Issues with Edge and IE compatibility mode - Internet Explorer can't be found ......

Question

Windows 10 21H2
Internet Explorer NOT Installed
Edge 96.0.1054.43
Latest Group Policy Template installed in Central Store

Hi Folks,

I am having issues configuring IE Compatibility Mode in Edge via group policy.

We have identified a couple of sites that function correctly using IE but not in Edge.

When the sites are added to a newly created sites.xml file the policy does seem to be applied locally by Edge as we can see the URLs under edge://compat/enterprise The sites.xml has been created using the Enterprise Site List Manager built into Edge, selecting Open In: IE Mode

When one of the sites in the .xml is accessed, the following message is shown: Internet Explorer can't be found. You need to re-install Internet Explorer

If I re-install Internet explorer onto a test PC the site(s) open within Edge in IE compatibility mode

What am I missing here?

Cheers

Group Policy Settings:

---

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge

• Allow access to Enterprise Mode Site List Manager

Enabled

• Configure Internet Explorer integration

Configure Internet Explorer integration: Internet Explorer mode

• Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List

Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List: \path\path\sites.xml

Sample sites.xml

---

<site-list version="18">
<site url="archive.org" comment="test 1">
<compat-mode>Default</compat-mode>
<open-in>IE11</open-in>
</site>
</site-list>

Answer 1

Answer found!

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/internet-explorer-11-desktop-app-retirement-faq/ba-p/2366549

Will the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application be removed from devices?

No. The IE11 desktop application will not be removed from devices, as the IE11 engine is required for IE mode to function. However, after the IE11 desktop application is retired on June 15, 2022, it will be disabled permanently.

Also on Page 3 of the comments:

debi36-666 Senior Member
‎Nov 08 2021 09:07 AM
Hi, we have several products which rely on IE11 (e.g. which use ActiveX, XBAP). We need to ensure our products work with Edge in IE11 mode and would like to set up a Test environment to simulate a Windows environment supported by Microsoft post June 2022.

Can you advise what the test environment should ‘look like’?

We’ve tried using a VM WITHOUT IE11 installed

Windows 10
Edge set as the Default browser with ‘Let Internet Explorer open sites in Microsoft Edge’ set to ‘Incompatible sites only’ and ‘Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode’ set to ‘Allow’
IE11 NOT installed
When we try using our products URL in the Edge browser and try ‘Reload Tab in Internet Explorer mode’ we get the message “Internet Explorer can’t be found. You need to re-install or re-enable Internet Explorer.” So how do we simulate the IE 11 desktop application having been retired / disabled whilst ensuring our legacy sites work OK in Edge with IE mode? Thanks

Eric_VanAelstyn
Eric_VanAelstyn Microsoft
‎Nov 08 2021 10:46 AM
Hi @debi36-666 ,

IE mode in Microsoft Edge relies on an underlying installation of IE Trident engine so when we retire the IE11 desktop app the engine will still be present on the device but users will not be able to open and use the IE11 browser application.

Answer 2

Hi

Thank you for your reply.

1) Have you enabled Internet Explorer 11 in Windows Features?

No we are looking at removing IE 11 from PCs due to Internet Explorer being end of life/support (June 15, 2022)

We are attempting to use the integrated Trident engine in Edge for IE 11 backwards compatibility rather than having IE installed on the PCs.

If we do install IE everything works as expected.

3) Are you using a local network file as Enterprise Mode Site List file?

Yes and I can confirm that the settings from sites.xml are being imported into the browser show under edge://compat/enterprise Enterprise Mode Site List

2)