Using an old IE on a modern network exposes your machine to drive-by downloads. Even visiting a compromised legacy intranet site could drop ransomware because IE’s sandbox is trivial to escape.
Only use these versions in isolated environments (like VMs) and only for specific legacy tasks. How do i make Internet Explorer portable? - Super User internet explorer portable old version
: Developers use old versions to ensure backward compatibility or to troubleshoot how a site "mangles" pages in legacy environments. Using an old IE on a modern network
Because portable IE tools are third-party, safety is a major concern. Downloading an ie6.exe from a random forum can infect your system with malware. How do i make Internet Explorer portable
: Even if you find a "portable" .exe , it will likely still pull settings, bookmarks, and core rendering engine data from the local computer's registry.
: If you are a developer, these cloud-based testing platforms allow you to run any version of IE in a virtual environment without installing anything on your local machine.
Last updated: October 2025. Information about downloads and compatibility subject to change as Windows 10/12 evolves.