Totaly Off Topis - Program Recomendation

[Richard Urban]

I do not recommend programs lightly to my fellow MVP's, and others, but here
is one I have been testing for the past two days that I can not say enough
good things about.

The program is Altiris Software Virtualization Solution from www.altiris.com
.. It allows you to run a software application in a contained "layer" on a
standard Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 operating system.

When you install a program under the Altiris Software Virtualization
Program, any changes to the file system or registry are captured and placed
in a protected area of the hard drive. When you activate a layer it calls
these files and registry entries for use by the program. When you deactivate
the programs layer, the original file system and registry is as it was
before, except for the protected area that has been created.

When you want to run the program you activate the layer. When you are done
with the program, deactivate the layer. It is as if the program was never
installed. If you make changes that you don't like, you can instantly
"reset" the layer to just installed condition and try again. Please, read
the .pdf users manual and understand all the working conditions that apply.

I have installed 4 highly invasive programs for testing. They are Diskeeper,
Open Office 2.0.2, Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5 and Nero 7.

Everyone knows that if you install Diskeeper, and then uninstall it, that
the XP supplied defragmenting program will never be the same - right? WRONG!
Activate the Diskeeper layer, run Diskeeper and then deactivate the layer.
All traces of Diskeeper are gone and the supplied version of the Windows XP
defragmenter works just like always.

Depending upon my mood I activate either Easy Media Creator or Nero to burn
CD/DVD's. There is absolutely no interaction because when the one I am NOT
using is deactivated it is as if it were never installed at all.

You can read the PC Mag review here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1941830,00.asp

The software is available for FREE to a home user, for installation on up to
10 computers. They hope you like it enough to "buy" it for your companies
computers - hence the give away.

Now, if I can get Internet Explorer 7.0 beta 2 installed as a virtual
program........................

I am also going to see what happens when I use it to install Norton
SystemWorks <grin>

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Norton'll break it, it breaks everything <g>.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

ROFLMAO..

 

[NoStop]

I do not recommend programs lightly to my fellow MVP's, and others, but
here is one I have been testing for the past two days that I can not say
enough good things about.

The program is Altiris Software Virtualization Solution from
www.altiris.com . It allows you to run a software application in a
contained "layer" on a standard Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows 2003
operating system.

When you install a program under the Altiris Software Virtualization
Program, any changes to the file system or registry are captured and
placed in a protected area of the hard drive. When you activate a layer it
calls these files and registry entries for use by the program. When you
deactivate the programs layer, the original file system and registry is as
it was before, except for the protected area that has been created.

When you want to run the program you activate the layer. When you are done
with the program, deactivate the layer. It is as if the program was never
installed. If you make changes that you don't like, you can instantly
"reset" the layer to just installed condition and try again. Please, read
the .pdf users manual and understand all the working conditions that
apply.

I have installed 4 highly invasive programs for testing. They are
Diskeeper,
Open Office 2.0.2, Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5 and Nero 7.

Everyone knows that if you install Diskeeper, and then uninstall it, that
the XP supplied defragmenting program will never be the same - right?
WRONG! Activate the Diskeeper layer, run Diskeeper and then deactivate the
layer. All traces of Diskeeper are gone and the supplied version of the
Windows XP defragmenter works just like always.

Depending upon my mood I activate either Easy Media Creator or Nero to
burn CD/DVD's. There is absolutely no interaction because when the one I
am NOT using is deactivated it is as if it were never installed at all.

You can read the PC Mag review here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1941830,00.asp

The software is available for FREE to a home user, for installation on up
to 10 computers. They hope you like it enough to "buy" it for your
companies computers - hence the give away.

Now, if I can get Internet Explorer 7.0 beta 2 installed as a virtual
program........................

Well your solution has come just in time. MickeyMouse's answer to the latest
virus problems with IE is to install IE7 beta. Actually, installing
FireFox makes more sense, but oh well ... MickeyMouse hasn't got it right
yet.

Article here ...

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/03/attacks_on_internet_explorer_f_1.html

I am also going to see what happens when I use it to install Norton
SystemWorks <grin>

--
From a Wintard helping another Wintard with his Windoze Problem:
"You might also want to try one of the numerous EXCELLENT
registry cleaners, and perhaps a ram washer."
View Some Common Linux Desktops ...
http://linclips.crocusplains.com/index.php

 

[Stan Brown]

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 02:04:23 -0500 from Richard Urban

I do not recommend programs lightly to my fellow MVP's, and others, but here
is one I have been testing for the past two days that I can not say enough
good things about.

The program is Altiris Software Virtualization Solution from www.altiris.com

It's not at all clear to me how this is off topic -- it's about
running Windows XP better.

I have installed 4 highly invasive programs for testing. They are ...
Open Office 2.0.2, ...

This is surprising and disappointing new to me, because I was looking
forward to switching from Office to Open Office. Can you point me to
somewhere that gives details? (And by "invasive", do you mean more so
than MS Office?

 

[Richard Urban]

Open Office is invasive in that it just adds a lot of registry entries and
files (no other way). It adds to the virtualization layer 3199 files, 2120
registry keys and 2386 registry values). None of these are visible on
Windows XP when the virtualization layer is de-activated.

BTW, you can download from the manufacturers web site an Open Office 2.0.2
package that is all ready to go for Altiris Software Virtualization Program.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[antioch]

Hello Stan
I first tried Open Office on an old PIII with Win2000 running alongside
Works - then I had it running on a P4 WIN XP SP2 and the old MS Works. But
I missed the spellcheck in O.E. and I was never able to create an envelope
of all things
Its worth a try though - I quite liked it.
Rgds Antioch

 

[Gordon]

Hello Stan
I first tried Open Office on an old PIII with Win2000 running alongside
Works - then I had it running on a P4 WIN XP SP2 and the old MS Works.
But I missed the spellcheck in O.E. and I was never able to create an
envelope of all things
Its worth a try though - I quite liked it.
Rgds Antioch

You'll find that the current version (2.01) is about the equivalent of MS
Office 2002 - without outlook of course. It also starts up very much
quicker - almost as quickly as MS office.

 

[Gordon]

Open Office is invasive in that it just adds a lot of registry entries

And MS Office isn't "invasive"? ALL Windows applications add lots of
registry entries - it's the flawed model that Windows is built on.

 

[Mike Williams]

And MS Office isn't "invasive"? ALL Windows applications add lots of
registry entries - it's the flawed model that Windows is built on.

Adding to the registry is not a priori invasive.

 

[Gordon]

Adding to the registry is not a priori invasive.

yes it is - de facto (if we are going to get classical)

 

[Stan Brown]

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 14:42:31 -0500 from Richard Urban

Open Office is invasive in that it just adds a lot of registry entries and
files (no other way). It adds to the virtualization layer 3199 files, 2120
registry keys and 2386 registry values). None of these are visible on
Windows XP when the virtualization layer is de-activated.

BTW, you can download from the manufacturers web site an Open Office 2.0.2
package that is all ready to go for Altiris Software Virtualization Program.

Thanks, Richard. Adding registry entries and files doesn't seem all
that bad to me -- I was afraid it hijacked file associations as some
programs do.

 

[Stan Brown]

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:26:10 +0100 from antioch

I first tried Open Office on an old PIII with Win2000 running alongside
Works - then I had it running on a P4 WIN XP SP2 and the old MS Works. But
I missed the spellcheck in O.E. and I was never able to create an envelope
of all things

Thanks for the info. Missing OE features isn't an issue for me
because I never use it. Being unable to create an envelope would be
a bigger deal -- I'll look into that.

 

[kurttrail]

I do not recommend programs lightly to my fellow MVP's, and others, but here
is one I have been testing for the past two days that I can not say enough
good things about.

The program is Altiris Software Virtualization Solution from www.altiris.com
. It allows you to run a software application in a contained "layer" on a
standard Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 operating system.

When you install a program under the Altiris Software Virtualization
Program, any changes to the file system or registry are captured and placed
in a protected area of the hard drive. When you activate a layer it calls
these files and registry entries for use by the program. When you deactivate
the programs layer, the original file system and registry is as it was
before, except for the protected area that has been created.

When you want to run the program you activate the layer. When you are done
with the program, deactivate the layer. It is as if the program was never
installed. If you make changes that you don't like, you can instantly
"reset" the layer to just installed condition and try again. Please, read
the .pdf users manual and understand all the working conditions that apply.

I have installed 4 highly invasive programs for testing. They are Diskeeper,
Open Office 2.0.2, Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5 and Nero 7.

Everyone knows that if you install Diskeeper, and then uninstall it, that
the XP supplied defragmenting program will never be the same - right? WRONG!
Activate the Diskeeper layer, run Diskeeper and then deactivate the layer.
All traces of Diskeeper are gone and the supplied version of the Windows XP
defragmenter works just like always.

Depending upon my mood I activate either Easy Media Creator or Nero to burn
CD/DVD's. There is absolutely no interaction because when the one I am NOT
using is deactivated it is as if it were never installed at all.

You can read the PC Mag review here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1941830,00.asp

The software is available for FREE to a home user, for installation on up to
10 computers. They hope you like it enough to "buy" it for your companies
computers - hence the give away.

Now, if I can get Internet Explorer 7.0 beta 2 installed as a virtual
program........................

I am also going to see what happens when I use it to install Norton
SystemWorks <grin>

Not only is this spam, but it is off-topic spam, and should be removed
from the server, if the MicroCensor is gonna be consistent.

But as we ALL know, the MicroCensor isn't ever consistent.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Mike Williams]

yes it is - de facto (if we are going to get classical)

Because programs are using documented interfaces to put items under keys
designed for them?

 

[Gordon]

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:26:10 +0100 from antioch


Thanks for the info. Missing OE features isn't an issue for me
because I never use it. Being unable to create an envelope would be
a bigger deal -- I'll look into that.

The latest version of OO (2.01) certainly has an envelope creation function.

 

[Stan Brown]

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:57:39 +0100 from Gordon

The latest version of OO (2.01) certainly has an envelope creation function.

Saved me the trouble. Grazie!

 

[Stan Brown]

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:38:05 -0500 from kurttrail

Not only is this spam,

How many newsgroups was it posted to? "Spam" doesn't mean "an article
I dislike"; it doesn't even mean an ad; it means "the same or
substantially the same article posted at least N times", where
reasonable people don't agree on the value of N but it's certainly
greater than 1 or 2.

 

[antioch]

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:26:10 +0100 from antioch


Thanks for the info. Missing OE features isn't an issue for me
because I never use it. Being unable to create an envelope would be
a bigger deal -- I'll look into that.

Stan,
Don't be put off by the envelope thing - I am sure you will manage - it was
just me trying to learn something new - I found the wizards/templates so
much easier in Works and Office. The Open seemed so complicated and a
fiddle. I lost my patience in the end. It was something I just could not
get my head round!!!!
For a free bit of software, I thought it was very good.
Rgds
Antioch

 

[jonah]

I do not recommend programs lightly to my fellow MVP's, and others, but here
is one I have been testing for the past two days that I can not say enough
good things about.

The program is Altiris Software Virtualization Solution from www.altiris.com
. It allows you to run a software application in a contained "layer" on a
standard Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 operating system.

When you install a program under the Altiris Software Virtualization
Program, any changes to the file system or registry are captured and placed
in a protected area of the hard drive. When you activate a layer it calls
these files and registry entries for use by the program. When you deactivate
the programs layer, the original file system and registry is as it was
before, except for the protected area that has been created.

When you want to run the program you activate the layer. When you are done
with the program, deactivate the layer. It is as if the program was never
installed. If you make changes that you don't like, you can instantly
"reset" the layer to just installed condition and try again. Please, read
the .pdf users manual and understand all the working conditions that apply.

I have installed 4 highly invasive programs for testing. They are Diskeeper,
Open Office 2.0.2, Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5 and Nero 7.

Everyone knows that if you install Diskeeper, and then uninstall it, that
the XP supplied defragmenting program will never be the same - right? WRONG!
Activate the Diskeeper layer, run Diskeeper and then deactivate the layer.
All traces of Diskeeper are gone and the supplied version of the Windows XP
defragmenter works just like always.

Depending upon my mood I activate either Easy Media Creator or Nero to burn
CD/DVD's. There is absolutely no interaction because when the one I am NOT
using is deactivated it is as if it were never installed at all.

You can read the PC Mag review here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1941830,00.asp

The software is available for FREE to a home user, for installation on up to
10 computers. They hope you like it enough to "buy" it for your companies
computers - hence the give away.

Now, if I can get Internet Explorer 7.0 beta 2 installed as a virtual
program........................

I am also going to see what happens when I use it to install Norton
SystemWorks <grin>

Thanks Richard, been looking for some way of playing with Open Office
on a work machine - hope you don't mind I downloaded it even though I
am not an MVP.



Jonah