Perhaps just running "Assoc.exe", "DISM", or a simple REG file with the
association settings you want would work.



On 7/1/2014 11:16 AM, chndrcks wrote:
>
> We often use application virtualization for larger apps that would take
> too long to install via msi. We put those large virtual apps on a
> network share and users launch them from there rather than installing
> them locally. It's worked well for us, but we miss out on some features,
> like file associations, context menus, etc. We could get most of these
> features back if created in msi in ZAV when we create the virtual app,
> but the msi always installs the virtual app to Program Files, which
> defeats the purpose for us.
>
> So my question: Is there a way we can create an MSI that behaves just
> like the one generated by ZAV, but rather than installing the .exe to
> Program Files and pointing everything there, it instead does not install
> the exe at all and just points everything to the already existing exe on
> the shared drive?
>
> We tend to be a bit of a unique use case, but I was hoping someone else
> had run into a similar problem.
>
> Thank you!
>
>


--
Craig Wilson - MCNE, MCSE, CCNA
Novell Technical Support Engineer

Novell does not officially monitor these forums.

Suggestions/Opinions/Statements made by me are solely my own.
These thoughts may not be shared by either Novell or any rational human.

I think spoonreg.exe might be your solution. I believe that will get you what you're after and still allow the shortcuts to point to the virtualized app located on a network share. I had experimented with this a while back and think I was successful but can't remember now for sure. Don't know if this is possible with an msi file or not. You can certainly tell it not to install to Program Files but look up the documentation on spoonreg, I'm pretty sure that's your ticket.

Also, as CRAIGDWILSON pointed out you could also do it with batch files and various Windows command line utilities. If you search the forum under my username you'll find a post where I outlined installing virtual apps along with file associations with just a batch file. Think of is as an extremely low rent replacement for msi files. If you pair this with nircmd.exe (free utility from nirsoft.net) you can also create shortcuts on the desktop or wherever you want. Upside to doing it all this way is that the whole process is extremely fast.