Installed Software

  • Thread starter Thread starter Al
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A

Al

Anyone know of freeware that will print a simple list of all software
installed on my computer? Thank you.
 
Anyone know of freeware that will print a simple list of all software
installed on my computer? Thank you.
Click to expand...

Such freeware doesn't exist. If you simply want a list of programs
installed, and listed in the registry, however then there are a number
of options. Most of which will probably be mentioned in this thread.

If you have installed software that doesn't make any registry entries
then don't expect it to be listed.

Regards, John.
 
Al said:
Anyone know of freeware that will print a simple list of all software
installed on my computer? Thank you.
Click to expand...

I thank everyone. Installed Program Printer worked best for me.
 
Such freeware doesn't exist. If you simply want a list of programs
installed, and listed in the registry, however then there are a number
of options. Most of which will probably be mentioned in this thread.

If you have installed software that doesn't make any registry entries
then don't expect it to be listed.
Click to expand...

Conversely, doing dir *.exe /s from the root directory will list
[almost] all executable files on the drive.
 
Not sure if it does it all but Belarc Advisor prints out a fair amount of
software on your system. Give it a try see what you think.
 
On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 21:42:37 +1000, John Fitzsimons
Click to expand...
Conversely, doing dir *.exe /s from the root directory will list
[almost] all executable files on the drive.
Click to expand...

As well as all compressed (uninstalled) .exe files. That's why I find
that advice pretty much useless. Some of us want to exclude
compressed .exe files.

Regards, John.
 
Not sure if it does it all but Belarc Advisor prints out a fair amount of
software on your system. Give it a try see what you think.
Click to expand...

Belarc didn't list installed programs here that don't make a registry
entry.

Regards, John.
 
Belarc didn't list installed programs here that don't make a registry
entry.
Click to expand...

That's because programs that don't make registry entries aren't
"installed", they're just copied to disk. If you want a list of all
executables just drop to a DOS window and type:

dir /s /a:hs c:\*.exe
 
On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 18:15:57 +1000, John Fitzsimons
Click to expand...
That's because programs that don't make registry entries aren't
"installed", they're just copied to disk.
Click to expand...

< snip >

Programs don't need to make registry entries to be "installed". I have
many installed programs that haven't touched the registry. At the
moment there appears to be no freeware/payware program to list
all installed software.

A program that is installed with an ini file is still installed. It is
not necessarily better/worse than a program that is installed and
makes registry entries. But it is still installed.

Ever heard of windows 3.1 ? Programs could be installed on it and
they made no "registry" entries.

Regards, John.
 
< snip >

Programs don't need to make registry entries to be "installed".
Click to expand...

If you go with the normal definition of "installed", which means "put
on the computer by an installer program", they do.
I have
many installed programs that haven't touched the registry. At the
moment there appears to be no freeware/payware program to list
all installed software.
Click to expand...

There is if you define "installed".
A program that is installed with an ini file is still installed. It is
not necessarily better/worse than a program that is installed and
makes registry entries. But it is still installed.
Click to expand...

So the solution is trivial - look for .ini files. Oh, that's not your
definition of "installed". Then exactly what *is* your definition?
Ever heard of windows 3.1 ? Programs could be installed on it and
they made no "registry" entries.
Click to expand...

Because there was no registry.

Again - since there's no agreed-upon definition of "installed" there
can be no program that lists all installed, and only installed,
programs. You can't write code that does "you know what I mean".
 
On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:26:27 +1000, John Fitzsimons
Click to expand...
If you go with the normal definition of "installed", which means "put
on the computer by an installer program", they do.
Click to expand...

One can use an installer program to install something without it
making registry entries. Most installer programs may make registry
entries but that doesn't mean one cannot install something without
touching the registry.

So the solution is trivial - look for .ini files.
Click to expand...

If one did that then one would miss programs that do not have ini
files.

Added to that programs can have multiple .ini files. For example, here
are the .ini files in * ONE * of my directories ;

DbParams.ini
drives.ini
JewelCaseConfig.ini
Setup.ini
TrackListConfig.ini
ChanTable.ini
install.ini
ChanTable.ini
fw_mmtheme.ini
mmtheme.ini
port_mmtheme.ini
mmtheme.ini
drives.ini
JewelCaseConfig.ini
TrackListConfig.ini
MMCD.INI
DbParams.ini

Is that one installed program ? Two ? Three ? Or maybe 17 ?
It is far from a "trivial" task to get the answer.
Oh, that's not your
definition of "installed". Then exactly what *is* your definition?
Click to expand...
Because there was no registry.
Click to expand...

Sure, nice to see that you agree with me that programs can be
installed without needing to make registry entries.
Again - since there's no agreed-upon definition of "installed" there
can be no program that lists all installed, and only installed,
programs. You can't write code that does "you know what I mean".
Click to expand...

This isn't rocket science. It has been mentioned in this newsgroup
plenty of times. A listing of all .exe files that aren't compressed
..exe files would come pretty close to the mark. AFAIK nobody has
created a program to do this. Presumably it is far from a trivial
task.

Such a listing would include programs that have registry references
and those that don't. Such a listing would be a better list of
"Installed Software" (as per this thread) than only listing those
referenced in the registry.

Regards, John.

--
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Sure, nice to see that you agree with me that programs can be
installed without needing to make registry entries.
Click to expand...

In 3.1, because there was none. In modern versions, most programmers
choose to not create an additional file, but store values in the
registry. That's what it was designed for, by the way - for programs
to store things in. MS even puts little places for various classes of
programs to store things in.
This isn't rocket science. It has been mentioned in this newsgroup
plenty of times. A listing of all .exe files that aren't compressed
.exe files would come pretty close to the mark. AFAIK nobody has
created a program to do this. Presumably it is far from a trivial
task.
Click to expand...

No, it's a very trivial task - just read the first few hundred bytes
of every .exe file and see whether it's compressed.

The reason no one has created a program to do it - now this *is*
rocket science, John - is because no one capable of writing such a
program has the slightest interest in writing one. If anyone did
there'd be such a program.
Such a listing would include programs that have registry references
and those that don't.
Click to expand...

No need to even look at the registry. If it's an executable (sorry,
all you people who write little utilities as .com files) and not
compressed by the common compressors (there's no way to tell if a
program is compressed by some unknown program that doesn't leave a
common telltale), it's "installed". On any decent sized disk, if you
don't limit its scope, it shouldn't take longer than overnight (or so)
to run. (Certainly no longer than a day or two.)
Such a listing would be a better list of
"Installed Software" (as per this thread) than only listing those
referenced in the registry.
Click to expand...

Now all it needs is someone a) capable of writing a trivial little
program and b) interested in listing all his "installed" apps.

Not me, though. I have better things to do with my time.
 
One can use an installer program to install something without it
making registry entries. Most installer programs may make registry
entries but that doesn't mean one cannot install something without
touching the registry.
Click to expand...

Related to this issue, I recently reinstalled a new copy of windows 98,
and recovered the applications I used with it, on another partition. I
was pleased to notice that lots of these programs just ``ran'' when I
executed them, even though they no longer had registry entries. Their
uninstall programs are usually right with the main executable. Perhaps
some of these programs, reinsert registry entries, as needed as they
run (e.g., when you readjust some of their settings options).

I suppose you can make the registry files read only before installations,
or keep a backup of the basic registry, let installations write to the
registry, and then just overwrite with the small registry.
 
On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 10:31:49 +1000, John Fitzsimons
Click to expand...
No, it's a very trivial task - just read the first few hundred bytes
of every .exe file and see whether it's compressed.
Click to expand...

< snip >

Obviously not a trivial task. We have a number of programmers in this
newsgroup and nobody has been able to do it. Added to that AFAIK
nobody outside of this newsgroup has either.
Such a listing would be a better list of
"Installed Software" (as per this thread) than only listing those
referenced in the registry.
Click to expand...
Now all it needs is someone a) capable of writing a trivial little
program and b) interested in listing all his "installed" apps.
Click to expand...
Not me, though. I have better things to do with my time.
Click to expand...

Translation - it isn't a trivial task.

Regards, John.
 
Related to this issue, I recently reinstalled a new copy of windows 98,
and recovered the applications I used with it, on another partition. I
was pleased to notice that lots of these programs just ``ran'' when I
executed them, even though they no longer had registry entries.
Click to expand...

That is because a lot of programs don't need to make registry entries
to run.
Their
uninstall programs are usually right with the main executable. Perhaps
some of these programs, reinsert registry entries, as needed as they
run (e.g., when you readjust some of their settings options).
Click to expand...
I suppose you can make the registry files read only before installations,
or keep a backup of the basic registry, let installations write to the
registry, and then just overwrite with the small registry.
Click to expand...

If you only wanted to re-install programs that had previously been in
your registry then you could export the list of software from your old
registry.

The problem with a computer upgrade though is that everything isn't
in the registry. That's why some of us want a list of "all installed
software". So that we can make sure that all our old programs are
moved to our new computer/OS.

Regards, John.

--
****************************************************
,-._|\ (A.C.F FAQ) http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html
/ Oz \ John Fitzsimons - Melbourne, Australia.
\_,--.x/ http://www.vicnet.net.au/~johnf/welcome.htm
v http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/
 
The problem with a computer upgrade though is that everything isn't
in the registry. That's why some of us want a list of "all installed
software". So that we can make sure that all our old programs are
moved to our new computer/OS.
Click to expand...

Would not programs like total uninstall or installrite provide this list,
as a result of using them during the first install?

For example, total uninstall provides a list of all registry changes,
additions, and deletions as part of its report which it keeps to execute
uninstalls. True, the list is not in the convenient form of an sh type
file that you can just import into the registry.

I too thought it would be nice to retain an sh file containing, for
instance all of a programs optional settings, stored in the registry.
Then when upgrading to a new version of the program you could just
import your chosen settings back into the registry, unstead of manually
picking them again in the new instance of the executable. Providing:
the new executable does not use some new registry structure or values
and data, and the installer for the upgrade is not smart enough to
leave the old settings alone.
 
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