Navigation Pane

[Chris Waldick]

What are compatibility files. I have a button on my navigation pane that says
' View compatilbility' files. I have no idea what that is. I do see more
files when i click on it but what are the differences between the files.

 

[Daniel Martín [MVP Windows]]

Hi, Chris,

The "Compatibility files" button appears if there are virtualized files in
the folder you are viewing in Windows Explorer. When a non-UAC-compliant
administrative application attempts to write to a protected directory, such
as Program Files, UAC gives the application its own "virtualized" view of
the resource it is attempting to change.

The following KB article offers some information about common virtualization
issues in Windows Vista:

Common file and registry virtualization issues in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927387/en-us (Scenario 2)

More information about virtualization:

New UAC Technologies for Windows Vista
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb756960.aspx

 

[Chris Waldick]

Thanks Daniel,

Now here is the question. It is my own application that I developed in VB.
How can I get my app UAC Compliant ? Is that why my app also has a little
shield icon on the launch icon ?

If I'm UAC complient, will I be able to write or download files at least to
my own app folder ?

The reason I'm asking is that I wrote my own update manager (Very basic) all
it does is download the latest exe file via ftp from my website. But that
does not work on Vista as it will not allow me to write an exe file to my app
folder.

Also when I purchase 3rd party controls I need to download those copy it to
the windows system folder and use the regsvr32 command to register them. I
did all of this in my update manager that I wrote but also don't have the
permissions in Vista.

How can I get Vista to trust me. At least with my own apps.

Thanks for your help so far

Chris

 

[Daniel Martín [MVP Windows]]

It's a better practice to download updates for your program to the per-user
%AppData% folder (C:\Users\Your_User\AppData). Your application should also
store user-specific configuration settings in that place (in the form of
..ini files, for example), or in the registry key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\YourApp (recommended).

Take a look at this article:

The Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Developer Story: Windows Vista
Application Development Requirements for User Account Control (UAC)
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa905330.aspx

If you follow that guidelines, your application won't be virtualized and
user experience will be nicer, and more secure.

--
Regards,
Daniel Martín
Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User