Registry size?

**WDGC** · May 11, 2005

Give RegSeeker a try. I've used it for about 2 years without any problems - also has other capabilities you may find useful.

The version available, 1.35 beta, is the same as I first downloaded about 2 years ago.

http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

**[deXter]** · May 11, 2005

@ terrypin,

I think you are using the program's internal cache, which is why you would be getting the same reg entries again and again. Either update the internal cache, or avoid using the cache itself. Personally, I dont use the cache, as RegSupreme is fast enough.

You can start off by deleting the \Cache folder in Regsupreme's folder. When RS starts, do not use the cache (Press the 'skip' button)

**terrypin** · May 11, 2005

Give RegSeeker a try. I've used it for about 2 years without any problems - also has other capabilities you may find useful.
The version available, 1.35 beta, is the same as I first downloaded about 2 years.
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks. It looks good. First run (with no options re Normal/Aggressive to fret about) it took 14 mins and displayed no fewer than 5,415 entries!

--

Terry, West Sussex, UK

**terrypin** · May 11, 2005

@ terrypin,
I think you are using the program's internal cache, which is why you would be getting the same reg entries again and again. Either update the internal cache, or avoid using the cache itself. Personally, I dont use the cache, as RegSupreme is fast enough.
You can start off by deleting the \Cache folder in Regsupreme's folder. When RS starts, do not use the cache (Press the 'skip' button)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, thanks, I'll try that next.

--

Terry, West Sussex, UK

**WDGC** · May 11, 2005

With reference to registry size, OS Win. XP Home Edit. SP2.

The 11 files named by the author of NTRegOpt :

\WINDOWS\system32\config\sam 256 KB

\WINDOWS\system32\config\security 256

\WINDOWS\system32\config\software 12032

\WINDOWS\system32\config\system 9984

\WINDOWS\system32\config\default 512

\Documents and Settings\LocalService\ntuser.dat 232

\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat 256

\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\ntuser.dat 232

\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat 256

\Documents and Settings\[user name]\ntuser.dat 2560

\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat 256

TOTAL 26832 KB

Using RUN > REGEDIT :

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT 8908 KB

HKEY_CURRENT_USER 6445

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE 39397

HKEY_USERS 8505

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG 46

TOTAL 63301 KB

COMPUTER [ALL] 47902 KB

Three different results! Any explanations for the discrepancies?

**WDGC** · May 11, 2005

... it took 14 mins and displayed no fewer than 5,415 entries!
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Terry, West Sussex, UK
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quite a haul! My best effort was about 700 entries after some months of neglect.

**terrypin** · May 11, 2005

WDGC: How do you get the sizes of each section in Regedit? And what is 'COMPUTER[ALL]'?

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Terry, West Sussex, UK

**terrypin** · May 11, 2005

,May 11 2005, 05:41 AM]@ terrypin,
I think you are using the program's internal cache, which is why you would be getting the same reg entries again and again. Either update the internal cache, or avoid using the cache itself. Personally, I dont use the cache, as RegSupreme is fast enough.
You can start off by deleting the \Cache folder in Regsupreme's folder. When RS starts, do not use the cache (Press the 'skip' button)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>
OK, thanks, I'll try that next.
--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

deXter: I deleted the cache directly as you said. Then I ran and used Skip and Normal, which gave me 1532 entries in 72 secs. I repeated that (although I was actively web browsing during that second run, unlike previous tests during which I twiddled thumbs) and after 224 secs got 3056 entries. Once again, suspiciously close to twice as many.

--

Terry, West Sussex, UK

**WDGC** · May 11, 2005

WDGC: How do you get the sizes of each section in Regedit? And what is 'COMPUTER[ALL]'?
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Terry, West Sussex, UK
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I open REGEDIT, in the left hand pane I see

MY COMPUTER [what I called 'COMPUTER[ALL]']

and when this is expanded

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

HKEY_USERS

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

appear. Highlight each entry in turn, > File > Export, go to wherever you saved the 'exports' and note the file sizes.

__ __

**terrypin** · May 11, 2005

WDGC: How do you get the sizes of each section in Regedit? And what is 'COMPUTER[ALL]'?
--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>
When I open REGEDIT, in the left hand pane I see
MY COMPUTER [what I called 'COMPUTER[ALL]']
and when this is expanded
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKEY_USERS
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
appear. Highlight each entry in turn, > File > Export, go to wherever you saved the 'exports' and note the file sizes.
__ __
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, thanks.

I too am now very curious about the major variations. My 3 equivalent sizes are also wildly different:

RegExport11May05-All.reg    125,540 KB

RegExport11May05-HKCC.reg        34 KB
RegExport11May05-HKCR.reg    22,702 KB
RegExport11May05-HKCU.reg    34,149 KB
RegExport11May05-HKLM.reg    86,656 KB
RegExport11May05-HKU.reg     38,878 KB
--------------------------------------
Subtotal                    182,419 KB

NTRegOpt (an hour earlier)   55,588 KB

--

Terry, West Sussex, UK

**Takeshi** · May 12, 2005

\WINDOWS\system32\config\sam

\WINDOWS\system32\config\security

\WINDOWS\system32\config\software

\WINDOWS\system32\config\system

These 4 files are mapped to the corresponding HKLM hives.

The ntuser.dat files are mapped to the HKCU hive but you only see your own HKCU during the current logged on session, unless you load other hives. So it depends who is logged on and how many users there are on the computer.

The HKCR hive is mapped to the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes.

The HKCU is mapped to HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21_Classes.

The HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG is mapped to a subkey in HKLM.

The HKLM\HARDWARE is only transient.

So it's quite possible that different software reads the registry differently in different sessions.

You see, if you export each of the major hive, and add the total size, there is a lot of overlap.

**terrypin** · May 12, 2005

Thanks, Takeishi, that explains it. I also asked Lars Hederer, NTRegOpt's author, and his reply was that 'the formats are different'. But while that explains the difference between NTRegOpt's result and that from a registry export, your analysis covers the comparison he didn't address.

Although it's straying off the original topic, can I raise a puzzle that I think has only arisen since I installed the two registry cleaners that emerged during this discussion, RegSupreme and RegSeeker. Somehow the normal yellow folder tray icon has been replaced by the blue 'monitor' shown here:

http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FolderIcon1.gif

The correct yellow one is still used in My Computer folders, as I've also shown in that same shot. Anyone have any suggestions how that might have happened, and how to get my yellow one back please? I half-heartedly ran Repair from PowerToys TweakUI, but that didn't fix it.

--

Terry, West Sussex, UK

**Martin Zugec** · May 12, 2005

WMIC works only for XP Pro... For XP Home create RegSize.vbs with content

On Error Resume Next

Const wbemFlagReturnImmediately = &h10
Const wbemFlagForwardOnly = &h20

arrComputers = Array(".")
For Each strComputer In arrComputers
   WScript.Echo
   WScript.Echo "=========================================="
   WScript.Echo "Computer: " & strComputer
   WScript.Echo "=========================================="

   Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\CIMV2")
   Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_Registry", "WQL", _
                                          wbemFlagReturnImmediately + wbemFlagForwardOnly)

   For Each objItem In colItems
      WScript.Echo "Caption: " & objItem.Caption
      WScript.Echo "CurrentSize: " & objItem.CurrentSize
      WScript.Echo "Description: " & objItem.Description
      WScript.Echo "InstallDate: " & WMIDateStringToDate(objItem.InstallDate)
      WScript.Echo "MaximumSize: " & objItem.MaximumSize
      WScript.Echo "Name: " & objItem.Name
      WScript.Echo "ProposedSize: " & objItem.ProposedSize
      WScript.Echo "Status: " & objItem.Status
      WScript.Echo
   Next
Next


Function WMIDateStringToDate(dtmDate)
WScript.Echo dtm: 
	WMIDateStringToDate = CDate(Mid(dtmDate, 5, 2) & "/" & _
	Mid(dtmDate, 7, 2) & "/" & Left(dtmDate, 4) _
	& " " & Mid (dtmDate, 9, 2) & ":" & Mid(dtmDate, 11, 2) & ":" & Mid(dtmDate,13, 2))
End Function

**terrypin** · May 12, 2005

soulin: Thanks, but then what? I'm not a programmer, just an experienced end user. Am I supposed to just run VBS file? Does it matter where it is located? When I ran it I got these 5 windows in succession, clicking OK each time. Meaningless to me:

http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/WMICwindows.gif

--

Terry, West Sussex, UK

**WDGC** · May 12, 2005

I posted my yesterday post [Yesterday, 06:00 PM Post #20, page 2] to a couple of other fora and received a few interesting responses :

1. "Many of the keys in the registry are virtual, faked, and/or in memory only. For example, the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT keys are in multiple locations yet they're all the same keys - not duplicates. The HKLM/HARDWARE key only exists in memory and is re-created every reboot. etc, etc, etc."

2. "because your registry files are compressed."

3. "Well, for starters, regedit "mirrors" several areas of the registry to other, more "user-friendly" places. For example, the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key doesn't even exist inside the registry; it's a mirror of HKLM\Software\Classes. HKEY_CURRENT_USER is a mirror of your user account's hive stored in HKEY_USERS, which is actually another set of mirrors I think. There are at least a few more I know of, and I expect there are several others, possibly a dozen or more.

Also, the registry is a database. Data stored inside is compressed, or at least encoded, and the size will differ."

4. This reply gave a method of using REGEDIT which gives significantly different sizes to those I had previously obtained [5 Hives Total 28576 KB compared with 63301 KB previous] and a link to "Dureg.exe - Registry Size Estimator". Here is a link to the forum :

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=13575&sid...88c005af0932316

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