Intel,Altiris Group

I have (had?) Altiris SVS  v2.1.3064 installed and everything was working perfectly fine. I had several applications installed and running, and I could activate/deactivate/reset individual apps at will.

This morning, my system got infected by a Trojan virus (don't remember which) so I deleted all the infected files using AVG Anti-Virus. It required several reboots and things are working now, at least from a virus point of view.

I noticed that the apps I had installed on virtual layers we no longer there. When I opened the SVS Admin console, the layers were listed and were active. But a search for the program files or registry keys showed that the layers were not. I tried to deactivate/reactivate and as per the Admin console, it was working. But the programs were not there.

I did a later reset, and although the console acted like it was working, the apps were still not there.

I deleted the layer, and re-imported the layer from a saved VSA I had as a backup, still nothing.

I uninstalled the SVS Agent, and reinstalled. Rebooted at each step as required. Still no effect. I did notice that all the virtual layers were still listed after the reinstall. (Shouldn't have this been a blank list and I would need to re-import my layers?)

I deactivated all my layers, and tried to create a new layer and install a fresh copy of the software on that layer. During the process, everything looked normal. I even had the spinning SVS icon on my task list by the clock.  But after I stopped the capture, I tried to deactivate the software/layer, but the icon was still on my desktop and the software could run, indicating that the software did not install on a virtual layer but installed just like a non-virtualized software.

When I try to call the SVSCMD agent from a command window, it gives me an error window. Any SVSCMD command causes the error.

No matter what I do, it looks like the SVS agent isn't running at all.

Any ideas as to what can I do to get it running again? How do I do a FULL uninstall? (after a re-install my old layer list is still there so there must be something getting left behind).

There's an article Eric Westhoven did about a year or so ago that covered how to recover SVS from situations like this, try searching for that.

First you have to check if the layer is available.
go to c:\fslrdr and check if there are layers in it identiefied with 1, 2, etc.
if yes, then the layers are still there, and you cann retrieve data from them.
go to svs admin and de-activate all layers.
then doubleclick on the layer you need.
are there files in that layer?

The article Jordan mentioned is one of my article but it shows how to restore a layer after a pc is crashed and you only have accees to the files and register.
Check out the link, you will find enough svs info to get this done, or pm me again.
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/99-articles

Erik,

I did check the C:\fslrdr folder and all the folders are there.... I think. I say that because for whatever reason, "1" is missing. The folder numbering starts at "2" and goes on from there. I didn't notice it before, but as soon as you mentioned it, that fact that it wasn't there stood out.

I was able to retrieve data in the manner that you suggested (by deactivating all layers and double clicking the layer name I was able to get open a console which showed me the layer contents)(THANK YOU!) so my most pressing concern has been solved.

A secondary problem is still there though. How to get my layers working again? I read the article you wrote regarding recovering from a crashed PC. In it, you said to rename the C:\FSLRDR folder, and then reinstall windows. Is there anything I can try before I re-install windows? All my standard installed apps are working, and everything on my system is fine, with the exeption that the applications that are on virtual layers are not there.

In fact, the SWV admin console looks perfectly normal, where I can turn layers on/off, import VSAs, reset the layers, etc.. All the functions are there. Except that the applications don't appear on my system for me to use. When I try to crete a new app layer, even though it acts like it's capturing the install, it actualyl installs just like it was install "normally" (not layered).

It's like my system has lost the abilty to use/create layers!!

HELP!

Thanks soooooo much guys.

-Francisco Castro

The most easy solution is install version 2.1.3066.
In this version a registry problem is fixed.
it will not destroy your layers.
let us know if it helps...

OOPS!! My bad. I forgot to mention that one of the fixes I tried to do was to uninstall SVS and installed Symantec Workspace Virtualization 6.1.4113. The problem persisted after that.

Is there a service or something like a service that's embedded within Windows that virtualization requires? My problem started after I got a Trojan virus and my AVG anti-virus cleaned it out. Everything was working fine after that except for the fact that all my virtualized apps were not appearing, even though the SVS Admin Console lists them as being active. Maybe something the the Trojan infected and got cleaned out that SVS or SWV requires.

No we don't require any services.

We have a driver and 2 libraries.

If you're seeing stuff in SVSadmin that means that there are layer meta data still under HKLM\SOFTWARE\ALTIRIS\FSL\

All those numbers are layers, you should check to see that all those numbers listed under that key are in C:\FSLRDR and if they're not you can delete them.

It looks like I might have to reinstall windows if I want SWV to work. None of those are fixing the issue. Now I'm faced with a tough choice. Reinstall windows and possibly have to reinstall all my other apps that are working fine right now, or just install my virtualized apps as standard apps and nix virtualization for this particular machine.

Tough choice.

It's strange but after a full uninstal of SWV, and a deletion of the C:\FSLRDR folder, I went into the registry and saw that the HKLM\SOFTWARE\FSLRDR keys were still there.  I tried to delete them  but it would not let me. The 1 subkey (and it's subkeys) wouldn't allow me to delete it. I have full admin rights and was able to delete other registry entries, but just not that one.