The serverless sign-up process enables users to install your custom Internet Explorer browser by compact disc, floppy disks, or files that can be downloaded. The installation process requires them to change only the user name, password, and connection information to set up an account and connect to the Internet by using your custom browser.
The serverless process enables ISPs to customize user settings without using a sign-up server. Because configuration information is distributed with the IEAK package, and therefore becomes local to the user's computer, the process is not as dynamic as server-based sign-up.
Or, you can allow the user to select each component from an installation menu. You cannot use the serverless sign-up method to customize the Internet Connection wizard.
Because the configuration file is distributed with the IEAK package, you cannot dynamically change user settings on the sign-up server.
The regular sign-up server gathers information about a user and then prepares a custom configuration file that is downloaded to the user's desktop computer. Software in the Internet Explorer installation package uses the configuration file to configure the desktop computer.
In the serverless version, the configuration file is created before the package is shipped, and it is included in the installation package. Therefore, the configuration file contains no user-specific configuration information. The configuration file, Install.ins, is invoked as a link from the local HTML page and configures most aspects of Internet Explorer. Because the configuration file is included in the installation package, it becomes local to the user's computer.
If you are creating multiple customized versions of Internet Explorer and have many settings that stay the same across several or all versions, you can simplify the process. For more information, see Creating Multiple Versions of the Browser.