util to see registry changes?

[dbarton]

Is there a free utility to show all changes a program makes when it installs?

I would like to try programs and have em leave *no* remnants behind..

 

[Aleksandar]

Search google on --- Reg Monitor ------

 

[bsobel]

Save you time www.sysinternals.com

Bill

 

[Smilin]

Regmon is no joke! - it's going to spit out so much data it will be painful to parse.

If you are interested in monitoring the changes you could also try winstallLE that comes on your 2000 CD.
It does a before and after snapshot kind of thing.

If you're running XP you can also use a system restore point to roll back. This will work 100% for your registry but file wise it will only roll back system files, leaving any odd program files alone.

 

[bsobel]

If you're running XP you can also use a system restore point to roll back. This will work 100% for your registry but file wise it will only roll back system files, leaving any odd program files alone.

While SR will leave My Documents alone, it will roll back contents in the Program Files directory and others (not just system files). It's very poorly documented, but I've seen the effect (from using it and having to reinstall some shareware apps that disappered)

Bill

 

[dbarton]

I did try Regmon and it does seem like overkill..

I am only really interested in what the program I have just installed has doen to the registry and it seems like Regmoin is showing all kinds of stuff going on..

Didn't PC Magazine publish a simpler thing?

 

[Psych]

There is a somewhat clunky built-in registry auditing feature in XP, isn't there? If you have XP Pro, you can try this out if you want.

 

[Smilin]

dbarton if you're just interested in making sure the registry is perfectly clean after installing/testing/uninstalling then make a restore point before you begin and then roll back to it when you are done. I guarantee it will be clean.

If you are interested in tracking what's happening you could try SysDiff as well. Search at MS for it.