Apps Needing PVAD

Originally published April 3, 2015 :   Last Updated December 10, 2020

12/10/2020 Update: Added Bloomberg Terminal

5/18/2019 Update: Added Aspect RTA 18.2.

8/7/2018 Updated: Added RStudio.  I suspect this one can be solved other ways as well, but PVAD is an easy way to solve it.

7/27/2017 Update: Added a new app reported in.  Also, I am seriously questioning if 5.1 HF2 had the reported impact on WinZip.  It looks to me that WinZip changed in newer releases so it is more of a question of which WinZip version you use.

4/1/2016 Update:  5.1 HF2 includes an unclear note regarding path lengths. This client-side fix seems to be aimed at least some of the apps in this list. I’ll update as people test and report back.

2/16/2016 Update: At present, it is not clear whether VFS or PVAD should be the default choice for packaging.  Originally with 5.0, it was PVAD. But then due to issues (mostly with connection groups), VFS became the default method of choice. In my practice with 5.1, I am still defaulting to VFS and switch if that is a problem.  Recently Microsoft’s Steve Thomas hinted that maybe PVAD as the default might be better with 5.1.  In any case, it is splitting hairs because most apps work either way.  The list below represents the apps that the community is aware of that have issues with VFS and should be PVADed. I will continue to update here as we learn more.

Since App-V 5.0 SP3, the default situation is that apps are installed into the VFS.  This solves a lot of integration issues, especially involving Configuration Groups, but it is not perfect for every app. The MVPs started a list of apps that we discovered that required PVAD installation to work, and then Microsoft contacted me with a few others that they noticed, and since the original posting I have been getting additional apps sent to me by individuals.  I have not personally verified the need to PVAD each and every one of these, but the list reflects the efforts of may great people.

Email me tim at tmurgent.onmicrosoft.com with any apps you know of for the list.

I am now breaking this list into two lists, broken apps and performance related issues solved by PVADing.

The known apps requiring a PVAD style sequencing to fix launch errors that occur with VFS sequencing:

• WinZip   [Solved with updated WinZip.  Known to work with 21, not 17]

• Adobe Acrobat

• Office 2010

• Avaya CMS Supervisor R17 and R18 (Thanks to Cody Lambert)

• ArcGIS Desktop

• Scenario Replay by NICE CTI Systems  (Thanks to @VirtMadness)

• Axiell CALM (Thanks to Unnamed colleague of Dan Gogh)

• SCCM 2012 Console (Thanks to Dan Gogh aka @packageologist)

• Office 2003 (Thanks: Dan Gogh)

• Smart Draw VP  (Thanks: Unnamed colleague of Dan Gogh)

• Oracle PeopleTools (Thanks: @doc5avage)

• Corel Paintshop Pro X4 (Thanks: Roel Beijnes)

• Oracle Business Intelligence (Thanks: Dan Gogh)

• Simul8 (Thanks: @rtimmsie)

• Slim4 from Omnis Studios (Thanks: @AlexSweserjinen)

• Alcatel(/Lucent) Contact Center Supervisor (Thanks: @AlexSweserjinen)

• Dell – Statistica 12.7 [licensing issue] (Thanks: @koevoetsfjm)

• IBM Cognos  (Thanks @BogdanMitrache)

• Crystal Reports Runtime (Thanks Cody Lambert)

• WorkPace 5.0.3 (Thanks @Roel_Beijnes & Randy von Bannisseht)

• Jasperisoft Studio Pro 6.x (Thanks Baard Hermansen)  [Verified still issue with 5,1 HF3.]

• IBM DB2 11.1  (Thanks Johan Pol – he is posting a recipe on his blog)
• RStudio (Thanks to Chip for sending me this link)
• Aspect 18.2 (Thanks to Chip: see this post https://www.tmurgent.com/AppV/en/appvforum/appvsoftware/128-script-execution-timing) 
• Bloomberg Terminal (App complained about installed location)

The known apps where unacceptable performance can be significantly improved via PVAD sequencing:

• MiKTex 2.9 by www.miktex.org (Thanks Roy Essers)

If you run into other applications needing PVAD, let me know and I’ll update this post.

How to Sequence Using the PVAD:

To sequence using the PVAD, do one of the following:

1. There is a command line argument (-EnablePVADControl) when launching the sequencer which adds back in the PVAD location prompt in the Wizard.
2. There is a registry setting (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\AppV\Sequencer\Compatibility\EnablePVADControl is a DWORD you add and set with the value 1) to bring back the PVAD prompt.
3. Or you can just enter monitoring mode and browse to the root of the OS drive (C:\ by default) and look for a folder that looks like a GUID.  Install to that folder and you get a PVAD install.
4. If you use PowerShell for your install, the utilities module in https://github.com/TimMangan/silent-install has a function called Find_PVAD that will return the PVAD folder created by the sequencer.