virualization

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Guest

is there any way to add directories to the list that vista virtualizes (as
per a technote somewhere that suggests it will only virtualize
%ProgramFiles%, %Systemdir% and something else.

I have a legacy program which I've had to install on drive D because there
ain't enough space on drive C, and the virtualisation doesn't happen, which
is a trifle annoying at times
 
I'm assuming you're referring to the file and registry virtualization
techniques that part of UAC? If so, this isn't something that's designed to
be controlled by users or applications. Windows Vista automatically applies
virtualization when necessary. For more information on how this works, see
these articles:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/06/UAC/default.aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa965884.aspx

Note that we intend this technology to be temporary! Eventually, as
applications become compatible with Vista's standard user mode, we will
remove file and registry virtualization. You shouldn't design applications
to rely on this.


I'll quote a bit from the first article:

Windows Vista enables these legacy applications to run in standard user
accounts through the help of file system and registry namespace
virtualization. When an application modifies a system-global location in the
file system or registry and that operation fails because access is denied,
Windows redirects the operation to a per-user area; when the application
reads from a system-global location, Windows first checks for data in the
per-user area and, if none is present, permits the read attempt from the
global location.

For the purposes of this virtualization, Windows Vista treats a process as
legacy if it’s 32-bit (versus 64-bit), is not running with administrative
rights, and does not have a manifest file indicating that it was written for
Windows Vista. Any operations not originating from a process classified as
legacy according to this definition, including network file sharing
accesses, are not virtualized. A process’s virtualization status is stored
as a flag in its token, which is the kernel data structure that tracks the
security context of a process, including its user account, group
memberships, and privileges.
 
Steve Riley said:
I'm assuming you're referring to the file and registry virtualization
techniques that part of UAC?
Click to expand...
Well, the file part anyway
If so, this isn't something that's designed to
be controlled by users or applications. Windows Vista automatically applies
virtualization when necessary. For more information on how this works, see
these articles:
Click to expand...
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/06/UAC/default.aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa965884.aspx
Click to expand...

Yes, I have seen them
Note that we intend this technology to be temporary! Eventually, as
applications become compatible with Vista's standard user mode, we will
remove file and registry virtualization. You shouldn't design applications
to rely on this.
Click to expand...

I'm not designing applications to rely on this. I'm using existing legacy
(i.e. work fine in XP) applications where the user experience would be
improved by virtualisations (i.e. I could get rid of the batch files that
move things round like crazy)

The problem is that although I had easily enough space for my programs on
the C drive under XP, vistas disk space requirements are somewhat heavy, and
installing software on the C drive is not really an option. So, if
virtualisation is only available on the C drive, I'd like to know for
definite. Otherwise, I'd like to know how it can be changed.
 
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