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Microsoft has updated their Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) based versions of IE for you to test compatibility in older versions of Internet Explorer on Windows XP and Windows Vista.

In order to help web designers and web developers test their websites in older versions of Internet Explorer, we’ve provided the following VHD with Windows set up with the specified version of Internet Explorer. The images are patched with the latest security updates and are otherwise clean installs of the operating system with very few modifications.

These images are specifically designed to run on Microsoft Virtual PC, and may or may not work in other hosting environments. In other hosting environments, you may be required to activate the OS as the product key has been deactivated. This is the expected behavior. The VHDs will not pass genuine validation.

The username and password for these images is contained in the read me that is packaged along with the VHD.  This download page contains different VPC images, depending on what you want to test.

Windows XP Images

These images were last updated on October 13, 2010, and expire on January 11, 2011.

  • IE6-on-XPSP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE6 VHD file. Expires January 11, 2011
  • IE7-on-XPSP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE7 VHD file. Expires January 11, 2011
  • IE8-on-XPSP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE8 VHD file. Expires January 11, 2011

Windows Vista
Due to the size of the Vista VHD, it is split across several files, you’ll need to download all files for that version of the Internet Explorer and uncompress them to the same directory to unpack the VHD file. This VHD only has SP1, and should be updated to ensure it has the latest service packs and security updates.

  • IE7-VIS1.exe+IE7-VIS2.rar+IE7-VIS3.rar contain a Vista Image with IE7 VHD file. Expires 90 days after first run.
  • IE8-VIS1.exe+IE8-VIS2.rar+IE8-VIS3.rar+IE8-VIS4.rar contain a Vista Image with IE8 VHD file. Expires 90 days after first run.

Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image Downloads