Raymond.CC Blog

Usually an installation file comes in one setup file. When you run it to install the software on your computer, it actually extracts a lot of files to a default location, normally in Program Files. Some will even drop a few critical driver files in Windows folder. At the same time, it will add some keys in your registry if the software is programmed to read the settings from registry. When you want to uninstall the software, it has an uninstaller to automate the process but if the uninstaller is corrupted, manually deleting the software from Program Files can cause instability to Windows.

There are third party uninstall utility such as Revo Uninstaller but I never use it because I know for a fact that it is not a perfect uninstall utility that works all the time. The best way is to monitor and track the file and registry changes when you want to install the software. There are a few popular registry and file changes monitoring tool such as SysTracer, RegSnap, Tracker, WhatChanged and fileWATCH but they all cost money to buy the license key. I also don’t like to use FileMon, RegMon or Process Monitor because it logs everything and can be confusing. As an alternative, here are 5 free software that can be used to track file and registry changes.


Usually these tracking tools will create an initial snapshot and then compare them with a later snapshot to determine the changes being made by the software/installer.

1. Regshot 2.0.1.61 unicode

Regshot registry and file compare utility that allows you to quickly take a snapshot of your registry/file and then compare it with a second one. This unicode version of Regshot is an improvement of the Regshot v1.8.2. It is slightly faster and have more options. Initially Regshot can only track registry changes but since version 2.0.1.56, the developer has added Fileshot which can also track file changes. Fileshot is disabled by default and you’ll have to enable it Options. Fileshot checks for changes using MD5 or CRC32. After comparing 1st and 2nd shot, it’ll open up a detailed HTML log on what has changed on your browser.
Powerful but not so suitable for computer beginners.

2. InstallWatch Pro v2.5c

A utility that tracks changes made to your system during the installation or removal of software or hardware. Changes tracked include additions, deletions, or modifications to files and directories, INI files, and the Registry. All information is stored in a database so that it can be accessed later to generate reports. Last updated on July 2007.

3. SpyMe Tools v1.5

SpyMe Tools is very useful in detecting Registry and Disk changes. If any application installs spyware, adware, dlls, programs, files, or any other type of file, picture, or program, etc. or changes the Registry’s content, you will be able to see exactly where the modification occurred so you can take measures. Last updated on January 2005.

4. InstallSpy v2

This tool was intended to help you discover spyware. It can track any and all changes to the registry and file system, and also record all shell notification events (e.g. media inserted), when a program is installed, uninstalled, or run. This can warn you of programs trying to install new services, programs that are set to run on reboot, changes to your home page, etc. Last updated on December 2003.

5. SystemSherlock Lite v1.0.0

SystemSherlock Lite is a free command line utility designed to analyse changes made to the registry and file system on your Windows workstation. SystemSherlock Lite saves an image of the registry and all your files and folders. Later on – for example after installing some software – you can analyse in detail what changes have been made to your system. You will find out exactly which registry entries and files that have been created, deleted or modified. Because this tool is in command line, it could be tough to parse big log file and tedious to understand it. Here is a third party log reader that can display logs from SystemSherlock. Other than that, if you’re not comfortable in running command line apps, here is a GUI for it. Last updated on June 2003.

Regshot is my favorite if compared to the other four because it is small, portable, constantly being updated and more advanced. The rest are pretty much no longer in development, so it could be slower and probably don’t even support Vista. As for shareware, Total Uninstall is my favorite uninstaller. It has a Monitored Programs module that helps to monitor any changes made to your system during the installation of a new program. It allows you to perform a complete uninstall without having to rely on the supplied Add/Remove program which can leave files or changes behind. The developer of Total Uninstall strives very hard to make sure that cracks and keygenerators cannot be easily found in file hosting sites. The latest one is cracked by Revenge Crew (total.uninstall.5.2.0.148.full.incl.keygen.and.patch-rev).

Other than using registry and file changes tracker software for uninstallation, it is also possible to remove the trial period of a software in most cases. If you know how to reset Kaspersky trial period, you can see at the image below that Total Uninstall managed to capture the registry location that records if a trial license has been activated or not (Don’t ask me where is it because I can’t tell you here). In fact, this is how I managed to find out on how to activate the 6 months Kaspersky chinese license on English setup.