Registry questions

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Hi;
I just added an extra HD to my WinMe machine, partitioned it as 3 drives
(D, E, F) and installed XP as a dual boot system on D. Now it's time to
start installing my applications. I want to take a snapshot of the registry
before and after each install and then run FC (File Compare) on the
snapshots and keep a running list of what keys were added/altered by each
program (I've found that alot of apps like NAV and Adobe Reader leave junk
all over the place when uninstalled/upgraded).
The question is "Where did the registry go?". I had assumed that XP would
have its' own registry in D:\Windows but can't find a USER.DAT or SYSTEM.DAT
anywhere on the D drive. Is NTUSER.DAT the equivalent of USER.DAT? If yes,
then what's the equivalent of SYSTEM.DAT? I've searched the D drive for
files containing HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with no luck. Is XP
relying on the files back in the WinMe partition and if so, am I forever
stuck with keeping WinMe in order to keep those files?
Any help/enlightment would be greatly appreciated.

--
George J. Wallace

 

[Jerry]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

There is software that will monitor registry changes and prepare a list for
you of changes made as you add programs.
Do a Google search.

"George J. Wallace" <georgejwallace@msn.com> wrote in message
news:%23tkWgiHnEHA.3868@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Hi;
> I just added an extra HD to my WinMe machine, partitioned it as 3 drives
> (D, E, F) and installed XP as a dual boot system on D. Now it's time to
> start installing my applications. I want to take a snapshot of the
> registry
> before and after each install and then run FC (File Compare) on the
> snapshots and keep a running list of what keys were added/altered by each
> program (I've found that alot of apps like NAV and Adobe Reader leave junk
> all over the place when uninstalled/upgraded).
> The question is "Where did the registry go?". I had assumed that XP
> would
> have its' own registry in D:\Windows but can't find a USER.DAT or
> SYSTEM.DAT
> anywhere on the D drive. Is NTUSER.DAT the equivalent of USER.DAT? If
> yes,
> then what's the equivalent of SYSTEM.DAT? I've searched the D drive for
> files containing HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with no luck. Is XP
> relying on the files back in the WinMe partition and if so, am I forever
> stuck with keeping WinMe in order to keep those files?
> Any help/enlightment would be greatly appreciated.
>
> --
> George J. Wallace
>
>

 

[Scott]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Jerry,

I've always had good success with Remove-It software on my Win95
and Win98 machines, but I couldn't find anything comparable for
Win XP. Instead, I've found that the Add/Remove Programs feature
in Control Panel does a pretty good job. Am I right to rely on this
method...or can anyone recommend a better way?

Thanks!
Scott

Jerry wrote:

> There is software that will monitor registry changes and prepare a list for
> you of changes made as you add programs.
> Do a Google search.
>
> "George J. Wallace" <georgejwallace@msn.com> wrote in message
> news:%23tkWgiHnEHA.3868@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> > Hi;
> > I just added an extra HD to my WinMe machine, partitioned it as 3 drives
> > (D, E, F) and installed XP as a dual boot system on D. Now it's time to
> > start installing my applications. I want to take a snapshot of the
> > registry
> > before and after each install and then run FC (File Compare) on the
> > snapshots and keep a running list of what keys were added/altered by each
> > program (I've found that alot of apps like NAV and Adobe Reader leave junk
> > all over the place when uninstalled/upgraded).
> > The question is "Where did the registry go?". I had assumed that XP
> > would
> > have its' own registry in D:\Windows but can't find a USER.DAT or
> > SYSTEM.DAT
> > anywhere on the D drive. Is NTUSER.DAT the equivalent of USER.DAT? If
> > yes,
> > then what's the equivalent of SYSTEM.DAT? I've searched the D drive for
> > files containing HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with no luck. Is XP
> > relying on the files back in the WinMe partition and if so, am I forever
> > stuck with keeping WinMe in order to keep those files?
> > Any help/enlightment would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > --
> > George J. Wallace
> >
> >

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Thanks Jerry, I dl'ed RegMon last night and it looks like it might do what
I want. That still doesn't answer my questions, though. Where does the XP
registry live and will I have to keep WinMe around just to keep the UER.DAT
and SYSTEM.DAT files?
Thanks again for any help you can give.
"Jerry" <NoSpamChiefZeke@MSN.com> wrote in message
news:uc5mTqHnEHA.952@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> There is software that will monitor registry changes and prepare a list
for
> you of changes made as you add programs.
> Do a Google search.
>
> "George J. Wallace" <georgejwallace@msn.com> wrote in message
> news:%23tkWgiHnEHA.3868@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> > Hi;
> > I just added an extra HD to my WinMe machine, partitioned it as 3
drives
> > (D, E, F) and installed XP as a dual boot system on D. Now it's time to
> > start installing my applications. I want to take a snapshot of the
> > registry
> > before and after each install and then run FC (File Compare) on the
> > snapshots and keep a running list of what keys were added/altered by
each
> > program (I've found that alot of apps like NAV and Adobe Reader leave
junk
> > all over the place when uninstalled/upgraded).
> > The question is "Where did the registry go?". I had assumed that XP
> > would
> > have its' own registry in D:\Windows but can't find a USER.DAT or
> > SYSTEM.DAT
> > anywhere on the D drive. Is NTUSER.DAT the equivalent of USER.DAT? If
> > yes,
> > then what's the equivalent of SYSTEM.DAT? I've searched the D drive for
> > files containing HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with no luck. Is XP
> > relying on the files back in the WinMe partition and if so, am I forever
> > stuck with keeping WinMe in order to keep those files?
> > Any help/enlightment would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > --
> > George J. Wallace
> >
> >
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

NT OS's are not like 9x OS's, therefore the registry is made up as follows:
Each user has their own, user part of the registry is located:

%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\<user_profile_name>\NTUSER.DAT

The system part of the registry is located:
%SystemRoot%\System32\config as files:
system
software
security
SAM

Also, as others have stated, Symantec and a few others make software to
track registry changes, but what I do is use a freeware package call "ERUNT"
to backup and if needed restore the registry (provide the Ghost copy from my
weekly backup is not sufficient). Their webpage is:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/
--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your service

*************************************************

"George J. Wallace" <georgejwallace@msn.com> wrote in message
news:uTVLuWUnEHA.4080@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Thanks Jerry, I dl'ed RegMon last night and it looks like it might do
> what
> I want. That still doesn't answer my questions, though. Where does the
> XP
> registry live and will I have to keep WinMe around just to keep the
> UER.DAT
> and SYSTEM.DAT files?
> Thanks again for any help you can give.
> "Jerry" <NoSpamChiefZeke@MSN.com> wrote in message
> news:uc5mTqHnEHA.952@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>> There is software that will monitor registry changes and prepare a list
> for
>> you of changes made as you add programs.
>> Do a Google search.
>>
>> "George J. Wallace" <georgejwallace@msn.com> wrote in message
>> news:%23tkWgiHnEHA.3868@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>> > Hi;
>> > I just added an extra HD to my WinMe machine, partitioned it as 3
> drives
>> > (D, E, F) and installed XP as a dual boot system on D. Now it's time
>> > to
>> > start installing my applications. I want to take a snapshot of the
>> > registry
>> > before and after each install and then run FC (File Compare) on the
>> > snapshots and keep a running list of what keys were added/altered by
> each
>> > program (I've found that alot of apps like NAV and Adobe Reader leave
> junk
>> > all over the place when uninstalled/upgraded).
>> > The question is "Where did the registry go?". I had assumed that XP
>> > would
>> > have its' own registry in D:\Windows but can't find a USER.DAT or
>> > SYSTEM.DAT
>> > anywhere on the D drive. Is NTUSER.DAT the equivalent of USER.DAT? If
>> > yes,
>> > then what's the equivalent of SYSTEM.DAT? I've searched the D drive
>> > for
>> > files containing HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with no luck. Is XP
>> > relying on the files back in the WinMe partition and if so, am I
>> > forever
>> > stuck with keeping WinMe in order to keep those files?
>> > Any help/enlightment would be greatly appreciated.
>> >
>> > --
>> > George J. Wallace
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

I want to thank all of you very much for taking the time to answer my
questions! I'd been holding off installing anything until I was sure I
could keep track of what was being added to the registry. Thank you for the
enlightenment.

"George J. Wallace" <georgejwallace@msn.com> wrote in message
news:%23tkWgiHnEHA.3868@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Hi;
> I just added an extra HD to my WinMe machine, partitioned it as 3 drives
> (D, E, F) and installed XP as a dual boot system on D. Now it's time to
> start installing my applications. I want to take a snapshot of the
registry
> before and after each install and then run FC (File Compare) on the
> snapshots and keep a running list of what keys were added/altered by each
> program (I've found that alot of apps like NAV and Adobe Reader leave junk
> all over the place when uninstalled/upgraded).
> The question is "Where did the registry go?". I had assumed that XP
would
> have its' own registry in D:\Windows but can't find a USER.DAT or
SYSTEM.DAT
> anywhere on the D drive. Is NTUSER.DAT the equivalent of USER.DAT? If
yes,
> then what's the equivalent of SYSTEM.DAT? I've searched the D drive for
> files containing HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with no luck. Is XP
> relying on the files back in the WinMe partition and if so, am I forever
> stuck with keeping WinMe in order to keep those files?
> Any help/enlightment would be greatly appreciated.
>
> --
> George J. Wallace
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 01:38:54 -0400, "George J. Wallace"
<georgejwallace@msn.com> wrote in microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers:

>Hi;
> I just added an extra HD to my WinMe machine, partitioned it as 3 drives
>(D, E, F) and installed XP as a dual boot system on D. Now it's time to
>start installing my applications. I want to take a snapshot of the registry
>before and after each install and then run FC (File Compare) on the
>snapshots and keep a running list of what keys were added/altered by each
>program (I've found that alot of apps like NAV and Adobe Reader leave junk
>all over the place when uninstalled/upgraded).

> The question is "Where did the registry go?". I had assumed that XP would
>have its' own registry in D:\Windows but can't find a USER.DAT or SYSTEM.DAT
>anywhere on the D drive. Is NTUSER.DAT the equivalent of USER.DAT? If yes,
>then what's the equivalent of SYSTEM.DAT? I've searched the D drive for
>files containing HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with no luck. Is XP
>relying on the files back in the WinMe partition and if so, am I forever
>stuck with keeping WinMe in order to keep those files?
> Any help/enlightment would be greatly appreciated.

As you suspect, the users' registry hives are stored in
%HOMEDRIVE%\%HOMEPATH%\NTUSER.DAT. The system hives are in
%SystemRoot%\system32\config. I believe they are SYSTEM, SOFTWARE,
SECURITY, and SAM. You don't want to mess with them. Use REGEDIT
or other registry editing tools.

HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are registry keys, not file names.

The XP installation doesn't know anything about the ME registry - they
are incompatible; otherwise you wouldn't have to re-install your
applications.

--
Michael Bednarek http://mbednarek.com/ "POST NO BILLS"