Tracking Installation Changes
Last Updated: 24 Mar 2004
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*** PLEASE NOTE: Link(s), If Provided, May Be Wrapped ***
If you really want to know what applications add/change on
your system during an installation, you need to make use
of a utility that monitors these types of changes and
writes them to a log.
REGMON[1] and FILEMON[2] from http://www.sysinternals.com
will handle this task, although this is not the best job
for their considerable skills.
The following tools are more appropriate for this mission:
MICROSOFT UTILS
• Installation Monitor ... Resource Kit
• SysDiff ................ Resource Kit
................ http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=165533
FREE UTILS
• InstallRite ............ http://www.epsilonsquared.com/
............ http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Archives/InstallRite25.exe
• InstallWatch ........... http://www.epsilonsquared.com/
........... http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/Archives/InstallWatchPro25.exe
• INCTRL5 ................ http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,001CV2,.html
• INCTRL4 ................ http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,000WRX,.html
• WinInstall LE .......... http://www.wininstall.com/FREELE2003/
COMMERCIAL UTILS
• Ashampoo Uninstaller ... http://www.ashampoo.com/products/
• WinInstall ............. http://www.wininstall.com/products.asp
REMOTE SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
• Emco Network Mgmt ...... http://www.emco.is/
• Microsoft SMS .......... http://www.microsoft.com/smserver/
• netOctopus ............. http://www.netopia.com/en-us/software/products/netoctopus/
REGISTRY CLEANING TOOLS
If you install and uninstall lots of apps or utils, you
will find that many applications (particularly the older
ones) do not properly clean themselves out of the
registry. Whether this is because they are under the
misguided belief that you will one day reinstall them,
or because they don't track changes you make after they
have been installed, the fact remains that they will
leave you with a bloated registry.
The registry under XP has undergone some architectural
changes that are meant to address both performance and
stability. You'll notice, for instance, that you no
longer need to establish a maximum registry size as
you did under NT and 2000.
While I am not that fond of using needless "Cleanup"
utils in Windows 2000 and XP, the following tools
can assist you in keeping your registry smaller and
more efficient.
Be advised that if you inadvertently delete the wrong
keys, particularly those in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, you can
cause grave harm to your system. The same goes for
installed all sorts of tools which purport to clean
your registry, while simply adding more services and
correcting problems that are only applicable to the
wonder world of Win9x/ME
• http://www.createwindow.com/wininfo/regclean.htm
• http://www.macecraft.com/regsupreme/
WHITEPAPERS & TECH DOCUMENTS
• http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/help/sag_WinInstall_Using_topnode.htm
• http://www.microsoft.com/msj/0998/windowsinstaller.htm
• http://www.winappslist.com/developer/installation_tools.htm
• http://www.myitforum.com/articles/6/section.asp?w=2&au=pteodorescu
PERSONAL NOTES
• WinInstall LE is the premiere free product in this
class, and will allow you to create MSI installation
files. It can be obtained on the Win2K and Win2003 CDs.
• I *highly* recommend using InstallRite or InstallWatch
on your Windows 9x/NT/2000 systems at all times.
Excellent software. It can be set to automatically
watch for installation attempts...
• In addition to Tracking software, Windows XP allows
you to set Restore Points from which you can recover
from bad application or driver installs.
• Another safeguard in Windows 2000, XP and 2003, is to
create a quick SystemState backup prior to installation.
This will simplify the process of restoring your
registry and critical Windows files in the event that
you choose to undo the installation process.