create a .exe.local file (if you're interested, read Junfeng Zhang's blog post for more information about the .local file). After that it will add values to more than a thousand registry keys in your Windows Registry. Internet Explorer 7 should start then. 10 seconds later the program will perform a cleanup, remove all the registry keys and close itself. It is OK to run multiple instances at once.

What's new?

• Fixed many of the reported bugs in the IE7s.exe. Particularly, compatibility with non-US versions of Windows XP as well as Windows XP professional x64.
• No need for "cleanup.exe".
• Added keys to support
  • Conditional CSS comments <!--[if lte IE 7]>
  • Combo-boxes

What does NOT work?

• Openning a new window and IE7's context menu.
• Bookmarks, RSS reader, and the search box. The search box works if you install IE7s using the installer. Alternatively, you can directly add search providers to the windows registry (article coming soon).
• Visiting pages that need HTTP authentication (username/password)

Requirements

Windows XP SP2 or later. (Not tested on Windows XP SP2 - Japanese/Chinese/Hebrew/Arabic locale but should work in theory)

How to run IE7 RC1 in standalone mode

You have two options; the first is to download the Installer below which I highly recommend. The installer will download Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate 1 from Microsoft's Servers. It will then extract all the necessary files and create easily accessible shortcuts in the start menu/desktop/quick launch depending on your preferences. In order to use tabbed browsing, you need to update Windows with Windows XP update KB915865 . This update is included with Internet Explorer 7 RC1 and will be installed if you use the installer below.

The second option is to download IE7 RC1 self-extracting archive your self, extract it to a single folder using the "/X" switch. E.g. :

IE7RC1-WindowsXP-x86-enu .exe /X

then download and place the "IE7s.exe" file in that folder. Before starting IE7 you need to apply Update KB915865. To do that run "xmllitesetup.exe" which is located in the "./Update" folder of the extracted Internet Explorer 7 archive. After you install the update you can run Internet Explorer 7 by executing " IE7s.exe".

Notes:

• I know how to fix the menu bar and the context menu. The problem is that adding the keys responsible for them would create a conflict with IE6. Both IE7 and IE6 use the same keys. I ruined my registry learning that.
• I updated the executable, if you have the one compiled on 27th August you can just re-download and replace "IE7s.exe" in %programfiles%\IE7RC1\
• Microsoft announced on October 6th that Internet Explorer 7 will be pushed to all users via the Windows Update this month. You MUST remove the standalone version if you're planning on installing it. As an alternative, have a look at the other article with an installer for the standalone versions of IE6, IE5.5, IE5, IE4.01 and IE3.01

Related Articles:

• Install multiple versions of IE on your PC

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Download Internet Explorer 7.0 RC1 Standalone Installer ( 428 KB + 14.59 MB for IE7)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

OR

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Download Internet Explorer 7.0 RC1 Standalone Launch program ONLY ( 147 KB)

AND

Download Internet Explorer 7.0 RC1 from Microsoft (Direct link to the file 14.59MB)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _