Altiris SVS
Rating: 5
pick
Version tested: 2.0.1407
Description: Altiris Software Virtualization Solution (SVS) allows you to install and run programs virtually so that they do not reside on your system but in a virtual ’layer’ which you can switch on or off at will. It enables you to test an application and completely ’turn it off’ if you choose without altering the Windows installation. It also enables you to avoid conflicts/.dll conflicts between applications. Alitiris SVS is free for home, non-commercial use.
Have you ever suspected that an application might have an adverse effect on your system or that it might conflict with other installed applications? Or perhaps you would like to have both an older version (or versions) of an application as well as the most recent release. With Altiris SVS you can do this easily and elegantly. Here’s how Altiris SVS works:
- Before installing the application in question, run Altiris SVS and create a new virtual layer (a layer is the program’s terminology for the virtual ’space’ that the program will exist in). All other virtual layers have to be turned off.
- Browse to the new application installer from within SVS. Note that you have the option of capturing all the change made to the system by the application or capturing all the changes made to the system even if these were not made by the application you installing.
- That’s it. The program will now be listed in Altiris SVS’s interface, and can be turned on and off.
Typically, installing a program involves writing some information into the registry, creating a directory in ’program files’, creating some dlls (either inside the installation directory or in a system direcory), creating a start menu folder and possibly creating desktop and/or quick launch icons for the installed app. All of these will occur when you install an application with SVS; however, should you choose to turn the installed virtual program’s layer off — poof — all of these disappear in a flash, and the program literally is gone without a trace. Turn the layer back on and the program reappears instantly. You can have multiple layers/programs switched on at the same time (except, of course, when the programs conflict with each other or when you have multiple versions of the same program that cannot coexist).
Note that virtualization is not restricted to program installations; you can use SVS to create a virtual layer that relates to either specific directories (recursively or not) or specific file extentions. You can then literally switch back and forth between 2 states. I tired this and I must say that I found it a bit hard to wrap my brain around exactly what SVS was doing here; it would retrieve an earlier folder structure of a folder that I virtualized, and ’remove’ the newer files that I put into it. However, it did not seem to ’retrieve’ files that were there that I had deleted.
Given the number of I install every week in order to test and write about in ’Freewaregenius’, this is one of the most exciting programs that I have come across in a long time. What’s remarkable this about this software virtualization concept is just how well it works. I created a handful of ’layers’ and each installation was smooth and problem free. The concept of a virtually installed program is simply brilliant, and Altiris SVS is a wonderful implementation of it. I cannot recommend this program highly enough.
Notes: For installation you need a serial number, which you can obtain for free for personal use. From within the installer, click the ’get it free’ button and you will be redirected to a web page. Follow the instructions and you will be able to download a zip file with your own serial. Also note that you can download many free programs that have been pre-virtualized, click here for more info.
Compatibility: Windows 2000, 2003, XP only.
Click this button 
to download (scroll down to the ’Free for personal use’ section). The program home page. The ’juice’ SVS community page.
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Having tried Altiris SVS several times and seeing how it clogged up my system I can safely say that the Sandboxie has this beat hands down. Outside of virtualization sanboxie is the safest way to create a sand box environment for most programs. I say most because it does have issues with certain programs.
Altiris SVS is great. I use it and it helps me keep Windows safe from DLL Hell
The company was bought by Symantec i believe.
Thanks for posting it.
You might also be interested in this freeware app aswell. It provides similar functions but allows you to run an installed app in a ’sandbox’ environment keeping all the settings in the sandbox.
http://www.sandboxie.com/
Altiris has its own site (nothing there indicates the company’s been bought), but the program is no longer free.
J.J
The program is still free:
Follow the link (click on the Get SVS button above).
Once the page opens, look for the following text, and click the link:
Free for Personal Use
SVS is free for your personal use! The personal use download contains the SVS Agent and supporting tools to use the product locally on a Windows PC. The license never expires and you may use it on your personal PCs.
SVSDownloads.com Also available here — over forty sample applications pre-virtualized and ready to try!
[...] verdict: as virtualization solutions go (see Altiris SVS and Sandboxie), Returnil is the simplest, most user friendly and intuitively comprehensible. As a [...]
[...] (which shall remain unnamed) errored out and refused to be launched upon installation. I was using Altiris SVS to install it, as I do for most of the programs I try these days, and I thought that maybe that had [...]
i dont know what is up with the svs site but their server is not properly set up i have however found an alternative download link located at download.com that is linked to the freeware personal version of svs here is the link
http://www.download.com/Software-Virtualization-Solution-SVS-/3000-2651_4-10516806.html
What do I do when the program I’m installing requires the computer to restart to complete installation while its being captured by Altaris SVS, I did not find anything mentioned on the documentation provided with the downloaded zip file.
Doesn’t this top 20 get updated?
I prefer to use Sandboxie for software testing, Altiris 2.1 doesn’t work well with software with dedicated drivers - Sandboxie doesn’t have a “blacklist” like SVS -, some software you install doesn’t update correctly, it has known compatibility problems with the latest Comodo 3, in Vista it’s recommended not to use the “start with Windows” feature, and it is NOT a security product. I’m not saying I dislike SVS, but I think Sandboxie is more user friendly and should be the recommended product in this category.