I have been frustrated a number of times by Windows apps that install files into the Windows and Windows\SYSTEM directories, and that modify system files such as AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI. Most products are not polite enough to include documentation on what these changes are, making it difficult for me to identify files that are lying around in my directories, and making it almost impossible to ensure that I can completely delete an application from my system. I have often wished that there was a program that would take a "snapshot" of my system prior to installing a product, them compare the system to the snapshot after the install to show me what had happened. It eventually ocurred to me that the pieces of this "dream program" probably already existed. A few minutes browsing a CompuServe forum, half an hour downloading programs and trying them out, and a few more minutes building some custom batch files, and I had my snapshot/compare system working. Here's what I did. The programs I needed were in the IBMSYS forum, in Library 6: File Utilities. After downloading about a half-dozen likely programs and trying them out, I settled on two of them: 1) DIFF.ZIP - this program can make a reference file containing the contents of a directory, and later compare the file to the actual directory and produce a second file containing the differences. 2) HDIFF.ARC - This program compares two files and produces a third file containing the differences. Once I was familiar with the programs, I set up two batch files. The first, called SNAPSHOT.BAT, makes copies of the critical system files (AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI), and makes reference files of my Windows and Windows\SYSTEM directories. Here it is: echo Creating Snapshot of System Files copy c:\autoexec.bat autobat.s%1 copy c:\config.sys cfgsys.s%1 copy c:\win31\win.ini winini.s%1 copy c:\win31\system.ini sysini.s%1 diff /m-windir.s%1 c:\win31\ diff /m-sysdir.s%1 c:\win31\system\ echo System Snapshot Complete The second batch file, called COMPARE.BAT, compares the files to the reference copies and produces the difference files. Here it is: echo Comparing Current Configuration To System Snapshot hdiff autobat.s%1 c:\autoexec.bat autobat.d%1 hdiff cfgsys.s%1 c:\config.sys cfgsys.d%1 hdiff winini.s%1 c:\win31\win.ini winini.d%1 hdiff sysini.s%1 c:\win31\system.ini sysini.d%1 diff /c-windir.s%1 /d-windir.d%1 c:\win31\ diff /c-sysdir.s%1 /d-sysdir.d%1 c:\win31\system\ echo System Comparison Complete The commands accept a parameter consisting of two digits to identify the version of the snapshot. So if I enter "SNAPSHOT 01", the reference files would have file types of "S01". If I then install a product and enter "COMPARE 01", I would produce difference files with file type "D01". I tried this system out when I installed Carbon Copy for Windows, since I figured that this product would make a few changes to the Windows files. Here are the difference files the system produced: AUTOBAT.D01 (Empty. Carbon Copy didn't change my AUTOEXEC.BAT. Nice program.) CFGSYS.D01 (Also empty. Still a nice program.) WININI.D01 0025- Wallpaper=C:\WIN31\MARBLE.BMP 0025+ Wallpaper=C:\WIN31\TARTAN.BMP 0301- SystemExit=C:\WIN31\DING.WAV,Windows Exit 0302- SystemStart=C:\WIN31\TADA.WAV,Windows Start 0301+ SystemExit=C:\WIN31\TADA.WAV,Windows Exit 0302+ SystemStart=C:\WIN31\SW1USEF.WAV,Windows Start (These changes are all from my wallpaper and sound randomizers. Carbon Copy is still being well-behaved.) SYSINI.D01 0012- mouse.drv=lmouse.drv 0012+ mouse.drv=CCMOUSE.DRV 0017- keyboard.drv=keyboard.drv 0017+ keyboard.drv=CCKBD.DRV 0062- keyboard=*vkd 0062+ keyboard=CCVKD.386 0105+ COM1IRQ=4 0106+ COM1Base=3f8 0107+ COM2IRQ=3 0108+ COM2Base=2f8 0109+ COM3IRQ=4 0110+ COM3Base=3e8 0111+ COM4IRQ=3 0112+ COM4Base=2e8 (Uh-Oh... big changes here. Carbon Copy has "stolen" a few of the Windows drivers, and added some additional statements for COM ports.) WINDIR.D01 WIN .INI 6786 04-23-1992 8:41:50 Size Time ANTSW .INI 3225 04-23-1992 8:41:44 Time MICROMAN.PRF 435 04-23-1992 8:42:18 Time APPLICAT.QAG 4737 04-23-1992 8:42:16 Time NORTONDE.QAG 3117 04-23-1992 8:42:16 Time DONTWORK.QAG 222 04-23-1992 8:42:16 Time DEVELOP .QAG 597 04-23-1992 8:42:16 Time ONLINE .QAG 846 04-23-1992 8:42:18 Time STARTUP .QAG 86 04-23-1992 8:42:18 Time ACCESSO0.QAG 1300 04-23-1992 8:42:18 Time MAIN0 .QAG 1130 04-23-1992 8:42:18 Time TEMP 04-23-1992 8:34:32 Added CCW .INI 506 04-23-1992 8:40:26 Added CCWOLDAP.MOD 3472 11-15-1991 1:00:00 Added WKEYBOAR.DLL 7568 03-10-1992 3:10:00 Added WMOUSE .DLL 11984 09-11-1991 10:27:22 Added SYSTEM .INI 2903 04-23-1992 8:39:40 Size Date Time SYSTEM .CCW 2800 04-21-1992 7:56:00 Added (Looks like Carbon Copy has added a few files. It also looks like it has decided that I really need a TEMP subdirectory in my Windows directory!) SYSDIR.D01 HOSTRC .DLL 13408 11-15-1991 1:00:00 Added CCMOUSE .DRV 2720 11-15-1991 1:00:00 Added CCKBD .DRV 2496 11-15-1991 1:00:00 Added CCVKD .386 12758 11-15-1991 1:00:00 Added (Carbon Copy has placed some files in my Windows\SYSTEM directory as well) The Carbon Copy for Windows documentation actually does provide some specific information about the changes its SETUP program makes to the SYSTEM.INI file. Very few products are this considerate. However, with some off-the-shelf software and a couple of batch files, you can be more confident of the changes that any product makes to your system. These batch files can also easily be modified to check the changes made to other directories, say when installing a new version of a product (did it leave all my configuration files alone?). Check these programs out, and if you find them useful don't forget to register your Shareware products! Kurt Schumacher