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Outocad 2010 With ThinApp

michaelhannazaki — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:15:14 GMT

Many thanks your answer was one of the major success for thinapped this program

best wishes

Outocad 2010 With ThinApp

michaelhannazaki — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:12:15 GMT

i found these file but the problem was about the dependancies

thanks for help

Outlook 2010 Beta 2 with ThinApp 4.0.4

Thinstall2 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:54:43 GMT

As many probably have read, M$ released Office 2010 Beta 2 public a couple of days ago.

We use Exchange/Outlook 2007 in our organization but an upgrade to Exchange 2010 is ongoing.

I tried to thinapp outlook 2010 to run it sidebyside with outlook 2007.

But I just end up with a self-repair dialog immediatly after the profile has been setup.

First I thought the error could be solved by following this blog article http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2008/10/how-to-thinap-1.html adapting it to office14.

But it didn't.

I packed on a clean win xp sp3, no vmware tools or dotnet runtime etc. Anyone succeded in this?

Any ThinApp + VMware View Desktop + HP T5545 Linux Client.

IamTHEvilONE — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:17:39 GMT

FYI, if anyone gets this issue, there is an HP update for the T5545 that should resolve this keyboard issue.

Regards,

EvilOne

Packaging IE 6 as a published application

pSHAF — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:03:59 GMT

Thanks for the feedback, I have downloaded the .pdf and will test it in our lab.

can you upgrade an old thinapp to thinapp 4.0.4

heywheels — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:37:44 GMT

hey cryton,

I tried the method set out in this topic to convert all my old version ThinApps to thinApp 4.0.4 and now they all work fine under Win 7 32bit.

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1331976#1331976

Follow the instructions to firstly create an unpacked version of thihApp 4.0.4 then I suggest using method 2 to unpack your existing ThinApp packages and rebuild them with the unpacked thinApp 4.0.4.

BTW I couldn't find RollerNT so I used Explorer++ as my simple file manager. It's freeware and works great.

From that post

The first thing that you should know - ThinApp is packed itself. Can't say about
second method (on which another Thinuser gave the permission), but in first
method you'll need UNPACKED ThinApp.
All works you should do on "clean"
PC.

Unpacking ThinApp.

1. Install ThinApp.
2. Ckick "Next" till you get
dialog window (DW) for saving the project.
3. In DW (important) change the
location to "C:\Program Files\VMware\"
4. Right click on the folder "VMware
ThinApp"
5. Copy
6. IN THE SAME DW go to some another path: "D:\Unpack\"
(for example).
7. Right click in this folder.
8. Paste.
9. Close all
windows.
10. Put all unpacked files from "D:\Unpack\" WITH REPLACE into
"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp\" (installation folder).
11. In
"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp\" you can delete "Setup Capture.exe" but
leave the "setup_capture.exe".
12. Now you have absolutely portable unpacked
ThinApp.

Then use this method to rebuild your old ThinApps

.Mod2. Suitable for ThinApp.

1. Using unpacked TA make precapture.
2.
Do not install anything and put some simple file manager (RollerNT) in Program
Files.
3. Make postcapture.
4. With "RollerNT.exe" entry point.
5. (In
"Package.ini") uncomment "OptionalAppLinks=Plugins\*.exe" and change it to
"OptionalAppLinks=Plugins\*.*"

the package can have not only EXE extension

6. Build this
project.
7. Create "Plugins" folder beside of "RollerNT.exe" that you've
build.
8. Put the application you want to unpack (Object) in "Plugins".
9.
Run precapture.
10. Do not install anything and close TA window (with
standard close button) or kill it's process in task manager.
11. Run
VIRTUALISED "RollerNT.exe".
12. Go to TA installation path with this
explorer.
13. Run "setup_capture.exe" and it will give you choice to continue
capturing.

BUT! This postcapture will continue in virtual area, where Object IS ALREADY INSTALLED (AppLinked)

14. Continue postcapture (is all goes good
you should see our Object entries after postcapture).
15. Save
project.

Pay attention that the project would be saved in
"Captures\RollerNT\bin\Captures\%Object%".

Now this %Object% folder should be moved in "Captures".
And now you can
see all the files and registry of the project, but isolation settings now were
setup by YOUR version of ThinApp.

cheers

Sandbox AppSync update question

BrujaHa — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:48:24 GMT

Thanks pbjork! I was overlooking the profile name.

Adobe CS3 Design Premium and FlexNET woes...

KingstonUniversity — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:02:28 GMT

Here, pop this into a vb script and stick in the root directory of yer app and rebuild iut. kills of flexnet rather nicely....

Function OnFirstSandboxOwner

Dim objWMIService, objProcess, colProcess

Dim strComputer, strProcessKill

strComputer = "."

strProcessKill = "'FNPLicensingService.exe'"

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!
" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colProcess = objWMIService.ExecQuery ("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = " & strProcessKill )

For Each objProcess in colProcess

objProcess.Terminate()

Next

End Function

Function OnFirstParentExit

Dim objWMIService, objProcess, colProcess

Dim strComputer, strProcessKill

strComputer = "."

strProcessKill = "'FNPLicensingService.exe'"

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!
" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colProcess = objWMIService.ExecQuery ("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = " & strProcessKill )

For Each objProcess in colProcess

objProcess.Terminate()

Next

End Function

don't you just HATE adobe?

Office 2007 problem

Cievo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:17:12 GMT

Hello

Do not install Office 2007 into "default" folder, but change it to some other directory, for example C:\Office2007\. It helped us.

Ondrej Zilinec - Cievo

...Good question is half of the answer...

Simfatic Forms hangs when ThinApped

gojensen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:39:22 GMT

Well, I did try to recapture the entire application (it's really a small simple app - free trial at the site if you wish to look at it ;)) but it gives me the same error. Atleast with 4.0.3 it would start...

Which really makes me worried to rebuild any of our other apps using 4.0.4 - maybe they will "error out" aswell now...

Guess I must decide wheter it's proper of me to use time on a support ticket here or if I should just "bite the apple" and install the app manually for the few users using it...

ThinApp doesn't support Window Shell Extension application well?

pbjork — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:26:59 GMT

You should post your feature request here: http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/entdesk/thinapp/features

ThinApp Client Only Apps

pbjork — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:09:49 GMT

Isolation Modes have nothing to do with streaming from a network share or not. Your isolation modes should be fine from that point of view.
Does your project contain a local client? In your package.ini you run something that is located on the network share. I am just curious what is in your project?
One test that would be interesting to do is to change everything to a local installation. This should help us to understand if the problem is that it is running something from a network share or if we can’t run the application ThinApped at all. We must try to minimize all parameters making it easier to debug. Move the original application down to the client during capture.

Manage Add-ons within IE

gpollara — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:52:40 GMT

pbjork thank you for your help. I will thinapp IE then move on to applinking some add-ons.

VCenter

Virtualizeit — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:52:25 GMT

Duh you are so right I knew not to make that mistake last time I guess I am super tired thanks .I am retarded

Windows update breaks some ThinApp packages ?

arodulr — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:04:48 GMT

That's a usefull link thanks pbjork! Dependency Walker seems to be the right tool to check broken dependencies.
However I don't think this a missing dll problem in this case, because the package is working if started from the Administrator account! How can libraries path be different from different accounts ?
I built again with latest version of ThinApp (4.0.4) and I still get the same behaviour except with 4.0.4 I get the runtime error almost immediately (ThinApp widget at the corner don't even show completely) whereas loading "seems" almost complete with 4.0.3 before it fails.
I going to test packaging from a Windows Vista x64 VM.
Does anyone ever got a ThinApp package which only work from Administrator account ?

thanks
Alban

deleted

tanmic — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:11:14 GMT

deleted

Autodesk DWG Trueview 2010

prantiC — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:27:50 GMT

Thnx it is working succesfull now.
However I needed to do one more thing though.
I needed to add

%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\ngenrootstorelock.dat AND %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\ngenservice_pri1_lock.dat

to the ThinApp package. Just made 2 empty files on that location and renamed them to ngenrootstorelock.dat and ngenservice_pri1_lock.dat.

Visma SPCS Adm. 200

Thinstall2 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:38:07 GMT

This is why I asked ggeldorp if was possible to get a somewhat more technical changelog when new versions appear.

When Vmware mention that they've fixed one application, there's probably lots of more applications that was suffering from the same bug and is solved too.

How does Thinreg work when installing MSI's?

ggeldorp — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:25:01 GMT

Not the .dat files, but yes, it will try to register all .exe files. It execute as

thinreg /allusers "[INSTALLDIR]*.exe"

(depending on circumstances, the /allusers might not be present), so it will (try to) register all .exe files in the installation directory.

Autocad 2009 FATAL ERROR: Unhandled c0000096h Exception at 246149bh

KingstonUniversity — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:12:25 GMT

Hi pbjork,

thank you very much for all your help. autocad now works a treat.

cheers,

Autocad 2009 in ThinApp

gcVmWare — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:58:44 GMT

Thanks. Its working.

4.0.4 Release date: Nov 9.

pbjork — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:21:41 GMT

Existing customers can of course download directly. If you have registered for a trial download that is a time limited trial and you just have a curtain time to do the evaluation. If this is a good thing or not I will not get myself into. I just wanted to share with you how you could try the new version..

Can ThinApp execute apps remotely in the same way XenApp can?

pbjork — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:04:59 GMT

VMware do not.. Windows Server 2008 has something called remote applications I think. It is something similar.

Application folders

No1SkiFreak — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:48:39 GMT

Sorry, stupid question...

It's just an option choice in the sandbox location.

Embeding a ThinApp packaged application into a web page

just2click — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:35:40 GMT

Hi again,

I still trying to seek a way to embed the browser inside a sandbox inside an independent control.
I thought about incorporating the packaged browser inside a .NET user control which I can then embed into a web page.

Any idea if I can turn the generated package into a DLL I can then embed into a .NET user control.

Thanks,

-Dror

Adobe Photoshop CS2 does not accept correct activation codes after virtualisation

albin22 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:01 GMT

Hi,

i thinapped Adobe Photoshop CS2 on Win-XP SP2 for testing purposes.

i tried different scenarios:

real win xp machine, virtual xp machine, vmplayer, vmworkstation,

when i start the virtualised photoshop, i get always a message to reactivate it because the license files are invalid, (but my activation codes are correct)

i enter the activation code again, but photoshop does not accept it.

thanks for any help

AppSync using File share

Squidly Man — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:02:34 GMT

The Blog URL is corrected.

Additionally, a video has been posted demonstrating ThinApp.

http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2009/11/appsync-explained.html

-Dean F.
http://pubs.vmware.com/thinapp4/help

Thinapp + local installed program

lschwingler — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:37:51 GMT

Everything seems to be working and I couldn't be more excited. Thanks for everyones help! Now to figure out how to update it will be interesting but thats a whole new topic. Thanks!

Windows-installer problem (paket-internal)

pbjork — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:01:54 GMT

There are a couple of us still around.

The community is best used for quick fixes and not really the in depth debugging sometimes needed. In this case I do not have any clue and it seems no one else has. I would recommend to file a support ticket if you are a existing customer.

Can AWD View/ViewStation clients be encapsulated as ThinApp

IanRand — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:02:04 GMT

Yes. However it depends on the version. I've successfully ThinApped AWD 2.3 and 2.4. The trick is to use what they call "use Citrix style container". Basically their terminal server version. The desktop version does not work in a terminal server environment however their terminal server version works in both terminal server and desktop environments. You'll need the terminal server ptfs, awdts.dll and one registry change. Don't bother trying to get the desktop version working virtualy as it relies upon explorer to display it's applications. It's doable but it's a hassle to get working correctly.

Start capture
Install AWD and surround products. During the viewstation install select "use Citrix style container". Install the terminal servers ptfs. I don't have them off the top of my head. You can probally get a list from their site
Make any changes, settings etc
End capture
In the package make sure the following folders are set to merged : %Local AppData%\DST\AWD\Data, %SystemSystem%\spool
In the package make sure the following keys are set to merged : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DST (Othwerwise the users will lose their settings if the sandbox gets cleared)

Use Citrix style container simply does the following if you want to do that by hand

Copies AWDTS.dll to the viewstation bin folder
Creates key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\DST\AWD\Settings, Name of NewLogon, DWORD value of 1

If you're using KE get a copy of the defaults.dat that comes down from the AS/400 and put that in the viewstation data folder. Not the user data folder. KE isn't TS aware. This normaly doesn't change so it really isn't an issue.

IE and Office integration

wrieser — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:15:49 GMT

Thank you both. That worked!! Here are the two registry entries I changed in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.txt

I did not change for PowerPoint or Access yet. What I don't understand is why setup capture did not catch this change when capturing office. Thanks again

isolation_full HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Word.Document.8
Value=
REG_SZ~Microsoft Word Document#2300
Value=EditFlags
REG_BINARY=#00#00#01#00

solation_full HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.8
Value=
REG_SZ~Microsoft Excel Worksheet#2300
Value=EditFlags
REG_BINARY=#00#00#01#00

64 Bit ThinApp apps on XP64?

ggeldorp — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:33:25 GMT

We support 32-bits apps running on 64-bits OS versions, but we do not support 64-bits apps. I'm afraid the VMware rep your boss spoke to was misinformed.

Entry point for .Net Framework packages?

pbjork — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:19:19 GMT

There is no.. Since there is no user interface to speak of you can use whatever. I tend to use cmd.exe to store the primary data container and name it something more logical. This gives me the ability to run cmd and look into the package.

Network performance vs Local launch

regnak — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:40:21 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for all the info. We're going to benchmark the different ways office can be presented in a View Desktop and present the results to our client with recommendations / caveats of each method. The info shared above has been very useful to us - Thanks for all the contributions!

Mike

Isolationmode "sb_only"

Thinstall2 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:42:44 GMT

Yes it did. I changed the iso-mode to Full just to be sure.
Thanks.

citrix program neighborhood agent fails due to hight cpu usage

pbjork — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:26:04 GMT

In other words you did exactly like we want you to do before filing a support ticket That is great..

If possible I would wait and give 4.0.4 a try just because it is so close. If it is still not fixed I would file a support ticket.

Running internal applications from outside

pbjork — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:27:23 GMT

Yes it is. It all depends on where the browser stores this information. In the Mozilla case it is stored in the prefs.js file. A vb-script altering this will do the trick. I funny thing with Mozilla is that it touches this file as soon as you start Mozilla and therefore it will be stored in the users sandbox and you can modify it directly from the OS. If you want you can exclude the prefs.js file from the package and provide it manually to all your clients as well.

IE stores this information in the registry and can be altered by either vb-script if included in the package or you could exclude it from the package tweaking the local registry manually or with GPO.

change sandbox location at runtime

Jonathan Storey — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:37:25 GMT

Thanks for the quick response - yep, quite right - works well. Thanks for the information,

Regards,

Jonathan

context menus

Jonathan Storey — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:50:50 GMT

I had the exact same issues with a recent client install - for example the send to-> context menu when on a windows desktop. Bottom line, we spent over 3 weeks tryying to get this working - no joy. It's just not a function or capability of the current thinapp product. Apparently its all to do with mcom procedure calls & instantiation or something of that ilk. Well, thats what the Vmware engineer mentioned.

Jonathan

Updating a ThinApp application

pbjork — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:29:41 GMT

I would use the third option for services packs. If it is a new main version of an application I tend to do a new capture. But this is of course not mandatory, choose what fits you.

Thinapp version for Windows 7

mikelane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:34:26 GMT

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/189062?tstart=0

We'd all love to be testing the next version of thinapp!

Virtualizing an app with set configurations

Virtualizeit — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:23:02 GMT

yeah,when I virtualize I have to give a position name to the app during the install so I am going to create to different apps with two different position names and package and then see if they can see each other and talk to each other over the network.

Virutalzied App not working due to having to configure server setting during the install process

pbjork — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:08:35 GMT

Should be possible with a VB-script.

http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/scripts/

http://pubs.vmware.com/thinapp4/help/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm?href=scripts_using.html#972745

URGENT: thinapp questions

Theike — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:02:22 GMT

pjork already gave you the correct answers. Just my thoughts on this...

On WriteCopy vs Merged:
WriteCopy keeps your system cleaner, as changes to your 'system' are written to the sandbox. This is of course negative for the sandbox-size. So it is important to find a good balance and manage to set the right folders to merged. (temp and temp. internet files we usually set to merged as it is simpler to clean them using normal tools from the system on reboot as searching all sandboxes).

Also capture plugins (read: applinked module) as merged, to prevent their isolation modes overrule the isolation mode of the 'hosting'/loading capture (highest isolation mode wins).

We also use a desktop management tool to deploy applications. We use the RES productline (PowerFuse/Wisdom), which work quite well. For laptops... it always is a hard one as all methods do have pro's and cons. MSI is a general useable but i personally don't like the automatic registration on the system.

For the desktops we used all kind of situations (start from network, copy to local system/start from there and network updates). Updates using http and overruling versions also introduced undesired behaviour in some cases, so we tend not to use it...

And for sandboxes:
If your sandboxes become large roaming profiles will become your PITA. So make sure sandboxes stay small. For networked systems (apps that only work inside the office environment) we even preferred to use direct storage in a personal sandbox-folder on the network, if networkspeed is no issue. so \\myserver\sandboxes$\%username%. This can be specified using the environment variables (check documentation).

Regarding resources with best practices: besides the given resources, manual and VMware there are quite some companies specialised in VMware and their products. They can quick-jump you on the learning curve if needed. In general i use the following granularity:

Thinappers level 1: Just do it type (no training)

Successrate of 60-70% with non-optimised (on settings, sandboxsize and/or operatibility) packages

Thinappers level 2: 1 week of training (2 days trained, 3 days guided hands-on)

Successrate of 80-90%, quite reproducable and stable results with good performance (on size (capture & sandbox), settings (isolationmode) and operability). Also good knowledge what is possible and why it is not.

Thinappers level 3: level2 + >1 month of intensive packaging

Also is capable of troubleshooting most issues, knows how to use and interprete logfiles. Knows his way on the various forums and where to find resources. Also most likely had contact with VMware for those 5-10% apps that just do not want to work...

I hope you find these add-ons usefull.

Feel free to get back,
Michael Baars

is the portable thinapped safe ?

andi888 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:27:28 GMT

software key is interesting.. but still.. if they make use of registry and files.... that could be crack too... lol....
yeah.. u're right pbjork... if they can unpacked thinapp.... they should be able to use process monitor.... which is easier to do than unpacking thinapp (though harder to search the files/registry just a little)..

oh well.. I learned a lot these days...
being a software developer for a software house... I just realized a few weeks ago..that.."wow.. if my clients installing my app in a vmware... well.. they would be able to copy it to anywhere they want... cause the license is there already"...
and when searching more about it.. got my hands on thinapp.. (not related with my realizing..)... feeling that "hmm.. this might be good to get pass on some annoying windows security... that sometimes make installing program is a hell living on earth.. and formatting the windows is the savior"...
but then again... even this could pose a problem... lol.....

ok guys.. thx very much for the answers...
I think I have a good view about thinapp safetiness for now...
thx

External Client Access to ThinApp Program

mohankc — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:25:51 GMT

ThinAPP is used for application virtualization. It is not a replacement to the Citrix function you are talking about. Have you checked out the new Remote Desktop Services in Windows 2008 R2? It is the functionality you are looking for.

Non functional Internet Explorer 8 capture

jsmiele — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:11:38 GMT

I swear that over the course of me trying things with this that I selected not to check for updates on that first screen but either I never did or there was something else goin wrong with that instance. Thanks very much for the comment.

Functioning of the executable files from Thinapp for different applications

pbjork — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:59:39 GMT

The working directory seems correct.. Why you find this behavior would be related to the actual application and how it is coded..

Windows 7?

pbjork — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:46:37 GMT

Here is a link to a one hour ThinApp presentation with Windows 7 demo..

https://vmwareevents.webex.com/vmwareevents/onstage/playback.php?RecordId=1610707&DAK=3C6BAD86CF320391125DBEEAF02B962B

//peB

VIrtualized App is not portable to other systems and only works on the system it was captured

Virtualizeit — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:54:55 GMT

Yeah, it says it is connected and I can move the app to other systems now but there are some problem with pushing out the templates to the other systems. I am trying to contact the vendor that designed the software to see what they say. The software does not work all that great even when not packaged as an virtual app.I have no idea how it even finds other systems on the network and that is another thing. There is no documentation so hopefully I can contact the designers and see what they say about trying to package the app

Virtualized app does not seem to work with port

pbjork — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:49:21 GMT

Access to physical ports like COM ports should be untouched by ThinApp. If the application you captured added some drivers itself we would not support that devices drivers..

How to add new files to portable app ?

andi888 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:05:23 GMT

have no luck running explorer inside the bubble..
but the idea is a blast..
so I just tried to find other free explorer programs out there and use it inside the bubble.
so I consider this post was answered.

thx.

Computer name issues with packaged app

Virtualizeit — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:58:45 GMT

good idea, I will try that now

Outllok 2007 Offline address book

Cievo — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:03:40 GMT

Try to debug application by log_monitor.exe utility.

Ondrej Zilinec - Cievo

...Good question is half of the answer...

how to enable logging so I can compare DLL

pbjork — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:57:25 GMT

Simply run log monitor first and then start the application you want to debug.

Add an HKLM key during MSI installation for tracing

ggeldorp — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:30:02 GMT

Not sure if this fixes your problem, but .msi files generated by ThinApp are based on c:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp\Template.msi. So any additions you make to Template.msi will also show up in the generated .msi.

Using AppData on a network drive

fvandebergh — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:12:11 GMT

Hi,

I have exactly the same situation. When %appdata% is redirected I cannot see the sandbox files only the actual %appdata% folder. Did anyone find a solution yet ?

Virutalzied App not working

Virtualizeit — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:16:44 GMT

I used windif to compare my log files and they are all identical. I will keep checking to see if there are any access denies and feel free to let me know if there is anything else I can check. The App works on the system I virtualize it on but not when I move it other systems. I was reading about explorer and maybe I should virtualize explorer so I can launch the app through a virutal shell

ThinApp capture errors

BienekS — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:14:36 GMT

It`s the same situation again, the network path simply is too long. Try to follow my advice capturing to C:\TA\app, this is a windows limitation, not a thinapp problem.

The snapshot.ini is located within the thinapp installationdirectory "%programfiles%\VMWare\VMWare Thinapp".

On 64Bit machines sometimes the captured applications get problems with "Program Files" and "Program Files(x86)", so errors resulting of a 64bit machine depend on the captured application.

64 bit ?

RCCampbell — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:27:16 GMT

per a meeting we were just in with some VM reps, this and support for Windows 7 are planned for the next dot release (of 4) if i'm not mistaken. no particular date was given though...

AppSync with space in filenames...

PetitNuage — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:37:10 GMT

Hi

make sure the AppSync configuration parameters are set in both packages (original and upgraded version),as it is specified

here

cheers

PN

ThiaApp is not portable

pbjork — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:12:22 GMT

This is most of the times due to dependencies not being included in the package..

Some help on the way:
http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2009/03/common-system32-dlls.html
http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2009/05/what-do-you-mean-by-clean-machine.html

Have you tried capture .Net in the same package? This is a little easier to debug. When fixed you could split the packages again.

ThinApp Name change?

BienekS — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:52:22 GMT

it was taken offline yesterday again.

and you`re better not using it! full of bugs...

Virtualized Services

Virtualizeit — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:19:27 GMT

The good news is that worked and I was able to view the services and it looks like they are up and running

The return of Outlook Attachement problem With Thinapp

zlatan24 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:55:46 GMT

In my PC there were demaged mails,but with help-how to recover a lost pst file,all these mails were recovered in a 30 seconds.Moreover tool made it free of cost and showed how fix problems with your mailbox and restore its normal operation.It helped a lot of my friends too.

Virtualizing a GOTS application that uses three services that are not there once I virutalize the app with thinapp

Virtualizeit — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:59:26 GMT

Thanks, sounds great

...of AppSync, MSI's and limited user accounts

gojensen — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:58:04 GMT

Well, SCCM allows the user to do installs via a control panel "applet" - which can elevate user rights and install "in the background" etc.

We could install all apps to the users profile, but then the apps wouldn't be easily accesible (like they are now from c:\thinapps) and we would need to make special scripts for our backup system to avoid backing up several gigs of thinapp applications per user

Ansys-12/ Solvermanager.exe

pbjork — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:29:09 GMT

Hi..

Why not make a script that kills the service?

http://pubs.vmware.com/thinapp4/help/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm?href=scripts_using.html#972745

http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2009/07/thinapp-services.html

//peB

error f:\sp\vctools\vc7libs\ship\atlmfx\src\mfc\winctrl2.cpp:1311

saxionthinapp — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:04:14 GMT

Hallo,

I have captured Timetell 6.3 with Thinapp-4.0.1-2866 on Windows-XP SP2, it works fine , Now when I start the application on Windows-XP-SP3 en then close it. Then i get error (f:\sp\vctools\vc7libs\ship\atlmfx\src\mfc\winctrl2.cpp:1311)
An invalid argument was encountered, i cannot fine exactly what the problem is, does have anybody solution for this problem

ThinApp RequiredAppLinks suggestions are welcome

pbjork — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:14:35 GMT

First I would like to say that it is much easier to capture both Java and Open Office in one big project just to verify functionality. If this works out okay you can start debugging the AppLink. One step I always do is enable cmd.exe as an Entry point in my main package. Start cmd and look in the virtual file system if you see the applinked package files. In the Java case you should be able to see c:\program files\Java (program files may be called something else depending on your OS language).

If you see the Java folder applink works, your Open Office is just not aware of the java. This happens for example if you try to applink a Java package that is captured on a clean machine with a Mozilla Firefox as the main package. This is due to Java package do not include Mozilla Firefox add-ons since Mozilla was not installed on the capture machine.

I have no clue how Open Office uses Java but I hope above helps you debug your packages.

Scripting Question

gpollara — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:46:58 GMT

Thanks guys for your replies, I will post my script in the hope this will help other users within the group. (I cant all of the credit, I have a scripting buddy)

Something to keep in mind when reviewing this script:
I use this as my default template for all of my ThinApp packages. It will do 2 before launching the Functions.

1st - It will confirm it is the only running process for that app (this is to prevent users from launching more than one version of the same app).
2nd - Is to confirm HKLM\Software\ThinApp\"Enable" is set to "1". If so it will run the package, if not it will terminate itself.

_______BOF________
' DECLARE VARIABLES
Dim WSHNetwork, WSHShell, objFSO
Dim objWMIService, objProcess, colProcess
Dim strComputer, strProcessKill, intProcessCount

arrAlmostprocess = split(GetCurrentProcessName,"\")

strComputer = "."
strProcessKill = arrAlmostProcess(UBound(arrAlmostProcess))
intProcessCount = 0
Const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
Const strRunKey = "SOFTWARE\ThinApp"
Const strRunValueName = "Enable"

' SET GLOBAL VARIABLES
Set WSHNetwork = CreateObject("WScript.Network")
Set WSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set oReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!
" & _
strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")

oReg.GetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strRunKey,strRunValueName,strRunValue

'Connects to WMI
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!
" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colProcess = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = " & "'" & strProcessKill & "'" )
For Each objProcess in colProcess
'wscript.echo objProcess.Name
If strRunValue = 1 Then
intProcessCount = intProcessCount + 1
If intProcessCount > 1 Then
objProcess.Terminate()
End If
Else objProcess.Terminate()
End If
Next

' DEFINE SCRIPT ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
Origin = GetEnvironmentVariable("TS_ORIGIN")
LastSlash = InStrRev(Origin, "\")
SourcePath = Left(Origin, LastSlash)
ExeName = Mid(Origin, LastSlash + 1, Len(Origin))
SandboxParent = GetBuildOption("SandboxPath")
SandboxName = GetBuildOption("SandboxName")
If SandboxParent = "." Then
SandboxPath = SourcePath & SandboxName
Else
SandboxPath = SandboxParent & Chr(92) & SandboxName
End If

'TEST MESSAGE BOX
'MsgBox "Origin = " & Origin & vbCrLf & "Executable = " & ExeName & vbCrLf & "Sandbox Path = " & SandboxPath,,"Non-Callback Function Test Box"
'MsgBox "Running EXE path is " + GetCurrentProcessName

Function OnFirstSandboxOwner
'MsgBox "This launches ONLY ONCE at the point when the ThinApp sandbox is first locked."

End Function

Function OnFirstParentStart
'MsgBox "'This launches ONCE for each entry point within the ThinApp packaged application."

End Function

Function OnFirstParentExit
'MsgBox "This launches ONLY ONCE at the point when the 1st entry point (who locked the sandbox) exits. This does not unlock the sandbox. "

End Function

Function OnLastProcessExit
'MsgBox "This launches ONLY ONCE for the very last process (not entry point) that exits from within the ThinApp packaged application, shutting down the virtual OS."

End Function
_______EOF________

"The data is invalid" and "Signature not found".

altyoni — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:53:42 GMT

Some antivirus identify the shortcuts as threats and disinfect, making
it no longer function. Keep a backup of the shortcuts in a zip file is
a solution.

applications that call Adobe Reader

IamTHEvilONE — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:51:22 GMT

This should work, and I've done it myself (maybe on our SR).

Note: When you capture Acrobat on it's own, you need to launch IE and open a PDF in a tab first. This links the crossover between the two applications run times.

Then once you applink, it should work after this.

Regards,

EvilOne
VMware vExpert 2009

NOTE: If your problem or questions has been resolved, please mark this thread as answered and award points accordingly.

Word 2003 - Cannot Save to UNC Path

Defiant365 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:31:19 GMT

I haven't touched the network drive settings. Yeah, I am not sure what it is as it is just Word 2003, everything else is fine. Our UNC paths have nothing special about them.

Antivirus and Thinapp

BenBrazil — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:38:53 GMT

Thanks.

Service control from ThinApp

davesmith — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:04:27 GMT

Hi Keith,

From what I understand of your requirements and the capabilities of VMWare ThinApp, this isn't suitable for your requirements.

ThinApp's main focus is packaging a complex application so that it runs on any windows machine that does not have all the parts already installed. For instance, Microsoft office is a big feature, you package office, and can run it on any machine without messing up the registry or installing little files all over the place.

Controling system services is not a focus of ThinApp. You may wish to look into creating a real application to restart these services, or perhaps looking at the Windows functions available in perl.

VMWare thinapp is very different from the rest of VMWare's products. It is more about isolating an application from making changes, than being a virtual machine.

Dave

Apply for ThinApp beta?

Theike — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:32:31 GMT

Well, Windows7-support currently (ok, already for quite some time) is a quite irritating and long-taking and kept in secret point. However it is one that shows the mild feeling getting when seeing the releases in the past.

Every time a new release gets out (every 3 months roughly) we slam ourselves to the head that a problem we had has been fixed, in which we spent quite some time fiddling with some work-around. If we KNEW a) it was a problem or b) there was an upcoming fix for it, we could have changed the order in applications to be virtualised and saved ourselves quite some time. Or if you would have a (for registrants) beta program with more frequent intermediate but not with the full testplan applied, we could test/verify the problem has already been solved. In that case we could report to the customers/users the real solution will be available in a month on normal release...

I have seen to many 'i cant give more information on this point'-messages and i understand that. I really like the products you make, support you give (been there, done that) and even your presence on this forum (it is no 'users only', but a well managed and monitored forum). It just is that on the point of information (known/fixed items in the current development release) and release cycle handling there could be some more feedback from VMware.

Kind regards,
Michael Baars

RemoveSandboxOnExit problem

Theike — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:57:13 GMT

Both are related to Microsoft .Net.

spupdsvc.exe: This one does a run-once update of the framework, as MSCorsvw.exe does .net assembly pre-compilation.

I assume you have captured .net in your app-capture. Next time you capture, reboot your system and wait (aka: do not end capture) until your system is idle (hdd-led does no longer blink). Also make sure to start the application once. This way any basic installers will have been initialised/run on forehand... (of course if this would involve creating accounts this is not possible as it would personalise the application for the capture user, like outlook would create a profile)

Could it be that you have 'missed' to disable auto-update on your capture machine before starting capturing? If yes please check the 'clean machine' specifications/best practices...

Kind regards,
Michael Baars

Restricting ThinApp applications to network only

Theike — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:43:25 GMT

... compression can be specified on folder level, check the ##attributes.ini-specification

However this still does not prevent anyone from reading/opening the scriptfile from within the running application

Virtualised application > open action > browse > c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe > rightclick > open
from within that notepad: open in c:\program files\VMware scriptfiles\*.vbs) (last folder might be incorrect

Especially as the file may be altered the next run might have an issue :S

However it prevents any 'binary' editor from quickly patching the file.
Solution would be to have, besides the excelent VBscript option the option to include/preload a custom dll. This dll might contain licensing, authorisation, alter settings (sandbox-location anyone) or provide activity logging.

Having on every run check the online version check would be a bad idea as it performancewise already is a hard time getting customers to accept a 2-3 second start-delay introduced by virtualising.

Kind regards,
Michael Baars

Fails to build correct .MSI of Adobe CS3 Design Premium

gojensen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:24:40 GMT

Well, use cabs is the default... and turning off compression didn't help...

However, as I had named the container AdobeCS3 instead of AdobeCS3.dat just that simple rename (in package.ini) made it work... so the MSI builder seems to not like containers with no extension. (The ThinApps worked fine though)...

Applying SP2 to Offcie 2007 and using Sbmerge to update

ContactManager — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:43:29 GMT

I am trying to do something less involved. I have an thinapped version of outlook. I have entered my email account info and then tried to merge it back into the original project so I won't have to enter it everytime I launch. The sbmerge command seems to work, but the merged outlook won't launchy. I get a warning message to the efect I have to reinstall. Any thoughts? Is this just a limitation of the system?

How to embed UAC elevation required manifest in EXE

ggeldorp — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:20:32 GMT

Someone sent me a reminder about this thread today, this was indeed implemented. See UACRequestedPrivilegesLevel

Forcing only one sandbox?

Theike — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:27:02 GMT

Hi,

In your case i think the best option is to have the data stored on the native disk, so not in the sandbox at all. This way it doesn't make a difference if there is an 'additional' sandbox. This can be achieved by setting the isolation mode for the folder to 'Merged'.

There is a disadvantage using this: Your system gets filled with unwanted data
(ok, it will 'only' be the messages, but might be confidentially/undesired. Fixable using a script to delete the files as soon as the application closes...)

Hope this helps. If you need help with the script check arround (there are such in other posts) or post back here...

Kind regards,
Michael Baars

Office 2007 Right Click integration

Cievo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:36:09 GMT

Can you expect it in future?

Ondrej Zilinec - Cievo

...Good question is half of the answer...

Thinapp'd Office 2007 msi kicks off windows installer during first run when not run on capture machine.

pbjork — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:40:19 GMT

I would start out by checking the event log on the client. Is there any msi related log entries.. If there is, it often points to what registry keys/file system folders needs to be hidden from the package by using Full isolation.

moderator please delete thread

Reave — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:57:52 GMT

moderator please delete thread

Communicator 2007 R2

CFendt — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:48:25 GMT

I try to install C2007 in Windows 2000 SP4 + Rollup 1 (so, win2k up to date) + IE6 SP1 + DX 9c

I've done the capture, modified the ini file to uncomment the line "VirtualizeExternalOutOfProcessCom=0" and generate the package... The corresponding package work fine on Win2k but it doesn't start on XP + SP3 + IE 6 SP3 + DX 9c.

If i run the logging application, i found some comctl32.ddl load error...

Any idee ?

Thinapp and Adobe Captivate

pbjork — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:26:27 GMT

As long as the application do not use a technique not supported by ThinApp I see no reason why you should not be able to capture it.

Not currently supported:
Device Drivers
Shell-integration (e.g. context menus)
Network visible DCOM services
Side-by-side COM
COM+
Global Hook DLLs

General troubleshooting tips: http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2009/05/app-troubleshooting.html#more

//peB

ThinApp & IE6/SP2

pbjork — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:51:33 GMT

Since you say you are fairly new to Thinapp please investigate our blog for generall IE packaging tips:
http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/applications/

//peB

Can I launch multiple entry points from one ThinApp shortcut?

spence15 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:38:16 GMT

Thanks ggeldorp!

In case anyone is interested, here's the code for the script I put in the root of my capture directory:

On Error Resume Next

Function OnFirstSandboxOwner
Dim wshShell
Dim i
Set wshShell = CreateObject("wscript.shell")
i = 0
wshShell.run """c:\Program Files\TeamViewer Manager 4\TVmanager.exe"""
wshShell.Run "ping -n 3 127.0.0.1", 0, True 'This is a great replacement for wscript.sleep since wscript commands don't work in this environment.
Do Until success = -1 OR i = 3
success = wshShell.appactivate("TeamViewer Manager")
If success = -1 Then
wshShell.sendkeys "% n"
Else
wshShell.Run "ping -n 3 127.0.0.1", 0, True
i = i + 1
End If
Loop
End Function

ThinApp Application and Export to local install of Excel

Theike — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:51:19 GMT

Hi,

Just some basic pointers:

Do NOT install VMware tools if you plan to deploy to non-virtual systems.
If your system has/expects to have natively installed requirements, it is fine to install them before starting the capture.

In your case this would be .NET 2.0 and MS office (at least: excel).

If you require some integration option with native applications (excel export) perform that action once during the capture.

As some integrations trigger a 'reinstall' or installation of additional features this would be in your capture as well.

I hope these pointers help.

Kind regards,
Michael Baars

Is network scanning supported?

Theike — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:32:14 GMT

Hi,

We also had some problems with being able to use scanners in virtualised apps.

Our main issue: Installing the minimal driver was not enough...
We had scanners that just did not work with just the minimal driver installed. Worst was a HP-scanner, which required a painful 150MB install to be able to use the scanner.
Best to test: Use Microsoft Imaging on a clean system after installing the (minimal) driver and check if you can scan. It took some time to find this out.

Eventually the software was not virtualised at all as it was used on only a few systems that required dedicated treatment anyway. So the software was installed natively. It did work however...

Kind regards,
Michael Baars

Possible to limit network connectivity ?

Theike — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:55:01 GMT

Hi,

This topic has been discussed already a few times...

At this moment ThinApp does nothing to manage network connections. The full functionalities of the operating system are exposed to the virtualised application. The IP layer (via e.g. winsock.dll) is fully exposed and handles all functionalities. That goes for host name resolution (via for example the hosts-file) to connecting via the firewall. All settings in this regard are ignored as the 'lower' (read: native) layer uses the functionalities of the OS.

All you can do is, as proposed before, by trying to lock down the virtualised application. But remember that those settings in general are 'user settings' and a user could undo them. Like with the IE: You could enable the proxy, but a user would always be able to undo that setting... In the virtualised app they will be able to perform semi-admin operations as many locked-down features of the native system are ignored (you still can write to your windows folder, or edit HKLM-entries... in the sandbox that is)

Kind regards,
Michael Baars

ThinApped Weblogic Poor Performance

SS73 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:55:41 GMT

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with Weblogic 9.2 or 10.3. We have packaged them for use in VDI and are noticing they run 50-60% slower. Slowness occurs during server starts and publishing of web pages.

Are there any options in the package.ini that address application performance?

thx in advance.

office97 application

jcianciol — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:58:40 GMT

great!

thanks for your help!

jim

Autodesk Utility Design 2006 licensing service thinapp problem

pbjork — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:14:25 GMT

Sounds like something might have been broken in the product between 4.0 and 4.0.3. I recommend you to file a support ticket so that the issue could be investigated further.

Using Thinapp to install a program that uses an access 97 database

jason450 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:32:15 GMT

I'm running into the same issue. As of yet, no solution found.

Ok ,the application named GNS3 when you package it ,it wont run ,but if running from inside %ProgramFilesDir% it runs !!!

pbrown555 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:13:36 GMT

I found out this trick quite a while ago. Most applications will run from the capture folder but some require registry entries to be loaded before they will run. I think that apps running from the capture run in the real windows system while built apps run in the Virtual windows (VOS). The built app loads the registry entries for you. When a built app does not run but does run from the capture folder it can indicate that something in the package cannot be virtualized (e.g. a protected executable or some component is already virtualized by the software company).

ThinApp Consumes All Memory

Defiant365 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:24:13 GMT

Thanks for replying back to me. I seemed to resolve the issue with the memory being consumed on the VM by removing Trend Micro. I am really not comfortable with not having Antivirus on the VM, but until I find a solution, I will just have to move forward without Trendmicro.

using asset discovery tools to meter usage of thinapps

pbjork — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:15:52 GMT

Hi..

There is a third party tool just about to be released.. More info can be found here: http://www.softwarekeymetering.com/

Natively there is no metering in the product.

//peB