I’m designing an application where each "user" (this term is somewhat
loosely interpreted) will have a different set of registry entries (*) that must
be active. So, the logical thing to do is to setup a registry file (.REG)
for each user and, as part of the startup, have the application load the
indicated registry file (via "regedit /s file").
Seems straightforward, but I’ve been told by some of the PC guys that it is
a bad idea to be frequently (constantly) changing the registry – that, like
all things Microsoft, it doesn’t re-write clean, and that it is the on-disk
equivalent of a memory leak. Is this true? Is it a bad idea to do it this
way? Will it lead to the files (USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT) growing over time?
(*) To clarify, I mean that each user has different values for the same set
of (a very small number – like 3 or 4) keys. The keys themselves are fixed
and known.
This is the time when it would be better to simply use an INI file. It
is much quicker simpler and safer to keep changing one or several tiny
files and you are not adding extra junk to your registry.
Regards
John Collins
"Kenny McCormack" <gaze…@yin.interaccess.com> wrote in message
news:9208gn$ht5$1@yin.interaccess.com…
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> I’m designing an application where each "user" (this term is somewhat
> loosely interpreted) will have a different set of registry entries (*)
that must
> be active. So, the logical thing to do is to setup a registry file
(.REG)
> for each user and, as part of the startup, have the application load
the
> indicated registry file (via "regedit /s file").
> Seems straightforward, but I’ve been told by some of the PC guys that
it is
> a bad idea to be frequently (constantly) changing the registry – that,
like
> all things Microsoft, it doesn’t re-write clean, and that it is the
on-disk
> equivalent of a memory leak. Is this true? Is it a bad idea to do it
this
> way? Will it lead to the files (USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT) growing over
time?
> (*) To clarify, I mean that each user has different values for the
same set
> of (a very small number – like 3 or 4) keys. The keys themselves are
fixed
> and known.
RE/
>…a bad idea to be frequently (constantly) changing the registry – that, like
>all things Microsoft, it doesn’t re-write clean, and that it is the on-disk
>equivalent of a memory leak. Is this true? Is it a bad idea to do it this
>way? Will it lead to the files (USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT) growing over time?
>(*) To clarify, I mean that each user has different values for the same set
>of (a very small number – like 3 or 4) keys. The keys themselves are fixed
>and known.
I use a .INI file for user settings. Preferable to me for a number of reasons,
not he least of which it doesn’t have to be machine-specific. (i.e. it can live
on the LAN).
We’re going to find out about the advisibility of writing to the registry pretty
soon, however, as we are going over to .PDF for batch printing. The Acrobat
PDFWriter API is essentially registry entries and we print hundreds of reports
in a single batch.
———————–
Pete Cresswell
On Sun, 25 Feb 2001 14:08:50 GMT, "(Pete Cresswell)" <h…@FatBelly.com>
wrote:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> RE/
> >…a bad idea to be frequently (constantly) changing the registry – that, like
> >all things Microsoft, it doesn’t re-write clean, and that it is the on-disk
> >equivalent of a memory leak. Is this true? Is it a bad idea to do it this
> >way? Will it lead to the files (USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT) growing over time?
> >(*) To clarify, I mean that each user has different values for the same set
> >of (a very small number – like 3 or 4) keys. The keys themselves are fixed
> >and known.
> I use a .INI file for user settings. Preferable to me for a number of reasons,
> not he least of which it doesn’t have to be machine-specific. (i.e. it can live
> on the LAN).
> We’re going to find out about the advisibility of writing to the registry pretty
> soon, however, as we are going over to .PDF for batch printing. The Acrobat
> PDFWriter API is essentially registry entries and we print hundreds of reports
> in a single batch.
> ———————–
> Pete Cresswell
In PC-World March 2001 page 196, they say you can use scanreg to
remove unused space from the registry. Type SCANREG /OPT from MS-DOS
mode.
Tom