How to force File and registry virtualization

[hyvokar]

Hi!

I have a program which tries to write data to %windir%. I can make this program work if I open Windows Task Manager, right click the program's process and check the "UAC Virtualization". However, I dont want to do this every time I run the program, so is there a way to auto-enable the virtualization for this program?

I'm running Win7 pro/enterprise 64bit.

 

[hyvokar]

Anyone? Still havent found a solution for this one, seems to be quite a tricky one. Cheers!

 

[rraod]

Which program you are using needs virtualization?

I think Thinapp is one of a solution to your problem. Thinapp entirely virtualises file and registry. You can control which portions to virtualise and not.

Thinapp from VMWare is used for creating portable applicatons. These applications run in a virtual environment and do not copy or modify any system folders and registry.

Similar programs also exist on internet ....

 

[logicearth]

Are you running under the Administrator account or do you have UAC lowered to a very low level? If you push UAC's slider to the top and run under a account that is not the Administrator account (not to be confused with Administrators group). And if the application is not ran with administrative privileges it should automatically be virtualized.

Otherwise you could just use Sandboxie.

 

[arkhi]

I've been wondering about this myself. I created a seperate Program Files folder on a seperate disk [D:] by copying the Program Files folder from C: along with the ACLs. Thing is, the folder on D: doesn't get virtualized even though it carries the exact same permissions as the folder in C:. Thus, if a program with user access wants to write something on the folder it would err since Windows denies it.

Is Sandboxie free? Any free alternatives or workarounds?

 

[logicearth]

Sanboxie has a free to use version, limited feature set, after 30 days does pester you to upgrade but not required.

Q. Is Sandboxie freeware or shareware?

A. Sandboxie is shareware software. The free version is missing a few features which are available in the paid version. After 30 days of use, the free version displays reminders to upgrade to the paid version, but remains functional. For personal use, you are encouraged, but not required, to upgrade to the paid version.

 

[arkhi]

Thanks btw logicearth!

 

[cluberti]

To make an application run natively but always use File and Registry Virtualization (called "FARV", fyi), you build an AppCompat shim using the AppCompat toolkit, and install that .sdb on all machines you need that app to run with file and/or registry virtualization. You can do similar things with Application Virtualization with App-V 4.6. Links below:

File Virtualization with Shims
Registry Virtualization with Shims
Making Applications Compatible with Windows 7 in a Virtualized Environment