4.0.4

Table Of Contents
ThinApp User’s Guide
26 VMware, Inc.
Deploying ThinApp on Network Shares
Smallandmediumenterprisestendtouseanetworkshare.Youcancreateexecutablefilesforthecaptured
applicationandstorethemonanetworkshare.Eachtimeyoudeployanewapplicationoranupdatetoan
existingpackage,youcannotifyclientuserstorunthethinreg.exeutilitywith
anappropriateoption.
ITadministratorscancontroluseraccesstofilesharesbyorganizingnetworksharesbasedonfunctionand
associatingpermissionswithnetworksharesbasedonthosefunctionalboundaries.
ThedifferencesbetweenthenetworkshareoptionandtheVMw areViewoptionarethatthenetworkshare
optionassumesamixof
physicalandvirtual(persistent)desktopsandinvolv esusersrunningthe
thinreg.exeutilitydirectlyinsteadofrelyingonloginscripts.
Deploying ThinApp Using Executable Files
Youusethisbasicoptioninanenvironmentwherediskusageislimited.Youcancreateexecutablefilesforthe
capturedapplications,copythemfromacentralrepository,andrunthethinreg.exeutilitymanuallyto
registerfiletypeassociations,desktopshortcuts,andtheapplicationpackageonthesystem.
Establishing File Type Associations with the thinreg.exe Utility
ThinApprequiresyoutousethethinreg.exeutilitytoopenfiles,suchasa.docdocumentoran.htmlpage.
Forexample,ifyouclickaURLinanemailmessage,ThinAppmustbesettostartFirefox.Youdonothaveto
runthethinreg.exeutilityforMSIfilesbecause
MSIfilesstarttheutilityautomaticallyduringthe
applicationinstallation.
Thethinreg.exeutilitycreatestheStartmenuanddesktopshortcuts,setsupfiletypeassociations,adds
uninstallinformationtothesystemcontrolpanel,andunregisterspreviouslyregisteredpackages.Theutility
allowsyoutoseethecontrolpanelextensionsforapplications,such
asQuicktimeorthemailcontrolpanel
appletforMicrosoftOutlook2007.Whenyourightclickafile,suchasa.docfile,thethinreg.exeutility
allowsyoutoseethesamemenuoptionsfora.docfileinanativeenvironment.
IfanapplicationrunsSMTPorHTTPprotocols,such
asanemaillinkonaWebpagethatneedstoopen
MicrosoftOutlook2007,thethinreg.exeutilitystartsavailablevirtualapplicationsthatcanhandlethose
protocols.Ifvirtualapplicationsarenotavailable,thethinreg.exeutilitystartsnativeapplicationsthatcan
handlethoseprotocols.
Thedefaultlocationoftheutilityis
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp.
Application Sync Effect on the thinreg.exe Utility
ThinAppprovidestheApplicationSyncutilitytoupdateanapplicationpackage.The ApplicationSyncutility
hasthefollowingeffectonthethinreg.exeutility:
Ifyouadd,modify,orremoveexecutablefiles,thethinreg.exeutilityreregistersthefiletype
associations,shortcuts,andicons.
Ifyouinstallprotocols,MIMEtypes,controlpanelapplets,andtemplatesotherthanexecutablefiles,the
thinreg.exeutilityreregisterstheseelements.
ForinformationabouttheApplicationSyncutility,seeApplicationSyncUpdatesonpage 39.