Overview of ThinApp Isolation Options

AdminStudio 2023 | 25.0 | ThinApp Assistant

ThinApp uses virtual environments to control application compatibility and accessibility. The isolation option that is assigned to a folder or registry key specifies how the virtual environment will provide access to system resources requested by the application.

The default settings for isolation options are built into the ThinApp Assistant, and those defaults are adequate for most environments. However, in the ThinApp Assistant, you can override the default settings for selected folders or registry keys to exert control over application interactions with client operating system resources.

Caution:Modify isolation options only if you have advanced knowledge of Microsoft operating system objects, ThinApp, and registry settings. Select the Default isolation option unless you require specific custom handling.

You set isolation options on the Isolation Options dialog box, which is opened by selecting Isolation Options on the context menu when you have a folder selected on the Files & Folders page or a registry key selected on the Registry page.

Information about isolation options is presented in the following sections:

•

Available ThinApp Isolation Options

•

ThinApp Isolation Option Use Scenarios

•

ThinApp Assistant Default Isolation Options

Available ThinApp Isolation Options

On the Isolation Options dialog box, you can choose one of the following isolation options:

ThinApp Isolation Options

Option	Visibility of System Elements	Modifications to Virtual Elements	Modifications to System Elements	New Elements	If System and Virtual Element at Same Location
Default	As defined internally by the ThinApp Assistant
Write Copy	Visible	Sandbox	Sandbox	Created in Sandbox	Sees Virtual Element
Merged	Visible	Sandbox	System	Created in System	Sees Virtual Element
Full	Not Visible	Sandbox	N/A (System elements cannot be modified)	Created in Sandbox	N/A (System elements cannot be read)

ThinApp Isolation Option Use Scenarios

The following table describes scenarios where you would use each isolation option:

Use Scenarios for ThinApp Isolation Options

Option	Use Scenario
Write Copy	You would use Write Copy isolation when: • Application was not designed or tested for multi-user environments and expects it can modify files and keys without impacting other users. • Application expects write permission to Global locations and was not designed for locked-down desktop environments found in corporate environments or Windows Vista. With Write Copy isolation, ThinApp makes copies of registry keys and files written by the application and performs all of the modifications in a user-specific sandbox. With this type of isolation, the ThinApp applications believe that they have global write permissions, while they really only modify the sandbox directory.
Merged	You would use Merged isolation when the ThinApp application needs write access to user-specific storage areas, like the Desktop and My Documents.
Full	You would use Full isolation when a ThinApp application needs to run on a machine where earlier or later versions of the same application are either installed or were not uninstalled correctly. For directories and registry keys that have Full isolation, the ThinApp application will not be aware of any host computer file that might exist, and it sees only virtual files and registry keys at fully isolated locations.

ThinApp Assistant Default Isolation Options

If you do not set any isolation options on a folder or registry key in the ThinApp Assistant, the following default isolation options are applied:

ThinApp Assistant Default Isolation Options

Isolation Option	Condition
Write Copy Isolation	All other directories and subkeys associated with the product are assigned Write Copy isolation.
Merged Isolation	User-specific storage areas like the Desktop and My Documents, are set to Merged Isolation so that application has direct Write access to these locations

Note:Network shares are not affected by isolation modes. Read and write operations to network shares occur unchanged by ThinApp.

Note:These default isolation options are built into the ThinApp Assistant.