IExpress

IExpress

A component of Microsoft Windows
Screenshot of IExpress in Windows Vista
Details
Type	Self-contained installation packages maker
Included with	Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012

IExpress is a Microsoft utility bundled with various editions of Windows operating systems that is used to create a single self-extracting package from a set of files. Such packages can be used to install applications, executables, drivers, other system components, or setup bootstrappers. It is bundled with the editions of Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) that are: Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012. It was also included as part of all Internet Explorer Administration Kit releases 4, 5 and 6, and was part of all installations of Internet Explorer 6.

IExpress (IEXPRESS.EXE) can be used for distributing self-contained installation packages (INF-based setup executables) to multiple local or remote Windows computers. It creates a self-extracting executable (.EXE) or a compressed Cabinet (.CAB) file using either the provided front end interface (IExpress Wizard), or a custom Self Extraction Directive (SED) file. SED files can be modified with any plain text/ASCII editor, like Notepad. All self-extracting files created by IExpress use CAB compression algorithms, are compressed using the MakeCab (MAKECAB.EXE) tool, and are extracted using the WExtract (WEXTRACT.EXE) tool.

IEXPRESS.EXE is located in the SYSTEM32 folder of both Windows 32 and 64-bit installations. The front end interface (IExpress Wizard) can be started by manually navigating to the respective directory and opening the executable (IExpress.exe), or by typing IExpress into the Run window of the Start Menu. It can also be used from the command line (Windows Command Prompt or batch file) to create custom installation packages, eventually unattended (automated operation):