Introduction to SVS

SVS introduces a revolutionary way to install and manage applications. SVS protects your system by completely isolating each application from your base Windows installation. Applications installed with SVS cannot make changes to the Window registry or write files outside of its quarantined "sandbox". Isolating applications in this manner allows you to activate, deactivate, and remove applications instantly without requiring an uninstall program. And unlike normal uninstalls, once an SVS application is removed, there are absolutely no remnants of the program left on the system (either in the file system or the registry).

Application isolation adds the additional benefit of completely avoiding all DLL conflicts so previously conflicting versions of the same application (or different applications that require the same DLL) can now be installed and run simultaneously.

So, you may be asking, if SVS applications cannot make changes to the registry or write files to certain locations, how can the programs run? The answer is that SVS runs the programs "virtually". That is, SVS intercepts all messages that the program sends to Windows (perhaps to make a change to the registry or write a file to the Program Files directory) and redirects this request to an isolated registry and directory created just for this application. Likewise, all Windows calls to the registry or file system are intercepted and redirected so that Windows "sees" the changes made by the newly installed application. SVS applications run exactly as if they had been installed normally.

Installing SVS

Installing SVS is easy. Just download the SVS Client file and unzip it. The SVS Client zip file contains the following two files:

• SVS_Personal.pdf (SVS User Guide)
• Software_Virtualization_Agent.msi (SVS installer)

To install SVS, simply run the Software_Virtualization_Agent.msi installation file and follow the prompts. During the installation process, you will need to retrieve a free license key from the Altiris web site. When prompted for a license key, just click the "Get it Free" button to download the key. Once downloaded, unzip the key file and open the text file it contains. In this file, you will find the license key that is requested by the SVS installer. Follow the prompts to complete the installation.

Note that there is one required option that is not set by default during installation. Therefore, make sure that you select the "Software Virtualization Admin Tool" checkbox as shown here:

Installing an "SVS Packaged" Program

To install any of the programs downloaded from SVSDownloads.com, start by launching the Software Virtualization Admin program that was installed by the SVS Client installer. Now select the "Import from Archive" option under the "File" menu as shown here:

Now, to install a program, just select the .vsa file downloaded from SVSDownloads.com. The program will be completely installed on your system without any further prompting. Once installed, there is one final step. Since all programs are installed in a "deactive" mode, you must activate each new SVS installation. To do so, simply right-click on the new program listed in the Software Virtualization Admin client and select "Activate Layer" from the pop-up menu as shown here:

Your program is now active and ready to use.