Forum Discussion
Windows 10...IE 11...32-bit?
Hello. If anybody has a minute, I have some sites requiring 32-bit IE. in Windows 7, i created a second IE 32-bit shortcut (C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe) and it launched a strictly IE-11, 32-bit.
In Windows 10, the same procedure seems to launch 64-bit, despite the shortcut property to x86. The Task Manager does not indicate any difference between the launched 64-bit and 32-bit instances. Both list iexplore.exe (nothing indicating 32 bit).
I've read stuff about internet Opetions, checking/unchecking Enhanced Protected Mode but that does nothing, and it sounds kind of weird to have to do that anyway.
1. Is there a way to verify bitness of an open IE 11 instance on Windows 10?
2. Despite that, I fear its launching 64-bit anyway, despite the path executable. How are you able to set up a 32-bit only IE shortcut as perfomred in Windows 7?
Thank you so much for reading.
18 Replies
- Hi,
there is an answer here:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie8-windows_other/version-of-ie-32-bit-or-64-bit-how-can-i-tell/75488de3-fffa-4782-be0a-c536c9a70151?auth=1
and here
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/all/how-do-i-access-internet-explorer-32-bit-on/0f3ef831-ba47-49e7-b8ec-b3571d8008a8HotCakeX Hi, thank you so much.
yeah, I reviewed both those threads earlier in my massive days long googling but they seem generally inconclusive.
I had IE 11 on Windows 7 and absolutely needed the 32-bit (x86) shortcut, despite these threads saying >= IE 10 determines, on a hyperlnk load basis, the bitness required.
Also, there is no iexplore.exe *32 in Windows 10 process manager, even if launching the x86 executable. So i'm still stuck. I've read the same issues elsewhere but no substantive answers specifically for Windows 10, IE 11.
there are also other ways to see the architecture of executable in Task manager
this one in the Details tab of Task manager, I'm not sure whether you have it or not because If i remember correctly it was introduced in Windows Insider build that Im using
if your web apps are old and only run on 32 bit IE, you have 2 more options
- Update your apps so they will be able to run on any modern browser (you will have a peace of mind for the future to come)
- use Hyper-V (which is free) to virtualize Windows 7 32bit or any other 32bit version of Windows that you want to use its 32bit IE feature.
