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Inside the C:\Program Files\WindowsApplications folder there are the .exe files for the Modern Apps on my PC. When I double-click on one of them, a pop-up tells me:
This application can run only in the context of an app container
Is there a way to run a Modern app directly from its .exe file, and not only by its tile?
Thank you in advance!
P.S.: I'm on Windows 10 technical preview.
Teo Zec
Posted 2014-10-27T15:07:25.480
Reputation: 143
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Prior to Windows 8, you could have "standalone" .exe applications. Installation was mainly to create links and references to make it easy for the application to find what it needed and run. If everything the application needed was provided by the application, itself, it could run without installation. The app-container is a security concept introduced with Win 8. Without installation, an application has access to its own folders and little else, including most devices. An application must be designed to work with app-containers in order to be installed. This link has a decent description of the concept and how it works.
Edit: For an installed application, it appears that all of the associations and permissions are attached to the tile, so the .exe cannot be run directly.
fixer1234
Posted 2014-10-27T15:07:25.480
Reputation: 24 254
1You really should quote the relevant part of the website. The blog could disappear tomorrow and what would be left wouldn't be that helpful. – Ramhound – 2014-10-27T15:53:41.197
Hi, thanks for your answer. I don't need to run an app of mine and to create an app-container from it directly in my source code. I wasn't clear in the question, check the edit for more detail – Teo Zec – 2014-10-27T15:59:32.030
@Ramhound - I looked at trying to do that. If you check out the link, it is long and solid, relevant information. I tried to paste the whole thing with attribution but there was too much internal formatting and it would have been a major job to reformat everything. – fixer1234 – 2014-10-27T16:36:05.440
I've understood what is written in the link. However, my question is if it is possible you run a Modern App (inside its application container) directly from its .exe file, and not from its tile – Teo Zec – 2014-10-27T17:30:09.197
1I'm going to guess from your experience that the answer is no. I'm guessing that all of the associations and permissions are attached to the tile. – fixer1234 – 2014-10-27T17:50:55.880
If your not willing to put in the time to make a question excellent then I cannot take the time to upvote it. I am still concerned that if that blog were to go down then this answer wouldn't be helpful. – Ramhound – 2014-10-27T18:22:24.483
@Ramhound - The link is supplementary information in case someone is interested in the inner workings of the app container. It isn't critical to answering the question, so the relevance of the answer wouldn't be affected if the link was to disappear. However, it is somewhat irrelevant at this point. After posting my answer, the OP clarified that the question was actually something different. I would have simply deleted the answer, but someone found it useful so I left it. In general, though, I agree with you and do attempt to summarize links. – fixer1234 – 2014-10-27T18:38:40.207
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I believe that it is possible now, at least in some way. The "Windows Scan" application for example can be turned into a shortcut using "Microsoft.WindowsScan_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" as the target.
lmaxmai
Posted 2014-10-27T15:07:25.480
Reputation: 1
Please read the question again carefully. Your answer does not answer the original question. – DavidPostill – 2016-12-19T11:55:30.350
Hello to you too. That may have been the case, had I not clarified that even though an answer was promised, the presented findings of tinkering with the "Windows Scan" application were supposed to be regarded as a comment and not an answer or an answer to some degree only. – lmaxmai – 2017-01-19T23:31:46.143
It's still not an answer. At best it is a comment. – DavidPostill – 2017-01-19T23:34:48.437
There was no claim about the contribution being an answer, as the second part of the first sentence clearly stresses. While dedication usually should be regarded as commendable, I would think that there must be more valuable things to do than to evoke bickering of a meticulous kind. – lmaxmai – 2017-01-19T23:44:05.877
Should probably be asked on stack overflow. – rrirower – 2014-10-27T15:14:19.150
@rrirower I don't know... It isn't directly related to programming – Teo Zec – 2014-10-27T15:23:02.367
If your asking how to run your own Modern UI programs you are going to have to provide us more details. – Ramhound – 2014-10-27T15:41:06.753
@Ramhound It's not developed by me. Check the edit for details – Teo Zec – 2014-10-27T15:57:35.003
Why don't you just install the application again? – Ramhound – 2014-10-27T16:03:13.740
@Ramhound I'm really sorry: I've discovered that the app is actually installed on my PC. So the question is: why can't I run it from its .exe file? – Teo Zec – 2014-10-27T16:24:19.903
Why can't you run it from the .exe because that's how Windows Store applications are design. If you cannot run the application at all that's something else entirely. – Ramhound – 2014-10-27T18:24:08.670
@OP: Did you try this on all three OS's which you tagged it with? (I assume it works the same on all three of them, but you already captured that with the [modern UI]. – Hennes – 2014-10-28T06:46:14.700
@Hennes Actually, I've tried it only on Windows 10 Technical Preview, but I think it works the same for all the three OS's – Teo Zec – 2014-10-28T15:36:14.823