If you’re a software installer, you may be interested in tracking the modifications a program’s installer makes. This can help you determine whether the installer is following the correct installation process and whether there are any potential problems. To track the modifications a program’s installer makes, you first need to create a file called “installer.log.” This file will list all of the changes that the installer has made to your program. You can then use this file to determine whether the installation is proceeding correctly and whether there are any potential problems. To create an installer.log file, follow these steps:

  1. Open a text editor such as Notepad or WordPad and create a new file called “installer.log.”
  2. In your new file, make sure that everything is set up correctly and include the following information:
  3. The name of your program (for example, “MyProgram”).
  4. The version number of your program (for example, 1).
  5. The date (for example, Mon, Apr 10). 4. The time (for example, 12:00 PM). 5. The location of your executable (.exe) files (.dlls and .libs). 6. The location of your source files (.cpp and .h files). 7. The location of your build files (.build) 8. Any other important information that you want to include in your installer logfile (such as errors encountered during installation or problems that have been reported by users).

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-drive grouping of Q&A web sites.

The Question

SuperUser reader Gregory Moussat wants to know what’s going on behind the installer’s facade :

What tool stands to replace InstallRite?

Lots of “ professional” programs are so poorly documented that it’s difficult to find the proper way to configure them, update them, etc.

InstallRite is a program which is able to take a “snapshot” before and after the installation of a program and then compare the snapshots. This allows you to know what was done and even to create a custom uninstaller. Unfortunately InstallRite seems to no longer be maintained and has not been updated since 2008.

The Answer

Contributor Synetech offers an alternative tool:

If you’re interested in getting the overhauled copy of InCtrl (InCtrl X) it’ll run you $8–read more about InCtrl X here.

I also use PC Magazine’s InCtrl 5 which is very good (enough to get Microsoft’s approval), but several years ago they stopped distributing their programs for free, but because it used to be free, there are still plenty of copies available (unfortunately not so with the newer InCtrl X.)

Another contributor, Prahlad Yeri, offers a few suggestions on how to manually investigate what the application is doing:

Between checking snapshots with an app and manually checking the files out, you’ll have all your bases covered. You can check out the full discussion at SuperUser here. Have a tool or technique to add to the list? Sound off in the comments.

Check for application folders in your Program Files directory. There is usually an entry inC:\Program Files\AppXYZ. Similarly check the system folders (C:\Windows\System32). Your app could have placed libraries (DLL/OCX/TLBs) here. Run CCleaner to see if it has created any registry entries. CCleaner also shows some other changes the app could have made such as registration of a MIME type, etc. Remember to check the . NET GAC (Global Assembly Cache). It contains all the . NET assemblies your app might have registered on your machine. It’s usually in the folder C:\windows\assembly The obvious (but sometimes the obvious is overlooked!): Start Menu and desktop shortcuts Files in C:\users\USER-NAME\Application Data (CCleaner will show these) Entries in Startup menu and boot. ini (run msconfig to check these)