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Testing and Mitigating Issues by Using the Development Tools

  • Article

Updated: October 22, 2009

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Vista

This topic describes a scenario whereby an organization wants to use one or more of the development tools that are included with the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT). These tools include the Internet Explorer® Compatibility Test Tool (IECTT), the Standard User Analyzer (SUA) tool, the Setup Analysis Tool (SAT), and the Compatibility Administrator. Each of these is a standalone tool and can be used alone or in conjunction with the other tools and the Application Compatibility Manager. You are not required to run all of the tools to receive valid data.

Using the Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool

In this section, you will use the Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool (IECTT) to collect, in real time, the potential Web-related issues that might occur due to running Web sites in Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8. After you collect your data, you have the option to upload and view your Web-related information on the Analyze screen of the Application Compatibility Manager.

Important

The IECTT tool requires you to test your Web sites by using Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8.

The IECTT runs on the following operating systems:

  • Windows® 7

  • Windows Vista

  • Windows XP

  • Windows Server 2003

To collect your Web-related compatibility issues by using the IECTT

  1. Close any open browser windows before starting the IECTT.

  2. On the taskbar, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5, point to Developer and Tester Tools, and then click Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool.

  3. Click Enable.

  4. Open an Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8 browser window and go to the Microsoft Worldwide Web site, click Europe from the Web Sites drop-down list, and then click Go.

  5. Go to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Sites Worldwide Web site, click United States from the Web Sites drop-down list, and then click Go.

  6. Go to the Games for Windows Web site.

    IECTT logs the potential issues associated with each of the visited Web sites.

  7. Select the first issue of the issue type Standards Mode, on the Live Data tab.

  8. Review the associated information in the Issue Description area.

  9. Click Filter.

    The Issues Filter dialog box appears.

  10. Clear all of the issue type check boxes, except for Standards Mode, and then click OK.

    The data changes to display only the Microsoft Volume Licensing Sites Worldwide Web site results, because it is the only site with Standards Mode–related issues.

To upload and view your Web-related data in the Application Compatibility Manager

  1. On the File menu of the IECTT, click Upload.

    You will see several status messages stating that various ACT components are finishing.

  2. In the Save As dialog box, browse to your ACT Log Processing share location, for example, C:\ACT_LogFiles, and then click Save.

    After the save completes, the IECTT clears the results.

  3. Click Disable, and then close the IECTT.

  4. On the taskbar, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5, and then click Application Compatibility Manager.

  5. On the Go menu, click Analyze.

    The Analyze screen appears.

  6. In the Quick Reports pane, click Web Sites in the Internet Explorer section.

    The Internet Explorer – Web Site Report screen appears, enabling you to review your compatibility issues.

Using the Standard User Analyzer

In this section, you will use the Standard User Analyzer (SUA) tool to test the Application Compatibility Manager for known user account control (UAC) issues, to apply the recommended fixes, and then to export the fixes to a Microsoft® Windows® Installer file for deployment to all of your organization's computers.

Note

You can also use the SUA Wizard, which is in the same location as the SUA tool. The wizard also evaluates the issues. However, it does not offer any of the detailed analysis of the SUA tool, and you cannot disable virtualization or elevate your privileges.

To collect your User Account Control (UAC)-related issues

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5, point to Developer and Tester Tools, and then click Standard User Analyzer.

  2. In the Target Application box, type C:\Program Files\Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5\Application Compatibility Manager\ACM.exe.

  3. In the Symbols Path box, type srv*c:\symbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols.

    Important

    If an application is known to generate large volumes of data that is stored in virtualized locations, it is important that you select the Disable Virtualization check box, located in the Launch Options area. Additionally, you must also determine whether to select the Launch Elevated check box, which enables the selected application to run as an Administrator or as a Standard User. Depending on your selection, you will locate different types of UAC-related issues. If you clear the Launch Elevated check box, you will see only the issues that relate to running with insufficient rights and privileges and you will most likely be unable to run the application successfully. If you select the Launch Elevated check box, you will see errors that result from the application actually running and generating errors.

  4. Click Launch.

    The Application Compatibility Manager opens.

  5. On the Collect screen, click the By Name option from the Current View area, and then double-click in the By Name area.

    The New Package dialog box appears.

  6. Type Operating_System_Deployment into the Name box and then change the Duration box from Days to Minutes.

  7. On the File menu, click Save and Create Data Collection Package.

    The Save Data Collection Package dialog box appears.

  8. Change the save location to your desktop, and then click Save.

    The data-collection package is saved as a Windows Installer file to your desktop.

  9. Close the Application Compatibility Manager.

    The SUA changes to show the associated UAC errors, which include file errors, registry errors, privilege errors, name space errors, and other object errors.

To review your UAC-related issues in the SUA tool

  1. Click the File tab, and then review the file information, specifically the Work with Virtualization column.

    A value of Yes in this column indicates that any attempt to write to the file is virtualized with the Program Compatibility Assistant in the Windows operating system. Virtualization is an inbox mitigation, which can fix the issue until the application developers update the application.

    Important

    Virtualization might cause unexpected behavior, as it changes the mode setting from a shared setting to a per-user setting. As such, there might be times when an Administrator will not see the virtualized version and will not be able to save his or her mode selection.

  2. On the View menu, click Detailed Information.

  3. Review the information, including the Stack Trace details area.

    Developers can review the Stack Trace information to locate where in their code the bug is located, so that they can fix it.

  4. Click the Registry tab, and then review the registry-related issues.

  5. Click the Privilege tab, and then review the privilege-related issues.

  6. Click the Name Space tab, and then review the name space-related issues.

  7. Click the Other Objects tab, and then review the object-related issues.

To fix your UAC-related issues by using the SUA tool

  1. On the Mitigation menu, click Apply Mitigations.

    The Mitigate AppCompat Issues dialog box appears with the recommended fixes for the issue.

  2. Accept the default values, and then click Apply.

    SUA generates a customized application fix and applies it to your local computer so you can test the fix.

  3. Test the Application Compatibility Manager to verify that the applied fix was successful.

  4. On the Mitigation menu, click Export Mitigations as MSI.

    The Mitigate AppCompat Issues dialog box appears again.

  5. Click Export MSI.

    The Save MSI File dialog box appears.

  6. Change your directory location to your desktop, change the file name to ACM_Fix, and then click Save.

    The Windows Installer file is created and you can use that to apply the changes to all of the computers in your organization.

  7. Close SUA.

Using the Compatibility Administrator to Apply a Global Fix

You must apply the same fix (mitigation) that you tested in SUA to all of the computers in your organization that are running that application. This is done by creating a new, global fix in the Compatibility Administrator, based on your SUA fix.

To create your compatibility fix by using the Compatibility Administrator

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5, and then click Compatibility Administrator.

  2. Select the New Database(n) [Untitled_n] database, and then click Fix.

    The Create new Application Fix Wizard appears.

  3. Type Application Compatibility Manager into the Name of the program to be fixed box, type Microsoft into the Name of the vendor for this program box, type C:\Program Files\Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5\Application Compatibility Manager\ACM.exe into the Program file location box, and then click Next.

    The Create new Application Fix Wizard changes to show the available Compatibility Modes.

  4. Click None from the Operating System Modes options, and then click Next.

    The Create new Application Fix Wizard changes to show the available Compatibility Fixes.

  5. Select the ElevateCreateProcess, ForceAdminAccess, LocalMappedObject, and the VirtualizeHKCRLite compatibility fixes, and then click Next.

    The Create new Application Fix Wizard changes to show the available Matching Information.

  6. Accept the default matching information, and then click Finish.

    The Create new Application Fix Wizard closes.

  7. Click Save on the Compatibility Administrator toolbar.

    The Database Name dialog box appears.

  8. Type ACM_AppFix into the Database Name box, and then click OK.

    The Save Database: "ACM_AppFix" dialog box appears.

  9. Type ACM_AppFix into the File name box, change the directory location to your desktop, and then click Save.

  10. Expand the Installed Databases area in the left-hand pane, right-click the SUA Mitigations database, and then click Uninstall.

    The local application fix, applied using SUA, is removed from this computer.

    Important

    You will see the Installed Databases area, and will have to perform this step, only if you previously applied this fix to your local computer by using SUA.

  11. Right-click the ACM_AppFix database in the Custom Databases area, and then click Install.

    The new application fix is installed and available for installation throughout your organization, by using the Sdbinstall.exe command-line tool.

To deploy a custom database by using the Sdbinstall.exe command-line tool

  1. On the desktop, create a folder named SDBShare.

  2. Right-click the SDBShare folder, and then click Properties.

    The SDBShare Properties dialog box appears.

  3. Click the Sharing tab, and then click Advanced Sharing.

    The Advanced Sharing dialog box appears.

  4. Select the Share this folder check box, keeping the associated default values, and then click OK.

  5. Click Close.

    You have now created a shared folder from which you can install the customized database.

  6. Move your ACM_AppFix.sdb file, also located on your desktop, into the SDBShare folder.

    Your customized database is now ready for installation on your remote computers.

  7. Open a Command Prompt window, and then type net config workstation.

    Your computer name appears.

  8. Open a text editor, such as Notepad, and then type the following:

    sdbinst "\\<your_computer_name>\SDBShare\ACM_AppFix.sdb" -q

  9. On the File menu, click Save As.

  10. Change the directory location to your desktop, type SDBInstScript.cmd in to the File name box, and then click Save.

  11. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator.

  12. Click Continue.

    The Command Prompt window appears.

  13. Change directories to your desktop, and then type sdbinstscript.cmd to run your deployment script.

    The customized database is installed.

Using the Standalone Setup Analysis Tool (SAT)

In this section you will use the Setup Analysis Tool (SAT) to automatically run your application installation files and to monitor the actions taken by each application’s installer. There are two versions of the SAT, a standalone version and a virtual version. For the purposes of this walkthrough, we will use the standalone version.

Note

The Virtual SAT runs in a virtual environment, with the SAT Host running on the virtual host machine and the SAT Guest running on each of your virtual machines. This version is recommended for automatically monitoring a list of application setups using Microsoft Virtual Server–based virtual machines. For more information, see Using the Setup Analysis Tool in a Virtual Environment.

The standalone SAT components and driver run on the following operating systems.

  • Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

  • Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

  • Windows 2000 Update Rollup 1 (RU1) for Service Pack 4 (SP4)

To install and use the standalone SAT

  1. Open a Command Prompt window, change directories to the \ %Program Files% \Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5\Setup Analysis Tool directory, and then type satinstall.exe.

    The Setup Analysis Tool Installation Wizard appears.

  2. Click Next.

    The wizard displays the SAT Installation Modes.

  3. Click the Standalone SAT option, and then click Next.

    The wizard displays the SAT Installation Actions.

  4. Click the Install option, and then click Next.

    The SAT collects information from your computer and prepares to start installation.

  5. Click Next to begin the SAT installation process.

    The Setup Analysis Tool appears next to the Setup Analysis Tool Installation Wizard.

  6. Click Next in the Setup Analysis Tool Installation Wizard, and then click Finish to complete the installation.

    The Setup Analysis Tool Installation Wizard closes.

  7. In the Setup Analysis Tool, type c:\setup.exe (where c is your primary system drive) in the Type the setup file location box.

  8. Clear the Shut down the computer after the SAT completes its processes check box, so that your computer does not shut down after the SAT completes its processes.

  9. Select the Prevent setup programs from restarting the computer check box, to prevent the Setup programs from restarting the computer.

  10. Type the location of your ACT Log Processing share, which should be a local folder if you performed a default installation of the ACT.

  11. Click Run.

    The SAT runs your command and begins to profile the specified Setup programs to determine what application installation issues might exist with the Windows operating system.

See Also

Concepts

Phase 3: Testing and Mitigating Your Compatibility Issues
Known Internet Explorer Security Feature Issues
Known Compatibility Fixes, Compatibility Modes, and AppHelp Messages
Using the Standard User Analyzer Wizard
Using the Sdbinst.exe Command-Line Tool
Using the Setup Analysis Tool in a Virtual Environment
Application Compatibility Toolkit Technical Reference
Troubleshooting ACT