Registry Monitoring and Redirection Help (vb.net) - vb.net

I'm learning in VB.NET. This is my first language.
I'm trying to build a launcher for an application with uncertain registry write location. I'm working on makeing the application portable. (app is based on low .NET framework for compatibility)
I looked for different methods like forcing registry virtualization or use registry virtualization through an api. (Thinking I can offload the writes if they're consolidated.)
I was also thinking that I could monitor the registry for any writes by a certain PID. I've also looked for an application that did this. Redirected any writes like sandboxie does. But with no luck.
So if I need to add more details tell me and thanks for the help.

You might check out a product like VMWare ThinApp or other Application virtualization tools, which will do this automatically for you with no need to write any code.
Maybe its just me, but this sounds like a very complicated thing you are trying to do in your first program.

Related

Is there a way to control local tool(CATIA/Office) by webbrowser?

Currently I am working on the development of CATIA by C++ and Automation Interface. Everything is based on local environment of every client machine. After updating our program, clients have to deploy it manually after receiving the updated one.
We are considering if there is a way we could put our program on the server, and we assign the authorizations to the specific clients to access it. They still need install CATIA in their local machine, but our customization programs are on the website.
Our program is based on COM component, so this is a priority.
Any feasible idea?
Thanks in advance.
I'm developing programs for Catia too (VB .NET) and there might be a solution to use webbrowser to manage the programs but I'm unable to help with that :)
Instead what I use is selfdeveloped feature which updates the tools exe files on client from network storage or FTP.
Think of it as algorithm which searches certain folders or storage and decides if the program should update itself and lets the user know. Then you run the updater which is not part of the tool (separate program) and he make the changes on the main exe (copy files, config, remove add etc.)
This way you don't have to take care of the deployment and the user only clicks the update. That's it :)

Is a scripting application allowed in the Windows Store?

So I have this bit of a project planned for Windows Store and Android. Basically, a networking multi-tool coupled with a scripting engine to implement protocols and behavior. Ideal uses being things like "my embedded device uses this simplistic network protocol. I'd like to quickly prototype a way to control it from my tablet".
It's my understanding that the Android market should have no problem with this. However, the Windows Store policy includes a vague clause concerning remote code execution
3.9 All app logic must originate from, and reside in, your app package Your app must not attempt to change or extend the packaged content
through any form of dynamic inclusion of code or data that changes how
the application interacts with the Windows Runtime, or behaves with
regard to Store policy. It is not permissible, for example, to
download a remote script and subsequently execute that script in the
local context of your app package.
Of course, the scripting engine will be sandboxed and such and should be "safe"(completely intepreted, no reflection), but does it violate this policy?
If you build in your scripting engine, and only run local scripts, you will be good. However, if you were thinking to have a repository of scripts that could be downloaded and subsequently run, that would be in violation of the policy as we understand it.
Unfortunately I don't think anyone but someone on that team can answer that (or someone with direct experience in that) because of the closeness to the legal language. Have you tried the Windows Store Appl Publishing forum at: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsstore/threads
In the context of scripting engine example given, unless the app modifies the scripting engine after deployment on user's system such that the representation of protocol/behavior (the script artifact's format) is made to change then it'll be policy violation. Its as if you submit Python interpreter, and at some point in time it abruptly moves onto interpreting ecmascript.

VB.NET simple way to prevent .exe from accessing internet

Is there a simple way to do this without having to programme a complete application level firewall or using Windows firewall?
I found this very interesting: Winsock Injector
It disables the use of Windows Sockets (winsock) for selected processes.
Can such an injector be done in VB.NET and does it work for everything?
I tried the injector but it doesnt seem to work for certain applications
Thanks
You could probably use Code Access Security to prevent this. The implementations for each .NET Framework versions vary, but there should be a way similar to this.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/4b7hy971%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
Here is the help doc for the WebBrowserPermission attribute.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.permissions.webbrowserpermission%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
Based on your edits, the above won't work.
You want to block the COMPUTER's access to the internet, not the application you are writing.
The easiest brute force method to block internet access in this case would be to disable the Network Connection itself. For an example how to do this, see this question.

Is there a decent, standalone, cross-platform webserver that will work in concert with Autorun on USB Jump Drives?

I'm trying to find a decent standalone webserver that I can load up on a jump drive.
My wife is a photographer, and I'd like to present the clients with their images on usb. When they plug it in, I'd like a web page to load up, and run some jQuery magic to show them a nice carousel of all there images.
So far, this is all fine since it can all be done client side and doesn't need a server at all.
The problem I'm facing is that I'd like some server-side code to be able to read the images out of the directory so that once the interface is built, I don't need to manually create all of the <img /> tags.
If it was primarily going to be used in a Windows environment, I'd have no problem going with IIS Express, since I'm mainly a .NET MVC developer and this would be perfect for me... However, the fact of the matter is that a large amount of our client base is also OS X users.
I did find this Java one jlHttp, and I also found this thread here on SO, but I don't think I understand enough about either one of them to accomplish what I'm looking for.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
I'm looking for the same thing, and the two best options I've found were Flying Ant cd web server and Stunnix. Of the two, Flying Ant is cheaper, and I've tested it with success on my project.
I found Mongoose very convenient for this exact purpose. It's crossplatform, lightweight and requires minimum configuration. You may be interested in this project that uses Mongoose to display pictures in a folder tree or FTP directory.
How about Node.js
It says it runs on Linux, OS X, and Windows.

What is the easiest way to install a R web application through RApache?

I use windows XP and R for my desktop use. And a shared hosting account (at some company) for my web hosting needs.
I wish to create an R web application and I understand that one such way is by using R with Apache through RApache , but since my current shared hosting plan doesn't allow me to install RApache I am a bit stuck.
So... (and here's my question) what would be the easiest/fastest/cost-effective way to get started?
Buying a more expensive hosting package ?
Hosting the thing myself? (on windows ?!)
switch to some other hosting company that permits the use of RApache?
Any suggestion will be most helpful.
Self-hosting is an option if you insist on using RApache. This might be easier than you think. Here's a link to a blog post i read a month ago before i decided to buy the hardware and server my own files. i just watched this seven minute YouTube video tutorial entitled "R Web Application–'Hello World' using RApache" I believe this was just posted today.
In seven minutes, the author walks through building a "hello world" Site using RApache then walks through a more ambitious example, building a user-input form to collect inputs then deliver them to a particular R function--pretty much a exemplary slice of what i suspect most people would want to use RApache for.
A second option is using a web framework. My recommendation here is Django. Why? It's written in Python so you can access R functionality via the python bindings (RPy2). Second, if you are not an experienced web developer, Django is in many ways, a great framework to begin with because it's truly a "full-stack" solution--it works more or less out of the box. In addition, there is a substantial and growing body of quality step-by-setp tutorials, code snippets, and even packaged django Sites, to learn from.
it seems they provide a VMWare image to get up and running quickly.
I suggest you download VMWare player and try the image. Since RApache isn't available for Windows, this is the most simple way, I guess. I wouldn't use that for hosting, but I would first try whether this stack is actually the right thing for your app. Also, this allows you testing things locally.
Doug,
Should I read your suggestion as saying that a Django app can call the RPy2 functionality without RApache? If so, that sounds like a solution for folks on shared hosting who can't install the RAPache module.