Microsoft's SysDiff and other Third Party Registry Utilities

Keywords: registry differences sysdiff snapshot 

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Microsoft's SYSDIFF:

If you wish to set the workstation options at time of install, Microsoft provides a utility (Sysdiff) in the NT 4.0 resource kit (I'm not sure about Windows 95) that allows you to take a "snapshot" of a workstation after its been configured and use that snapshot as the basis for future NT 4.0 installs.

SYSDIFF can apparently do direct comparisons of NT registry files.

You can download SYSDIFF from the Microsoft FTP site:

ftp.bussys.winnt.winnt-public.fixes.usa.nt40\utilities

Grep_Reg from OPALIS:

Grep_Reg recursively searches for a string in the Registry; it's a command-line tool that you can use to search on values and keys. Opalis's Web address is:

http://www.filelibrary.com/Contents/Windows/131/5.html

Somar DumpReg and Somar RegEdit from Somarsoft, Inc.:

Somarsoft, Inc. makes Somar DumpReg and Somar RegEdit, two helpful Registry utilities. Somar DumpReg dumps the Windows NT or Windows 95 Registry, making it easy to find keys and values matching a string. In Windows NT, you can sort dumped entries which can be sorted by reverse order of last modified time, making it easy to see changes made by recently installed software.

Somar RegEdit is a DLL-callable (by 32-bit Visual Basic) utility that can be used to view and modify user Registry profiles. For example, a 10-line VBA for Excel program can change the mail server path in the Registry profiles of all users at once. RegEdit is a great tool for Windows NT system administrators who can program in Basic. Their Web address is:

http://www.somarsoft.com

Registry Search and Replace Utility from Steven J. Hoek Software Development:

The Registry Search and Replace Utility, available from Steven J. Hoek Software Development, is a good alternative to RegEdit's limited search ability. It's shareware and well worth the current $20 registration fee if you're going to be working with the Registry often. Its features include the following:

• Easy-to-use tabbed interface
• New search profiles that let you save, restore, and automatically start search sets
• Integration with the Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 Start Menu -> Find
• Ability to search registries on remote machines
• Ability to search for Registry values in addition to data
• Prompted or specified replacement
• Improved Registry search criteria
• Enhanced performance and thoroughness

The last time we checked, you can find it at the following address:

http://www.iserv.net/~sjhswdev

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Article ID:   W13740

Filename:   SYSDIFF and other Registry Utilities.txt