Determining Application Registry Differences

[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]

You can use SYSDIFF.EXE to determine registry entry differences between an application on a computer with Windows NT 5.0 newly installed and a computer upgraded from Windows 95 or Windows 98. SYSDIFF.EXE is available from the Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Resource Kit. This utility is useful when you are not familiar with the application registry differences between the two versions of your application.

To use SYSDIFF.EXE to determine the registry entries made by an application on a computer using Windows NT:

1. Install Windows NT 5.0 on a computer.
2. Log on to the system under the administrator account.
3. Copy SYSDIFF.EXE and SYSDIFF.INF into a temporary directory.
4. Modify SYSDIFF.INF as necessary.
5. From the Command Prompt, run
   

   sysdiff /snap [/log:<logfile1>] <snap_file>
   

   logfile1 and snap_file are valid file names. The /log parameter is optional. SYSDIFF.EXE will create both files.

6. Install your application.

   Note SYSDIFF.EXE records all system changes. Install your application only.

7. From the Command Prompt, run

   sysdiff /diff [/log:<logfile2>] <snap_file> <diff_file>
   

   logfile2 and diff_file are valid file names. The /log parameter is optional. SYSDIFF.EXE will create both files. snap_file is the file name you specified in the previous call to SYSDIFF.EXE.

8. From the Command Prompt, run

   sysdiff /dump <diff_file> <dump_file>
   

   dump_file is a valid file name. SYSDIFF.EXE will create it. diff_file is the file name you specified in the previous call to SYSDIFF.EXE.

   When SYSDIFF.EXE completes, dump_file is a plain text file containing a list of file, .INI file, and registry changes made to the system by the target application. Now you are ready to get the upgrade registry entries.

To determine registry entry differences between an upgraded computer (from Windows 95 or Windows 98 to Windows NT 5.0) and a computer with Windows NT 5.0 newly installed:

1. Install Windows 95 or Windows 98 on a computer.
2. Install your application.
3. Upgrade the computer using WINNT32.EXE.
4. Log on to the Windows NT 5.0 computer.
5. Run REGEDIT32.EXE or REGEDIT.EXE.
6. Compare the registry values listed in dump_file obtained during the final call to SYSDIFF.EXE and those listed in the registry. The differences are those you need to resolve.

Note This procedure is different because SYSDIFF does not work across platforms.