Registry Editors

EDIT at 8/Nov/2005: please read this article instead of this thread for a generic overview of PPC registry editors!

(I still keep the contents of the old thread.)

I would also add the free Tascal Registry Editor (see http://www2r.biglobe.ne.jp/~tascal/download/pocketpc/tre_e.htm ) - it's my favourite, as far as free solutions to import registry scripts are concerned.

The most important differences PPC registry editors have:

- searching capabilities
- import/export
- binary editing
- DWORD editing (hexa available, in addition to decimal?)
- do they remember their last position?

Breakdown:

1. searching capabilities

In this area, definitely Resco Registry Editor (from now on, Resco) is the best. In addition to settable case (in)sensitive, whole string and keys/values/data search, also finds data in Unicode-encoded binary data; for example, in [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Inbox\LdapInfo] (the binary key to store Messaging account information). Kilmist and PHM miserably fail at this. (incidentally, the latter doesn't have a case-sensitie mode.) Tascal doesn't have any search capabilities.

That is, in this respect Resco is the best, Kilmist and PHM are also usable unless you plan to search in binary data. Tascal is the worst of all - it has no searching capabilities at all.

2. Import/Export

PHM isn't able to do selective export/import (only full backup/restore), which is a big minus: it's advantageous to be able to quickly import pre-made registry files. Please see for examplehttp://www.firstloox.org//forums/showthread.php?p=28878 on this. The others do, even with fast (registry import files can be assigned to registry editors) registry import (that is, you only click the registry files).

That is, in this respect PHM is a real letdown, PHM and Resco are the best (fastest loading), followed by Kilmist (the latter requires more steps to fast-load).

3. Binary Editing Capabilities

This can be very important in cases like editing system colors; see [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Color] and, for examplehttp://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=760041 on this.

PHM, Kilmist and Tascal offer a binary editor, but it has no position display, which makes editing binary values where position info is very important (again, see the above-mentioned system color setter registry key!):

Resco, on the other hand, displays positions and even the character representation of the given byte:

4. DWORD Editing Capabilities

Tascal and Resco offers both hexa and decimal editing; PHM, in addition, also binary:

Kilmist is the clear loser in this question: it only supports decimal input:

Of course, anyone can say that it's not important to have, say, hex input capabilities. In come cases, however (like the above GMT_OFFSET in the Tascal screenshot, or, for that matter, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\SYSFNT\Ht on WM2003 devices; see for example my article on font size hacking athttp://smartphonemag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15759 on this). Sure, you can use the built-in PPC Calculator for quick translation; having a hexa mode, however, makes life certainly easier when editing negative DWORD registry values like the above two.

5. Do they remember the last position?

This can be very important if you need to close your registry apps between consequental editing (for example, to test the new system colors). Resco and PHM automatically go to the last position; Kilmist doesn't. The latter, however, offers Favorites. Tascal is the clear loser in this question - it always goes back to the root.

Bottom Line:

Much as I always publish Tascal-compliant registry scripts (in addition to Resco-compliant scripts) in my articles to provide compatibility with free programs, Resco Registry Editor is the best all-in-one registry editor for a serious hacker like me.

@Menneisyys

You're the man - your patience with us noobs is admirable! Again, lots of thanks![:D]

Please also read my review of Total Commander 2.0 athttp://smartphonemag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16568 - it's also capable of registry editing/import/export and is free.

Just got home with my new iPAQ hx4700 - it's a dream to work with, and the battery life's impressive. My Clie T615's endurance compared to it is... nightmarishly low. I'm beginning to wonder if my Clie had a bad battery to begin with.

I'll try out all your recommended apps within a few days, but a few questions first...

1) How do I back up my ROM prior to fiddling with it? I'm using Windows Mobile 2003 SE v4.21.1088 (Build 14132). Will be flashing a new ROM image later - this seems to have lots of fixes.
2) Any real advantage to getting ActiveSync v3.8?
3) Whenever I look at iPAQ File Store, there always seems to be 3.41MB being used... but the built - in File Explorer shows a vacant directory.

quote:Originally posted by Farmer Brown
1) How do I back up my ROM prior to fiddling with it? I'm using Windows Mobile 2003 SE v4.21.1088 (Build 14132). Will be flashing a new ROM image later - this seems to have lots of fixes.

You, generally, don't need to. You'll only need it if you find the ROM update 1.10 impossible to live with. (Please see the various ROM upgrade threads athttp://discussion.brighthand.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=291 andhttp://www.ipaqhq.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44 . I also recommend jmirabil's comments athttp://smartphonemag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15894 ).

To backup your ROM image, you'll need to switch to the bootloader mode and dump the ROM contents into your SD card. You'll be able to load this ROM image back if you don't like the 1.10 ROM.

If you, on the other hand, "only" modify the registry, you will never end up reloading (re-flashing) the ROM image, "only" making a hard reset.

quote:
2) Any real advantage to getting ActiveSync v3.8?

Yes, it's generally faster and more reliable than 3.7.1.

This is odd - ActiveSync 3.8 refuses to install on my Windows 2000 SP4 box. It just unpacks files, then... nothing. I extracted the files manually onto a temporary folder, same result.

Darn. Neither does ActiveSync 3.7.1. Same thing. Unpacks, goes all the way to 92%, then just disappears. I wonder what the installer's conflicting with...

I need to add another bullet to the above list: the ability to edit multiline values (REG_MULTI_SZ) , the most important Pocket PC-related entry being HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Loader\SystemPath (see my articles on relocating DLL’s to the File Store on its importance!). Unfortunately, some (namely, PHM and the Total Commander 2.0) registry editors don’t let edit these fields as text fields.

This is how they should be edited (Resco/Kilmist/TRE):

And, this is how TC edits it:

PHM isn’t able to append the already-existing lines in the editor box and if you enter some new lines in there, the old lines will be deleted:

That is, if you want to edit for example the System Path (or, any other REG_MULTI_SZ value), your editor should be Resco, Kilmist or TRE.

I've just finished testing two PC-based registry viewers (and, with one of them, an editor),

Sabon Rai Registry Viewer v1.4

PC-based, viewer only.

Pros:
- free
Cons:
- No editing capabilities
- No export
- Slow to load
- Even slower to search, even on very fast desktops and even if you switch off, for example, searching in values/data
- Multiline strings are displayed in one row

Verdict: almost useless

Mobile Registry Editor 1.1

Also PC-based, offers editing and (restricted) export capabilities. Its multiline string editor is usable. Much-much faster than the Sabon Rai Registry Viewer. It, however, can't do any kind of searching.

Pros:
- Free
- quick
- editing + adding
Cons:
- exporting doesn't work at HKCU/HKCR/HKLM top-level – it complains of 'key not found'. Therefore, you must export a level lower, which is useless for generic registry comparison purposes
- no searching capabilities

Verdict: useless as a generic searcher/exporter tool. For editing purposes, however, it's excellent.