Vista 'bug' with javadb

Question

Hi
This isn't so much a question as a highlighting of a problem caused by Vista when using a java application that stores and retrieves data from the javadb.
I have such an application and discovered that any attempts at overwriting the old javadb database with a new one never succeeded, the old data remained. This was in spite of uninstalling my whole application (including the javadb database) and re-installing.
The solution was to turn off the 'User Account Control' and hey presto, the new database and data was available to the application.
However by simply turning the 'User Account Control' back on then the old data re-appeared !!!
In other words, the system seems to be storing two copies of the database, the original and the new one.
I haven't yet worked out how to remove the old database and keep the 'User Account Control' on.
If anyone else has come across this problem I would appreciate some input.
Regards
GB

Answer 1

Not really a bug but a feature.
Probably because your DB is stored in a UAC protected folder (ex. Program Files) so a non-admin user cannot really modify the contents but UAC provides a virtual view to keep a compatibility with non-UAC compliant application.
[http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709628.aspx]
Windows Vista includes file and registry virtualization technology for applications that are not UAC compliant.
Virtualization ensures that even applications that are not UAC compliant will be compatible with Windows Vista.
When a non-UAC-compliant administrative application attempts to write to a protected directory, such as
Program Files, UAC gives the application its own virtualized view of the resource it is attempting to change,
using a copy-on-write strategy. The virtualized copy is maintained under the user's profile. As a result, a
separate copy of the virtualized file is created for each user that runs the non-compliant application.
So if your DB is stored in
C:\Program Files\<application>\dbVista UAC will create the virtual location
C:\Users\\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\<application>\db The application still use
C:\Program Files\<application>\db but on the disk the data will be written into the virtual folder.
Bye.
RG.