What Does

File and Registry Virtualization Considerations

Now that we've verified that there is indeed something interesting happening under the hood here, let's understand it more specifically. Thus far, I've said that file and Registry virtualization works by sensing that some apps are pre-Vista apps without a clue and then, once Vista decides that the app should be "virtualized," then Vista spies on their file reads and writes to detect attempts to store user data in protected operating system folders and Registry keys. Then, when Vista sees one of those attempts, it silently redirects the reads or writes elsewhere to places in the user's profile. That's a nice high-level explanation, but now let's consider some specifics, like:

• Exactly where does User Account Control store the virtualized data?

• Vista doesn't spy on every application; how does it know which ones to virtualize, and which not to? And what happens when a Vista application tries to write to a protected area?

• Exactly what folders and Registry keys are protected by file and Registry virtualization? Can we add to that list?

• How can we monitor file and Registry virtualization?

• Can we halt folder and Registry virtualization altogether?

Now we're ready to start examining those things, and, of course, along the way I'll show you a few more demonstrations of how file and Registry virtualization works.