RegmagiK
is a shareware
utility competing for favour with Microsoft's Regedit in editing the
Windows registry. Most users like to stay away from this area because
of the potential damage that can be done by irresponsible editing. So,
in comparing the two utilities, we will briefly consider some of the
functions of the Registry, to hopefully lessen your trepidation.
The Registry contains a set of five hives for XP, or six for Win98/ME,
which are like folders and contain keys. These keys can contain
additional keys that are spread along a path like deeply embedded
filenames.
The five XP keys are:
* HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT File associations for file
types
* HKEY_CURRENT_USER Configuration information
for the current user account
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Configuration information
about the computer, for all users
* HKEY_USERS Configuration information for all
user accounts
* HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG Hardware profile
information for the hardware profile that your computer uses at startup
HKEY_DYN_DATA, found in Win98/ME, is not currently supported in
RegmagiK because there was no demand.
Registry Editor, or regedit.exe comes preinstalled by Windows setup. To run it, select Start> Run>, type regedit, and press ENTER.RegmagiK comes in a small setup package with uninstall support. In as little as two clicks the setup will copy the necessary files to your hard drive, create shortcuts on the desktop and Start menu and start RegmagiK. After initial setup RegmagiK can be started using shortcuts or Start> Run> regmagik. Users who prefer no-setup option can simply copy regmagik.exe into the Windows folder for Start> Run to work. RegmagiK has the unique ability to create shortcuts to a specific registry key or value by drag-and-drop from within RegmagiK to an Explorer folder or the desktop, or by using the File> Create Shortcut menu. It can subsequently be started by double-clicking on this shortcut.<> Each of these utilities has a two-part window like Windows Explorer. The left pane of the window contains the keys, and the right pane contains the Name, Type and Data of each of the selected keys. This is where the first differences appear. Regedit has only a menu bar, and unimaginative yellow manila folders in the left pane, whereas RegmagiK has a useful toolbar, an address bar with autocomplete, and context sensitive icons for the main keys. The toolbar and address bar can be hidden if not required.
Frequently used keys can be saved as Bookmarks in RegmagiK or Favorites in Regedit. Regedit does not allow sub-folders in Favorites, whereas RegmagiK users can organize their favorites in folders much like in Internet Explorer, and can include existing Regedit Favorites as a separate folder. <> RegmagiK has a significantly faster search time, and has a bottom search-results pane that displays all the found items with their names and locations. Clicking on the location immediately jumps to the relevant registry entry. Regedit will only find one item at a time and shows that registry entry, until laboriously searching for the next item when ordered.
The right pane for Regedit contains columns for the Name; Type (String Value, Multiple-String Value, Expandable String Value, Binary Value, or DWORD); and Data Value; and displays entries even for empty keys. RegmagiK, on the other hand, represents the Type by different icons, and displays no entry at all for empty keys. A much cleaner presentation.
The Type of key, Name and Data Value can all be changed in RegmagiK. They should not, unless you know what you are doing, because there are almost no built-in checks or validation in editing the Registry. As you edit Registry entries, the changes are made immediately - there's no Save, Cancel, or Undo command. RegmagiK permits editing of either the Name or Data Value in the right pane by double-clicking on the item. The Type can be changed by right-clicking on its icon and choosing the Properties dialog, but this should rarely be necessary and may lead to loss of data in some circumstances. Regedit requires the Name to be double-clicked in order for another window to be opened, allowing the Data Value to be edited; relatively more cumbersome.
Incorrect Registry entries can lead to anything from occasional flaky behavior to complete system failure. You should always backup the Registry before making any changes to it. Regedit is strong in this area, exporting the Registry as Registration Files, Registry Hive Files or editable Text Files. These can all be imported back into the Registry. RegmagiK appears to be able to export only Hives or Keys, but not the entire Registry, as Registration Files. But these files are, in fact, only text files and can easily be edited. Anyway, the Registry can readily be backed up and re-imported in Win98 by using Scanregw in Windows and Scanreg in DOS mode; and Windows ME and XP have System Restore that does this and more.
Regedit has a comprehensive help file but RegmagiK has only limited online help.
I am always
interested in seeing
Windows utilities presented in
clearer, more user-friendly, or more attractive forms, and RegmagiK is a positive step in that
direction. I regret that there is not a associated help file but,
having said that, I realise the burden on the author to meet this
demand. I have also to consider the market he is aiming at. Not many
users will want to explore the Registry intimately, and those of us
that do will surely have a 1000-page Windows Reference Manual to refer
to.
Readers without these tomes can easily get helpful tutorials from the
Internet to improve their computer awareness.
RegmagiK
is available from: www.RegmagiK.com
1 License @ USD 15.00
Activation code by e-mail.