Geoff Chappell - Software Analyst
SHDOCVW.DLL has so far existed in at least seven variations considered by Microsoft to have sufficient external impact to deserve at least a difference in the minor version number.
| SHDOCVW Version | Distribution | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet Explorer | Windows | NT | |
| 4.70 | 3.0, 3.01, 3.02 | Windows 95 OSR2 | |
| 4.71 | 4.0 | ||
| 4.72 | 4.01 | Windows 98 | |
| 5.0 | 5.0, 5.01 | Windows 98 SE | Windows 2000 |
| 5.50 | 5.5 | Windows Me | |
| 6.0 | 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 | Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista Windows Server 2008 |
|
| 6.1 | Windows 7 | ||
Microsoft documents the existence of earlier versions that have not been found for this survey. See for instance the page Licensing and Distribution in documentation of the WebBrowser Control. After noting that “because the Internet Explorer browser is implemented in Shdocvw.dll, the version of this DLL can be used to determine which version of Internet Explorer is installed”, it lists SHDOCVW versions up to and including 6.0 for the original Windows XP, but stretching as far back as 4.40 for Internet Explorer versions 1.0 and 2.0.
Though the next table fusses over such details as build numbers and dates, it is certainly not meant as a comprehensive list even of builds that had formal, public releases. For that, consult Microsoft, who manufacture the software and are surely best able of anyone to present a definitive record. Bear in mind, however, that if Microsoft’s published documentation could sensibly be relied on as either comprehensive or accurate, then you could not now be reading these notes.
Builds are arranged in increasing order of the file version as recorded in the executable’s resources. This version number is readily visible using Windows Explorer either in a so-called infotip for the file or by accessing the Version tab in the Properties dialog for the file. Programmers know this version number as coming from the so-called root block of the version-information resource, specifically from the dwFileVersionMS and dwFileVersionLS members of a VS_FIXEDFILEINFO structure.
The date stamp shown for each version is more obscure. File dates are easily modified after the executable is built and are anyway liable to be shown differently when read from different time zones. However, there is in each executable’s header a date stamp which is set when the executable is built and is not commonly changed afterwards. It is readily accessible to anyone with programming knowledge and appropriate tools, e.g., Microsoft’s own DUMPBIN utility.
In the days when Microsoft had two operating systems named Windows, most Internet Explorer versions supplied the executable separately for Windows and NT (and in some cases with a further separation for NT 4.0 and Windows 2000). Where two date stamps are presented on the same row for an Internet Explorer release, it means that the Windows and NT executables differ only in the file header’s date stamp and checksum (and that the date stamps are from the same day).
| File Version | File Header Date Stamp | Size | Package |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.70.0.1028 | 3144BB41 (12th March 1996) | 185,856 | Internet Explorer 3.00 (NT) |
| 4.70.0.1158 | 321B44DF (22nd August 1996) | 449,296 | Windows 95 OSR2 |
| 4.70.0.1215 | 3263C53A (16th October 1996) | 476,432 | Internet Explorer 3.01 |
| 4.70.0.1300 | 3334052C (23rd March 1997) | 478,992 | Internet Explorer 3.02 |
| 4.71.1712.5 | 3421723C (19th September 1997) | 1,909,520 | Internet Explorer 4.0 (Windows) |
| 342173A2 (19th September 1997) | 1,910,032 | Internet Explorer 4.0 (NT) | |
| 4.72.2106.7 | 3472465F (19th November 1997) | 1,916,688 | Internet Explorer 4.01 (Windows) |
| 347257A2 (19th November 1997) | 1,916,688 | Internet Explorer 4.01 (NT) | |
| 4.72.3110.3 | 35474FA4 (30th April 1998) | 2,179,072 | Windows 98 |
| 3553AA2E (9th May 1998) | 2,168,592 | Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 (Windows) | |
| 3553AB82 (9th May 1998) | 2,168,592 | Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 (NT) | |
| 4.72.3612.1707 | 36EEB3E4 (17th March 1999) | 2,173,200 | Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 (Windows) |
| 36EEB5AB (17th March 1999) | 2,173,712 | Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 (NT) | |
| 5.0.2314.1000 | 36F1D8DD, 36F1DBAC (19th March 1999) | 946,448 | Internet Explorer 5.0 |
| 5.0.2614.3500 | 3720A21A (24th April 1999) | 946,448 | Windows 98 SE |
| 5.0.2920.0 | 3844D03C (1st December 1999) | 1,104,144 | Windows 2000 |
| 5.0.3103.1000 | 38E3FD11 (31st March 2000) | 1,095,952 | Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000) |
| 3947EB48 (15th June 2000) | 1,104,144 | Windows 2000 SP1 | |
| 5.0.3105.105 | 3941292E, 39412A8D (10th June 2000) | 1,103,120 | Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows and NT) |
| 5.0.3502.5400 | 3D3D0210 (23rd July 2002) | 1,105,168 | Windows 2000 SP3 |
| 5.0.3700.6668 | 3EF274DF (20th June 2003) | 1,107,728 | Windows 2000 SP4 |
| 5.50.4134.100 | 39403C34 (9th June 2000) | 1,159,168 | Windows Me |
| 5.50.4134.600 | 393D8773, 393D8BF1 (7th June 2000) | 1,145,104 | Internet Explorer 5.5 |
| 5.50.4807.2300 | 3B5CD629, 3B5CD980 (24th July 2001) | 1,147,664 | Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 |
| 6.0.2600.0 | 3B7DFE13 (18th August 2001) | 1,338,880 | Windows XP |
| 3B7DFE4B, 3B7DFFE5 (18th August 2001) | 1,336,320 | Internet Explorer 6.0 | |
| 6.0.2800.1106 | 3D6DFA1F (29th August 2002) | 1,341,440 | Windows XP SP1 |
| 3D6E2AA7, 3D6E2BF2 (30th August 2002) | 1,338,368 | Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 | |
| 6.0.2900.2853 | 43FAD6F3 (21st February 2006) | 1,492,480 | Windows XP SP2 |
| 6.0.2900.2987 | 44FBC3E8 (4th September 2006) | 1,497,088 | Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP |
| 6.0.2900.5512 | 4802A110 (14th April 2008) | 1,499,136 | Windows XP SP3 |
| 6.0.3790.0 | 3E80249C (25th March 2003) | 1,393,664 | Windows Server 2003 |
| 6.0.3790.2643 | 43FA896F (21st February 2006) | 1,513,472 | Windows Server 2003 SP1 |
| 6.0.3790.2783 | 44FBC840 (4th September 2006) | 1,515,008 | Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2003 |
| 6.0.3790.3959 | 45D70ABA (18th February 2007) | 1,508,352 | Windows Server 2003 SP2 |
| 6.0.6000.16386 | 4549BDB3 (2nd November 2006) | 1,064,960 | Windows Vista |
| 6.0.6001.18000 | 4791A756 (19th January 2008) | 1,067,520 | Windows Vista SP1 Windows Server 2008 |
| 6.0.6002.18005 | 49E037EB (11th April 2009) | 1,068,032 | Windows Vista SP2 |
| 6.1.7600.16385 | 4A5BDB00 (14th July 2009) | 179,712 | Windows 7 |
The Internet Explorer 8 packages for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 each have the same SHDOCVW as have the corresponding packages for Internet Explorer 7. The Internet Explorer 8 package for Windows Vista has no SHDOCVW.
The SHDOCVW executables for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 are identical.