Newsletter Archives

• WhatChanged Portable — What’s happening under there?

  Posted on April 8, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.15 • 2024-04-08

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  Some (okay, most) programs make a lot of changes to your computer when you install them. You may want to know exactly what was changed or added, either out of curiosity or paranoia. We’re not here to judge.

  Today we are going to take a look at an older (2011) program by Vista Software (no longer around) that has been resurrected by J.W. Hough and the fine folks over at PortableApps.com. The program is called WhatChanged Portable. Basically, WhatChanged Portable takes a snapshot of your files, folders, and Windows Registry at a given moment in time. After that, you can install something, or some things, and then use WhatChanged Portable to take another snapshot and compare the two to see what changed. Pretty simple concept and a very easy program to use. It’s even compatible with Windows XP all the way to Windows 11!

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.15.0, 2024-04-08).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Freeware Spotlight Change Monitoring, Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, files changed, Newsletters, Windows registry

• Registry backups: Yea or nay?

  Posted on March 28, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  Windows has had the ability to separately back up and restore its Registry — the essential internal database of software settings — since Windows 98. But do Registry backups still make sense in the era of Windows 10/11?

  Plus: A subscriber seeks clarification of the difference between a Windows Recovery Disk and the Windows Recovery Environment.

  And: A subscriber asks for help tracking down a long-forgotten family photo that was unexpectedly displayed by the Windows lock screen slideshow!

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.13.0, 2022-03-28).

  LangaList LangaList, Newsletters, Photos, Windows Recovery Environment, Windows registry

• Five tiny tweaks — with Registry files!

  Posted on February 28, 2022 at 02:43 CST by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  Registry (.reg) files are an easy way to do a little Windows hacking.

  I don’t mean hacking as in eating Hot Pockets and breaking into NORAD. I mean hacking as in using technical, and perhaps complex, means to make useful changes to Windows.

  Basically, a .reg file is a backup of a Windows Registry key or value. In Windows, if you run a .reg file by double-clicking it, changes or additions will be made to the Registry to match what is in the .reg file. There are thousands of pre-made .reg files out there on the Internet. They’ve been created by individuals, companies, and even Microsoft itself to change a whole host of Windows’ capabilities.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.09.0 (2022-02-28).

  Freeware Spotlight Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, Newsletters, Windows registry

• A single Registry line enables Windows 11 without TPM 2.0

  Posted on October 18, 2021 at 02:45 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 18.40 • 2021-10-18

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Microsoft has published a new support document revealing a one-line entry anyone can add to the Registry allowing Windows 11 to install on devices that do not have the so-called TPM 2.0 chip installed on the motherboard.

  The Trusted Platform Module, as I explained in the September 6 AskWoody Newsletter, is a small hardware component that generates and stores cryptographic keys, among other things. Until the release of the recent support document, Microsoft had repeatedly stated that the 2.0 version of TPM would be a requirement before Windows 11 would install. In addition, Win11 has CPU and other hardware requirements above those of Win10, as set forth in Microsoft’s Win11 specifications.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.40.0 (2021-10-18).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.40.F (2021-10-18).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft, TPM, Windows 11, Windows registry

• Freeware Spotlight — Windows Registry Recovery

  Posted on October 14, 2019 at 01:00 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  BEST UTILITIES

  By Deanna McElveen

  So your computer died, and you want to build a new one. With the right tools, moving your data to the new machine can be relatively easy.

  But what about your settings and Windows ID? In some settings, retrieving that information can be helpful for both setting up a new system and diagnosing a machine that simply won’t boot. There’s a ton of configuration data stored in the Windows registry. One handy utility for digging deep into the registry on an inactive system drive is MiTeC’s Windows Registry Recovery (WRR).

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.37.0 (2019-10-14).

  Best Utilities AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Data recovery, Hive files, Windows registry