Windows registry, tweaking, utilities
Windows Annoyances
www.annoyances.org
A site by the author of
Windows 95 Annoyances and
Windows 98 Annoyances, remarkable books that are full of useful
information; clear and concise. This site has bug reports, Windows
tips, downloadable patches and small Windows programs.
Windows Guide Network (formerly regedit.com)
www.winguides.com
"Technical resources and support for tweaking, managing and securing
the Windows operating system using the registry, scripting and security."
Windows Guide Network is a very helpful site. Among other things, they
produce a downloadable, compiled help file of registry tweaks and tips.
Sysinternals
www.sysinternals.com
The makers of several one-of-a-kind utilities that can be very useful.
Examples: Regmon monitors the registry and displays everything that happens
in real time. Filemon monitors all file activity. TDIMon monitors TCO traffic. Etc.
Shell Extension City
shellcity.net
Shell Extension City - a vast links site for things like registry
utilities, general utilities and some rather exotic things like whole
new interfaces for Windows.
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Software Installer Unpackers
The information and links in this section are for people who
want to be able to unpack a software installer and look inside before they run it.
Many people like to know what is going to be installed when they
install new software. At one time most software came with a "readme" file that
explained the various files in a software installation, but "readme" files have become
rare and many companies are surprisingly mysterious about what is inside their
software installer. Some may be hiding spyware. Some may not want you to know
that their program is actually no more than a compilation of other companies' components.
Many may just assume that no one is interested in the details just so long as
the software works.
In order to unpack an installer you have to know what kind of installer it is.
In some cases one type of installer will be packaged inside another. For example,
an MSI file is sometimes packaged inside an EXE file. In that case the secondary
installer file, the real installer, is typically unpacked to the Windows\TEMP folder and must be fished out from there.
If the installer type is not known, try checking the file properties
or opening the file in a hex editor. In the case of commercial installers, such as
InstallShield, Wise, or Inno Setup, the name of the company can usually be found
somewhere in the file.
Self-executing ZIP or CAB files
Some software is packaged as a simple SFX, a self-executing
compressed file with an EXE file extension. All JSWare software is packaged that way. If you just rename
the EXE installer to make it a ZIP file you can open the ZIP. Some software
is also packaged as a self-executing CAB file. Microsoft updates often come that
way. In fact, Microsoft updates are often packaged as 2 or more SFX files
inside of each other. A self-executing CAB file cannot just be renamed in order to open it.
See the
exe2cab note on the
Best Of page for
information about that.
MSI Installers - unpacking
MSI installers come either as an MSI file or as an EXE that contains
an MSI file. In the latter case it can be identified by opening the Windows\TEMP folder
while running the installer, to see what shows up. If an MSI file appears in the
TEMP folder then that's probably the real installer.
For MSI files see the
MSI Unpacker Utility
on the MSI Utilities page. That can fully unpack and document MSI installers, even telling
you what the installer will add to the Registry.
Inno Setup - unpacking
Inno Setup is a popular installer with small software
companies. The word "Inno" will usually be found somewhere near the
beginning of the file and a plain, generic image of a computer, like the one shown
here, shows in the opening window.
Inno Setup installers can be unpacked with
Inno Unpacker,
found here:
http://innounp.sourceforge.net/.
Inno Unpacker is a very simple command-line executable that will extract all files to the folder where the
installer is. There are directions that come with the download. In addition to the basic unpacker, there is
also now
Inno Setup Unpacker Explorer which provides a GUI window to make things easier.
InstallShield - unpacking
An InstallShield installer will generally say so in the file properties
when the file is right clicked. For InstallShield installers use
WinPack for InstallShield,
available here:
snoopy81.ifrance.com.
WinPack is a small GUI program. InstallShield is updated often. You may need the very latest
version of WinPack to unpack recently downloaded installer files.
Wise - unpacking
A Wise installer may have "WISE" appearing in the first section
of the file when viewed in a hex editor. (Look in the PE Section Table.) There are
a number of programs available for unpacking Wise installers. One possibility
is here:
http://www-user.TU-Cottbus.DE/~kannegv.
As with the InstallShield unpacker, Wise unpackers may go out of date quickly as new Wise
installer versions are used.
Universal Extractor
Universal Extractor
is an open source project based on a very sensible idea:
It pulls together all the tedious, command-line extraction utilities for various installers
into one package and provides an easy interface for them. You just point it to an
installer file and it will attempt to identify and unpack that file. It will also write a log that
can be useful if the unpacking fails.
Two notes to be aware of:
1) Universal Extractor is
described as a "work in progress". The MSI unpacking doesn't seem to work at all. Some
other options may also not work. This program is really just an interface for a group of other
utilities.
2) A program like this will need to be updated regularly. Companies that make
installer software often break compatibility, so utilities that unpack their install files
often have to be updated when a new installer version is released. Nevertheless, it is
much easier to check for new versions of Universal Extractor than it is to go around
tracking down new versions of all the utilities that it contains.
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Software Installers - Problems
This section has been added to help with what seems to be an increasing
problem:
Half-baked software installers with nonsensical limitations.
A surprising number of software installers, even some from large, well known companies,
can create problems. That's especially true for people using older versions of Windows
that some companies are no longer supporting.
Many software installers have minor problems. There's the Firefox installer that won't
let you do without 3 shortcuts, regardless of which checkboxes you uncheck.
There's the Hewlett Packard printer drivers package that won't let you choose not to install
a large pile of questionable graphics software that you probably don't need. (In fact,
many installers for large software packages neglect to provide partial install options at all, or ignore
the options that you select.) And there is the increasingly common problem of software
installers that want to install "registration" and "live update" software, which is usually just euphemisms for
corporate spyware.
A list of specific solutions is being started here, in hopes that it may be of
help to some people.
Internet Explorer - Frivolous Version Requirements
An increasing number of software installers have minimum requirements
for the installed version of Internet Explorer. In most cases these programs don't even
directly use Internet Explorer. And most people would not want to run the risk of
destabilizing their system with an Internet Explorer update just to satisfy a badly-designed
software installer. Perhaps Microsoft is behind this problem. Microsoft has, after all, been
increasingly aggressive about trying to push people into buying newer versions of
their software. And cooking up compatibility problems is a good way to
make people think their software is out of date. Or the problem may simply be a case of incompetence on the part of software companies.
Whatever the case, the following information may be helpful if you are trying to install software
that complains about your version of IE. When an installer checks for existing versions
of Internet Explorer there are at least two ways it can do that, which are explained here.
1) Registry settings: Hewlett Packard printer software presents a case of a
badly designed installer that requires specific Internet Explorer versions for no reason
and refuses to install drivers if the "wrong" IE version is listed in the Registry! If you have this problem
open Regedit to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer
Check the
Version value listed there. If you are dealing with a problem software
installer this might be the easiest thing to try first. Just change the
Version value
to something your installer finds more palatable: 5.5, 6, 7, ....18 ....whatever.
2) File checks: The Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 installer, a notably faulty piece of work,
provides a good example of installation file checks. Despite the fact that Acrobat Reader 7 only runs on
Windows XP (which has Internet Explorer 6), the installer requires at least v. 5.01 of Internet
Explorer. (If you don't know about the v. 7 limitations and try to install Acrobat Reader 7 on Windows 98, you'll
first be told to update Internet Explorer. Then once you've done
that you'll be informed that...woops...this version of Acrobat Reader doesn't work on your system
anyway.)
Acrobat Reader 7 is one of an increasing number of programs that installs
via an MSI database file. The installer MSI file can be opened in an MSI editor.
(
See the MSI code page.)
Doing so reveals that the Acrobat Reader installer is checking the version of SHDOCVW.DLL
(Internet Explorer). SHDOCVW.DLL is a system file that is best not to fiddle with because
it's only one of several files that are updated together when IE is updated. However, it may
be possible to alter the "required" version of IE - or other programs - in an MSI installer database, rather than changing
the file itself. In the case of Acrobat Reader 7, the
IE version requirement can be changed by changing the SHDOCVW.DLL value
in the MSI file's
Signature table, which stores specific information about file versions
involved with an installation.
If you have an MSI installer file causing problems, and the solution is not
found in the
Signature table, check the
AppSearch,
LaunchCondition
and
Condition tables for signs of unnecessary limitations that may have been
built into the install.
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Drivers, Patches, Utilities, Info.
Axcel216's Max Speeed Windows
Axcel216's Max Speeed Windows
A VERY extensive listing of Windows information - tweaks, tips, links to the latest updates,
patches and drivers, links to all sorts of utilities for Windows.....
Drivers:
There used to be a number of websites that listed numerous hardware drivers
for all Windows versions. Now, most of those sites have closed. To confuse matters, Microsoft
has instituted their "End of Life" schedule - a strategy to disable older versions of Windows
by refusing to support them. Many hardware and software companies are cooperating with
Microsoft's deplorable version of customer service. As a result, it may be difficult to find
drivers for some hardware if you are using Win95, Win98 or NT4.
If you have drivers for your hardware it is a good idea to make backup
copies for future use. If you need drivers, the first thing to try is a search for the exact
model name of your hardware. You can also go to the manufacturer's website and look
for the support or downloads link.
If you don't know how to find the company website for your hardware, these
two sites provide links:
HelpDrivers.com
SimplyTheBest.net
If the manufacturer's website does not have the drivers you need, you may
still be able to get them from a driver listing site. The following two sites are free but require
that you sign up as a member before you can download drivers:
DriverFiles.net
DriverGuide.com
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Hardware, tech., etc.
Tweak It
Hardware Central
Motherboard World
Pc Mechanic
Anand-tech
X86.ORG
Ars Technica
Maximum PC
Tom's Hardware
Sysopt - hdwr. reviews
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