[Microsoft Edge] Installation Details

I. Download Edge

Edge The installation package is actually a simple installation package, which contains an installation configuration file that provides a link to download the real installation package and the corresponding version, installation directory, and other configurations. As a result, when you click on the installer after downloading, the installation window will pop up and say “Downloading Edge”、“Edge is being installed”。

This approach may be for more safety and style? Following the modernCI/CD Continuous Delivery concept, which can be understood, so it will be divided into the many versions mentioned below. But at the same time, Microsoft is not doing a very good job, I analyze%temp%\msedge_installer A guess after the installation logs is that it should have downloaded the source code to a temporary (cache) directory during the installation process, and then compiled and packaged it locally into an executable.exe installer, and then install and extract it to theEdgeCore\Application directory, and then copy it to the corresponding version type of theApplication directory and create theResiliencyLinks and other redundant files, I don’t know if this is for backup purposes or not. And finally to create the start menu files so that they point to the newly installed version.

From the above description, it is clear that at least 7 redundancies were created during the Edge installation. Considering only the redundancies that take up more space, even after removing theTemp There are still 3 to 4 copies of 400MB or more of redundant cache (e.g., theC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeCore\112.0.1722.39 ，C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\112.0.1722.39 ，C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Download\{F3017226-FE2A-4295-8BDF-00C3A9A7E4C5}\112.0.1722.39 , C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\Application\112.0.1722.39), and a copy of the 100M redundancy (such as theC:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS\Application\114.0.1794.0\ResiliencyLinks ）。

So I think Microsoft still has a lot of room for improvement in the area of designing the Edge installer, and there’s still a lot to perfect.

In addition, this simple installer is somewhat similar to the speedy installer downloaders on pirated software download sites, which are said to be speedy, but in fact are slower than the traditional way, and load a lot of things that the user doesn’t need. My guess is that Microsoft may have chosen this method because it follows the previous method of paying for verified installations of Windows operating systems and Office installers, and because of CI/CD.

1.1 Download URL

• Edge official download page
  Provide the main operating system platformsEdge Full Version and Preview (Beta) Installer download link.
• Edge Insider official download page
  furnishEdge Insider All previewsThe link to download the installation package for the

1.2 Classification of releases

• Edge official version
• Edge Insider Provides a preview version
  • Beta version。
  • Dev Version。
  • Canary edition。
    

2, cheaply dressed Edge

Edge The installation process is automatic, we just need to click on the downloaded installer and it will download the real installer of the corresponding version by itself and install it automatically. If you have a running Edge, you will need to restart Edge to complete the update.

2.1 Possible anomalies

1. If you encounter after clicking the mouse pointer right corner of the circle rotating for a while disappeared, and a long time (more than a minute) does not pop up the installation interface, the probability is that Microsoft’s side of the network problems, may be too high a delay or network failure. Even when the network is good, running the installation program may also need to wait a long time (more than ten seconds) before the installation interface will pop up, which is also a network problem, only that this is not delayed to timeout.

2. Sometimes there is also the problem of unresponsive clicks on the official website to download, resulting in the inability to download the installation package on the official website, the underlying reason for this is very likely to be due to network problems as well.

2.2 Installation directory details

Because Edge is based on the Chromium kernel, the directory structure is similar to that of Chrome.

2.2.1 Edge is not Canary version

Base Catalog for non-Canary versions of Edgebecause ofC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft The following directory is included under it:

• Edge ：The official (or generic) version of the base catalogIts full path isC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge . The followingApplication directory is the application directory.Temp directory for temporary (cached) directories, and a directory namedEdge.dat of the document.Application One level below the directory is the directory with the corresponding version name. If more than one version is installed, only the latest version should be retained.Temp directory is generally empty, unless you have installed a higher version of a different version type, the Edge installer willlatest versionorLast installed versionEdge executable programmsedge.exe Make two copies of the superiorApplication A copy of the catalog formsedge.exe One fornew_msedge.exe , and set the installation directory of the version of this release type in themsedge.exe replicatescoped_dir + a string of numbers + _ + a string of numbers in the directoryold_msedge.exe . IfLast installed versionis a lower version, even though the first boot after installation generates thenew_msedge.exe After restarting the browser, it will also change toold_msedge.exe . This has been fully tested and proven by the author, as detailed in my subsequent articleTest analysis of the directory structure of a multi-version installation of the Microsoft Edge browser 。
  
  
  The current full version of Beta is 112.0.1722.46. 。
  

• Edge Beta ：Beta Base CatalogIts full path isC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge Beta\Application . The subdirectory structure is the same as above.
  The current full version of Beta is 113.0.1774.9. 。

• Edge Dev ：Base Catalog for Dev EditionIts full path isC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge Dev . The subdirectory structure is the same as above.
  The full version of the current Dev release is 114.0.1788.0 。
  

• EdgeCore ：Edge’s Core CatalogIts full path isC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeCore The installation process starts by installing Edge into the corresponding version subdirectory of this directory. The installation process starts by installing Edge into the corresponding version subdirectory of this directory, then copying it to theEdge 、Edge Beta 、Edge Dev , so it can be interpreted asbackup directory。

• EdgeUpdate ：Edge’s Updater CatalogIts full path isC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate . Stores the temporary files of the installation package downloaded during the initial stage of installation, and then utilizes these temporary files in theInstall Subdirectory GenerationMicrosoftEdge_X64 + _ + version number + .exe installation package, and finally the.exe The installation package is moved to theDownload directory, these.exe The installation package isThe real installation program If you have problems with Edge, you can use them to repair, uninstall and reinstall. If you don’t need them, you can delete them manually, or you can use software such as Tencent PC Butler to remove them.Garbage RemovalThe function is automatically deleted.

• EdgeWebView ：Edge WebView2’s base catalogIts full path isC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView The main feature of using Microsoft Edge WebView2 control is that it supports cross-platform terminals. The main feature of using Microsoft Edge WebView2 control is that it supports cross-platform endpoints, using the same set of code, it can be run on PCs, cell phones, tablets, as well as different operating systems.
  Related references:webview(https://blog.csdn.net/devilnov/article/details/117323956)、WebView2(https://learn.microsoft.com/zh-cn/microsoft-edge/webview2/)、PWA(https://learn.microsoft.com/zh-cn/microsoft-edge/progressive-web-apps-chromium/ respond in singinghttps://developer.mozilla.org/zh-CN/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps)。

• Temp ：Temporary (cache) directory where downloaded files are stored while the simple installer is runningIts full path isC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Temp . After the installation is complete, it is usually empty.

2.2.2 Edge Canary

Base Catalog for Edge Canary Editionbecause ofC:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS The SameEdge is not Canary installation principle and directory structure, it will also be installed first in theC:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\EdgeCore directory to generate a version installation directory as an initialization (later used as a backup) directory, and then use this directory to generate theC:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS\Application The version installation directory in the In addition, directories such asC:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Download\{65C35B14-6C1D-4122-AC46-7148CC9D6497}\114.0.1794.0\MicrosoftEdge_X64_114.0.1794.0.exe of the real installer.

The full version of the current Dev release is 114.0.1794.0

Attention.C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local The directory was designed to hold user data, except for theC:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS Any Edge version type other than the directory only holds user data.User Data . Without installing theEdge Canary Edition Previously.C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local directory stores only user data for installed version types. After installing theEdge Canary Edition Later, the newly generatedC:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS ，C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\EdgeCore ，C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate These three catalogs can be proved by the creation time of the chart below. Among them.C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS The directory stores both the installation directory and the user data directory.

attention (heed)
If you only want to install one version of Edge, it is not recommended to install the Canary version because that version of Edge cannot be set as the default browser.
If you insist, you can force the default program to be the Edge Canary version.

Check your Edge settings again to see the changes take effect.

Third, can the real installation package be used directly?

The answer is:Can’t!!!
Because it involves directory operations such as unzipping directories, creating directories, and a lot of registry modifications, it is not possible to install Edge directly using a real installation package.