In this article we'll teach you to detect changes to the registry made by a specific program, so you can detect which platform is manipulating your operating system through the registry.
To do this, we'll use three different tools that offer different solutions; it's up to you to choose the best one.
RegFromApp
With RegFromApp you'll find the changes a program makes to the registry in real time. When an application writes its values to the registry, the changes become visible in RegFromApp's interface (you can save the changes to a REG file). Remember that the utility only monitors one task at a time.
Process Monitor
Process Monitor monitors all registry processes from its interface where you can observe all system activity such as processes, threads, system files, and events, among other parameters. A plus point is the ability to add filters to improve performance, but including these add-ons can be complicated.
regshot
With regshot you can take snapshots of the registry and then compare them with another snapshot to observe the modifications your registry has suffered. This comparison is great for seeing which program or add-on is affecting the proper functioning of your operating system by altering registry values.
All of the programs mentioned are free, portable, and available for Windows operating systems.
Now that we've introduced the tools, we're going to show you how to detect changes in the registry using each program separately. Without a doubt, Process Monitor is one of the best options on the market.
Once you've detected the process, you'll see it in the 'Process Name' column. Select it and click the 'Show Registry Activity' icon; at that moment the platform will start to apply the event.
Now you just have to double-click on the process to see all its activity in your operating system's registry.
With regshot it's all simpler because by taking two snapshots of the registry at different times you can visually see the changes made to it and who produced them. (The comparison is done by the tool itself.) Just click the '1st shot' button, then after the time you see fit click '2nd shot', and finally click 'Compare' to compare the two scans.
And as a good NirSoft tool, RegFromApp is a very simple program for detecting registry changes. From its top icons you can see active processes or search for new processes manually, and thus see the changes that components or programs have made to your registry.
We hope that with the tools mentioned you can detect the changes in the registry made by a program, component, or process, so you'll have your operating system well optimized.
