What is VirtualStore?

Hi,

I recently made a couple of changes in one of my applications (Samurize client, very old I know but I looooove it, especially to display RSS feeds on my desktop), and I saved my new configuration as a .ini file, as I always do.

But then, when I opened the folder where I thought the .ini file was saved, I saw it was not there.

So I did a search on the whole system drive and I've been able to locate it on this location: "C:\Users\myUserName\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Samurize\Configs"
Usually the folder used by default is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Samurize\Configs".

So my question is: what is that VirtualFolder thing? I've never seen that before.
Why did my .ini file went into it and not in the usual folder?
Is there a way to remove that folder safely?

Obviously I searched on Google first but didn't find any relevant answer, I just learnt it's a part of virtuallization process if I'm not wrong.

Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts :)

Winver: 21H2 (OS Build 19044.1526)

dalchina said:

Possible simple explanation here:
what is virtual store folder - Windows 10 Forums

Are you perhaps running with UAC off?

Thanks @dalchina

UAC is set to "Notify me only when applications try to make changes to my computer (default)".

Thanks for the link, I better understand what it is now: I ran the app with admin rights, saved a configuration file: this time it's been saved in the correct location :)

Does Windows still use VirtualStore? Can it be deleted?
Nothing has been written to it on my computer in years.
%LocalAppData%\VirtualStore

Stigg said:

Does Windows still use VirtualStore? Can it be deleted?
Nothing has been written to it on my computer in years.
%LocalAppData%\VirtualStore

yeah, i noticed some apps write on there (especially old 32bit apps), like' jpgcrop' and 'DxO Nik Collection'
for deleting im not sure whats side effect, i always use portable version if exist or create a portable version by yap.
if you want to avoid creating that folder the solution is running that apps always as admin (you can check that in compatibility tab in properties) then you can delete VirtualStore folder.
another solution: delete VirtualStore and then create a new empty text document and rename it as VirtualStore and delete the '.txt' from last then press Enter and then select Yes, so you have a unknown file (named as VirtualStore not VirtualStore.txt), also the file must be located in AppData\Local . with this trick windows thinks the folder already is existed and cant create VirtualStore folder. in future if you encounter problem(eg losing saved data form that old app) just delete that unknown file (VirtualStore).

amymor said:

yeah, i noticed some apps write on there (especially old 32bit apps), like' jpgcrop' and 'DxO Nik Collection'
for deleting im not sure whats side effect, i always use portable version if exist or create a portable version by yap.
if you want to avoid creating that folder the solution is running that apps always as admin (you can check that in compatibility tab in properties) then you can delete VirtualStore folder.
another solution: delete VirtualStore and then create a new empty text document and rename it as VirtualStore and delete the '.txt' from last then press Enter and then select Yes, so you have a unknown file (named as VirtualStore not VirtualStore.txt), also the file must be located in AppData\Local . with this trick windows thinks the folder already is existed and cant create VirtualStore folder. in future if you encounter problem(eg losing saved data form that old app) just delete that unknown file (VirtualStore).

Thanks for the info, amymor.

Stigg said:

Thanks for the info, amymor.

glad if i helped you, also found another way to disable creation of that folder, currently i use this method for the jpgcrop, the trick is changing value of "EnableVirtualization" from 1 to 0 in registry ("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"), again idk what the side effect is, so do it at your own risk, i dont recommend it for the average user who downloads nasty things from the internet because virtualization seems to be a layer of security to prevent infection. but i always disable almost all security stuff like Defender, DEP, Specter and Meltdown etc, and in my personal experience my system has not been harmed at all. i also have Kaspersky offline virus removal tool as a backup, it is not installed but i will run it if i think there is a problem. the last run was about 3-4 years ago when my brother accidentally sent a trojan from his flash drive to my system.

and here is my ready made batch script to Enable or Disable it alongside Enable or Dislable UAC. it checks current status of UAC and Virtualization and report back it to user, so you know that they are disabled or enabled. and then ask you to press the following:

• Number 1 => Disable UAC
• Number 2 => Enable UAC
• Number 3 => Disable Virtualization
• Number 4 => Enable Virtualization

Code:

@echo off & cd /d "%~dp0"
fsutil dirty query %systemdrive% >nul && goto:GA || echo pls run it as administrator & pause & exit /b
:GA
:check
echo.
echo  Check current state:
reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" | find "EnableLUA    REG_DWORD    0x1" >nul
if not errorlevel 1 (echo. UAC ---------- Enabled! ) else (echo. UAC ---------- Disabled! )

reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" | find "EnableVirtualization    REG_DWORD    0x1" >nul
if not errorlevel 1 (echo. VirtualStore - Enabled! ) else (echo. VirtualStore - Disabled! )

echo.
echo  Pls Restart after operation 
echo.
echo  1 = Disable UAC: Breaks fullscreen in certain UWP applications(Minecraft) It is also less secure to disable UAC.
echo  2 = Enable UAC 
echo.
echo  3 = Disable Virtualization (Old apps cant save settings in either Windows folder or AppData\Local\VirtualStore)
echo  2 = Enable Virtualization (Old apps save settings in AppData\Local\VirtualStore instead of Windows folder) 
echo.
echo  my choice: 2 and 3 
echo.
choice /C:1234
if %errorlevel%==1 goto UAC_Disable
if %errorlevel%==2 goto UAC_Enable
if %errorlevel%==3 goto VirtualStore_Disable
if %errorlevel%==4 goto VirtualStore_Enable

:UAC_Disable
echo 
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v "EnableLUA" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
echo 
timeout 5
cls
goto :check

:UAC_Enable
echo 
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v "EnableLUA" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
echo 
timeout 5
cls
goto :check


:VirtualStore_Disable
echo 
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v "EnableVirtualization" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
echo 
timeout 5
cls
goto :check

:VirtualStore_Enable
echo 
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v "EnableVirtualization" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
echo 
timeout 5
cls
goto :check