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KURTS.TXT
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1992-04-28
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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 <DIR> 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