Is there a way to see which registry entried relate to a software instal?

GibsonSt19

Hi all, is there any software which could point out which registry entries are related to a certain piece of software?

Thanks

intel

Start, Run, type regedit, Hkey_Current_User (expand) Software

If no good Gib whys that I mean what are you in need to do.

GibsonSt19

Just want to learn a bit more about how this stuff is flung all over my system when I install something. From what I can see, browing the registry (ooo, the thrill), other entries are also fired out all over the place.

Basically, I'm trying to move one bit of software from my lappy to my desktop (to stay legal and all that), because I can't find my original disk (which is a pain in the rear as I only received it a week or so ago).

albertross_2

There are utils available that track changes as an app is installed.

After the event, you could look for the install.log in the programs' directory,
use regedit as intel suggests (also see hkey_local_machine/software/company/software subtree)
or these 2 utils may help:

http://www.sysinternals.com/Files/Regmon9x.zip

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/regscanner.zip

export the tree's from the source PC to a .reg file, and copy those to the new PC. Then double click to merge the .reg (be careful to only merge stuff relating the the app you are trying to transfer - .reg files are plain text that can be viewed in notepad etc.)

Then run the app on the new PC, and run regmon at the same time. This will trace which registry keys are being searched for, and whether they failed or not.


Or, use regscanner to find all mentions of a word in the registry, e.g. adobe microsoft etc.. on the donor PC.

There may be filetype (e.g. .pdf in the case of Adobe) entries mentioned under hkclasses_root as well.

This can be used to trace missing files (e.g. dll's that get installed in windows\system[32]) in the same way.

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html

John_Gray

There are a number of utilities used by commercial companies to facilitate the rollout of the same software on all their desktops, one such being WinInstall.

It works by

• taking an image of the directory information for all files and folders, and the registry
• you then do the install of the software
• another image is taken of the directory information, etc.
• the "after image" is compared with the "before image", to see what changes the install has made

This enables exact information about all the changes caused by the install, files deleted, files changed, files added, new folders, and the same for the registry entries. An interesting programming exercise -- and not cheap!

John