Windows 10 AppX apps may not inter-operate with AppV 5 apps as expected

Scenario

App-V package of software that used image file formats, copied the files to %TEMP% before using the prevailing FTA to launch the assigned app.  For operational reasons the %TEMP% folder in the App-V package needed to be virtualised.  In this case, on Windows 10, the application for displaying images was the built in AppX app "Photos". 

Fault

In the above scenario "Photos" was unable to display the image in the virtualised %TEMP% folder. It is theorized that the AppX app Photos was unable to "see" inside the App-V bubble as conventional apps can.

Workaround

If the user changed the FTA for the file extension to MSPaint (a conventional windows app) then paint would correctly launch, see the image file in the virtual %TEMP% folder and display it.

What is it Han Solo says.......?

Windows 10 1703 changes the virtual registry staging......

http://blog.fslogix.com/app-v-1703-virtual-registry-and-containers

App-V Office Add-in fails to load. Sorry, we couldn't find.........

In some situations App-V Microsoft Office Add-ins can fail to load and also cause a particular type of error message to be generated.  This effect has been seen with COM add-ins crashing Excel at launch and failing to load in Powerpoint.  If attempts are made to activate the add-in via the COM Add-in manager, then an error can appear similar to:

Microsoft Powerpoint
Sorry, we couldn't find C:\Users\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Powerpoint\.  Is it possible it was moved, renamed or deleted?


If this occurs, evaluate the sequencing method being used and how the normal installation behaves when the Add-in is first launched with Excel or Powerpoint.  With the Mekko Graphics add-in, a license dialog is initialized at first launch.  It is this which appears to result in this type of error.

For the Mekko Graphics sequence the correct approach was to launch Excel and Powerpoint during sequencing.  Then edit the sequence to apply the following modifications:

The following keys MUST be set to Merge
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Excel
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint

The following files must be removed from the sequence
Package\Root\VFS\Common AppData\Knowledge Management\Mekko Graphics\mekko.lic
Package\Root\VFS\Common AppData\Knowledge Management\MekkoGraphics\MGConfig

The merge settings allow the add-in to co-exist with other add-in type packages that may exist in the connection group.  Deleting the license files allows "normal" operation of the add-in.  Repair / Reset works ;-)

App-V 5 App not launching / eventlog error

An App-V application fails to launch.  The following error appears in the App-V event log

Process 22004 failed to start due to Registry Staging subsystem failure. Package ID {187e5d55-af22-459e-bf2f-4ce9d9f7cbf5}. Version ID {cce01d5d-2ff0-4ae7-81bd-ce4ffa3d4936}. Error: 0x7D800D2A-0x3F1

Repair operations will not resolve this.

To fix this problem remove all the packages and connection groups associated with the application which is failing to launch.  Allow the deployment system to re-apply the App-V packages.

App-V 5 App not launching / repair error code 040000002C

If this key, associated with a users SID, is incorrectly formed then App-V apps may not launch for the user and app-v repair commands return an error code 040000002C

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\AppV\Client\Virtualization\LocalVFSSecuredUsers

S-1-5-21-1529150018-825634664-3829716540-1086429
REG_SZ
C:\users\default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\AppV\Client\VFS

This is incorrect they key should have the correct value of:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\AppV\Client\VFS

Changing the data value and rebooting resolves the issue.

The cause of the key change to the incorrect key is unknown at the time of posting.

This fix was derived from the information in this post:

http://www.applepie.se/app-v-5-and-publishing-error-code-040000002c

Windows 10 Physical to Virtual on VirtualBox

Converting a Windows 10 physical build to virtual (P2V) is quite tricky.  Typically without the procedure below boot attempts will end in
FATAL: no bootable medium found! System Halted
or
FATAL: INT18: BOOT FAILURE

It can be done using the following procedure.

Turn off Bitlocker and decyrpt the drive.  I'm not sure this is necessary but it was part of my successful procedure.  I decrypted the drive in an attempt to solve the problems which the video below actually solves.

manage-bde -protectors -disable c: -rebootcount 9   (to turn off the PIN prompt)
manage-bde -off c:       (to decrypt drive)
manage-bde -status c:    (to check status)

Use Disk2VHD to convert the physical machine drive to a VHD file.

Obtain Windows 10 boot / install media to access the repair options.  An ISO image is best.

Create a VM in virtual box.
Connect the VHD to an IDE controller.
Connect the Windows 10 boot / install media ISO to an virtual optical drive.
Set the optical to boot first.

Boot to the Win 10 Install / Repair media and follow the instructions in the video to repair the UEFI partition.

Physical to Virtual P2V With VirtualBox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wVJUimaq2U

Once the partition is repaired shut the machine down.
Set the Hard Drive to be the first boot device and Enable EFI on the system motherboard settings.

BOOT to virtual Windows 10 :)

Install the VirtualBox tools

Sychronize/update the machine account password with the domain.  The physical machine you've virtualised will not logon to the domain after this.

Take the snapshot.

Remember to synchronize/update the machine account password again before age expires.  This is set by GPO but is usually 30 60 or 90 days.  If the VM changes it's password with the domain after the limit is reached, then the older snapshot will no longer logon to the domain.  You may have to start all over again.  Put a reminder in your calendar !

App-V 5.x User Scripts not working

Attempting to use App-V user start process scripts on a stand alone Windows 7 computer with local user accounts results in an error of

The application failed to launch
This may be due to a network failure
Error code: 0x0DF01725-00000534

Annoyingly, on Windows 10 (Anniversary) there is no visible or logged error at all, the app just fails to launch, even though the log acknowledges (4004 event) that the script has been called.

The workaround is to use domain accounts not local accounts.

Thanks to Dan Gough for posting this
http://packageology.com/2014/03/user-scripts-broken-app-v-5-0-sp2-local-accounts