Creating a New Virtual Application

How to create a new virtual application:

1. Open DSMC from the installation computer.

   You get the best results by using a computer with a freshly installed operating system to create a virtual application. Make sure the source and target operating systems are congruent. If you want to virtualize applications that primarily execute under Windows Vista for example, your installation computer should also run with Windows Vista. In that way you save yourself the bother of later, time-consuming adaptations of the virtual application to other operating systems.

2. Select the desired software folder in the Software Library.
3. In the Objects window click on the Software Factory tab.
4. Click on the Virtual Application icon (automate).

Capturing a first snapshot of the installation computer

1. Enter a name for the virtual application and the package it is to hold.
2. In the next step of the dialog select Capture New Virtual Application.
3. Enter the path on which the virtual application is to be installed on the client computers.
4. In the next step of the dialog define the regions of the installation computer that are to be searched for changes through the installation of the application (drives, registry branches).

   If you are in doubt select all presented drives and registry branches, i.e. if you do not know exactly how installation of the application that is to be virtualized will change your system.

5. Click on Continue to produce the first snapshot of the system of the installation computer.

Installing and configuring an application

1. Install the application you wish to virtualize just as usual.

   If the application reboots the installation computer when installation is completed, this is nothing to worry about. Continue to package the virtual application after the reboot. Change to the Software Library. There you can see the, as yet, unready new package. Select the package, and click in the Tasks window in the Virtualization task group on Resume ThinApp Capture.

2. After installation start the application at least once. In that way you prevent the virtual application from presenting the user with the license agreement, a welcome screen, imported web browser bookmarks and the like every time it starts.
3. Configure the application as all later users are to find it when they start.

   For word processing match the path to corporate document templates for instance, integrate macros, set the home page for a web browser, or add bookmarks for your corporate intranet.

Capturing the second snapshot of the installation computer (delta snapshot)

1. Once you have preconfigured the application in the way you want it, start the second snapshot of your system by clicking on Continue in the Virtual Application wizard. ThinApp will now find the changes in your installation computer since the first snapshot.
2. In the next step of the dialog you can set the parameters with which ThinApp creates the virtual application. Among other things you can define whether the virtual application is to be compressed, or to what extent it is to be isolated from the operating system. The settings in this dialog are identical to ThinApp presettings.
3. Then you can select the applications to be created together with the virtual application.

   ThinApp itself offers the applications cmd.exe, regedit.exe and iexplore.exe. With these you can access the file system and registry of the virtual application, which is especially helpful for debugging purposes. In addition you see the applications that ThinApp has found since the first system snapshot.
   If a virtual application is bigger than about 200 MB (e.g. Microsoft Office or Open Office), a .dat file is created in addition to the .exe file by ThinApp. The .exe and .dat files belong together. The .exe file only contains pointers to the .dat file.

4. When the wizard is finished you have a new package holding the virtual application. You can now test and release it, and allocate it to installation targets like any other package.