c# - Use latest version of Internet Explorer in the webbrowser control

Question

The default version of the webbrowser control in a C# Windows Forms application is 7. I have changed to 9 by the article Browser Emulation, but how is it possible to use the latest version of the installed Internet Explorer in a webbrowser control?

Answer 1

I saw Veer's answer. I think it's right, but it did not I work for me. Maybe I am using .NET 4 and am using 64x OS so kindly check this.

You may put in setup or check it in start-up of your application:

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    var appName = Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName + ".exe";
    SetIE8KeyforWebBrowserControl(appName);
}

private void SetIE8KeyforWebBrowserControl(string appName)
{
    RegistryKey Regkey = null;
    try
    {
        // For 64 bit machine
        if (Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem)
            Regkey = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION", true);
        else  //For 32 bit machine
            Regkey = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION", true);

        // If the path is not correct or
        // if the user haven't priviledges to access the registry
        if (Regkey == null)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Application Settings Failed - Address Not found");
            return;
        }

        string FindAppkey = Convert.ToString(Regkey.GetValue(appName));

        // Check if key is already present
        if (FindAppkey == "8000")
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Required Application Settings Present");
            Regkey.Close();
            return;
        }

        // If a key is not present add the key, Key value 8000 (decimal)
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(FindAppkey))
            Regkey.SetValue(appName, unchecked((int)0x1F40), RegistryValueKind.DWord);

        // Check for the key after adding
        FindAppkey = Convert.ToString(Regkey.GetValue(appName));

        if (FindAppkey == "8000")
            MessageBox.Show("Application Settings Applied Successfully");
        else
            MessageBox.Show("Application Settings Failed, Ref: " + FindAppkey);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        MessageBox.Show("Application Settings Failed");
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
    }
    finally
    {
        // Close the Registry
        if (Regkey != null)
            Regkey.Close();
    }
}

You may find messagebox.show, just for testing.

Keys are as the following:

• 11001 (0x2AF9) - Internet Explorer 11. Webpages are displayed in IE11 edge mode, regardless of the !DOCTYPE directive.

• 11000 (0x2AF8) - Internet Explorer 11. Webpages containing standards-based !DOCTYPE directives are displayed in IE11 edge mode. Default value for IE11.

• 10001 (0x2711)- Internet Explorer 10. Webpages are displayed in IE10 Standards mode, regardless of the !DOCTYPE directive.

• 10000 (0x2710)- Internet Explorer 10. Webpages containing standards-based !DOCTYPE directives are displayed in IE10 Standards mode. Default value for Internet Explorer 10.

• 9999 (0x270F) - Internet Explorer 9. Webpages are displayed in IE9 Standards mode, regardless of the !DOCTYPE directive.

• 9000 (0x2328) - Internet Explorer 9. Webpages containing standards-based !DOCTYPE directives are displayed in IE9 mode.

• 8888 (0x22B8) - Webpages are displayed in IE8 Standards mode, regardless of the !DOCTYPE directive.

• 8000 (0x1F40) - Webpages containing standards-based !DOCTYPE directives are displayed in IE8 mode.

• 7000 (0x1B58) - Webpages containing standards-based !DOCTYPE directives are displayed in IE7 Standards mode.

Reference: MSDN: Internet Feature Controls

I saw applications like Skype use 10001. I do not know.

NOTE

The setup application will change the registry. You may need to add a line in the Manifest File to avoid errors due to permissions of change in registry:

<requestedExecutionLevel level="highestAvailable" uiAccess="false" />

UPDATE 1

This is a class will get the latest version of IE on windows and make changes as should be;

public class WebBrowserHelper
{


    public static int GetEmbVersion()
    {
        int ieVer = GetBrowserVersion();

        if (ieVer > 9)
            return ieVer * 1000 + 1;

        if (ieVer > 7)
            return ieVer * 1111;

        return 7000;
    } // End Function GetEmbVersion

    public static void FixBrowserVersion()
    {
        string appName = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
        FixBrowserVersion(appName);
    }

    public static void FixBrowserVersion(string appName)
    {
        FixBrowserVersion(appName, GetEmbVersion());
    } // End Sub FixBrowserVersion

    // FixBrowserVersion("<YourAppName>", 9000);
    public static void FixBrowserVersion(string appName, int ieVer)
    {
        FixBrowserVersion_Internal("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", appName + ".exe", ieVer);
        FixBrowserVersion_Internal("HKEY_CURRENT_USER", appName + ".exe", ieVer);
        FixBrowserVersion_Internal("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", appName + ".vshost.exe", ieVer);
        FixBrowserVersion_Internal("HKEY_CURRENT_USER", appName + ".vshost.exe", ieVer);
    } // End Sub FixBrowserVersion 

    private static void FixBrowserVersion_Internal(string root, string appName, int ieVer)
    {
        try
        {
            //For 64 bit Machine 
            if (Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem)
                Microsoft.Win32.Registry.SetValue(root + @"SoftwareWow6432NodeMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMainFeatureControlFEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION", appName, ieVer);
            else  //For 32 bit Machine 
                Microsoft.Win32.Registry.SetValue(root + @"SoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMainFeatureControlFEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION", appName, ieVer);


        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            // some config will hit access rights exceptions
            // this is why we try with both LOCAL_MACHINE and CURRENT_USER
        }
    } // End Sub FixBrowserVersion_Internal 

    public static int GetBrowserVersion()
    {
        // string strKeyPath = @"HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet Explorer";
        string strKeyPath = @"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet Explorer";
        string[] ls = new string[] { "svcVersion", "svcUpdateVersion", "Version", "W2kVersion" };

        int maxVer = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < ls.Length; ++i)
        {
            object objVal = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.GetValue(strKeyPath, ls[i], "0");
            string strVal = System.Convert.ToString(objVal);
            if (strVal != null)
            {
                int iPos = strVal.IndexOf('.');
                if (iPos > 0)
                    strVal = strVal.Substring(0, iPos);

                int res = 0;
                if (int.TryParse(strVal, out res))
                    maxVer = Math.Max(maxVer, res);
            } // End if (strVal != null)

        } // Next i

        return maxVer;
    } // End Function GetBrowserVersion 


}

using of class as followed

WebBrowserHelper.FixBrowserVersion();
WebBrowserHelper.FixBrowserVersion("SomeAppName");
WebBrowserHelper.FixBrowserVersion("SomeAppName",intIeVer);

you may face a problem for in comparability of windows 10, may due to your website itself you may need to add this meta tag

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=11" >

Enjoy :)