A Hint for Documenting Changes

After installng and using your new software

you might decide you don't like it
you may eventually replace it with something better
it may cause problems with your system

This is when you will want to un-install the package.

Some packages come with an uninstaller module.
But these may not do a complete uninstall.
You can also buy software to un-install software for you.
These also vary in their effectiveness.
You can remove the software yourself if you have documented the changes to your system.

You can use the file attributes to monitor changes to your system.

Reset all attribute bytes to turn "A" off
within your /windows and /windows/system directories
When the installation is complete, check these directories and make note of the new or modified files
(i.e. attribute has changed to "A")

You can also document the changes to your win.ini file:

Create a bat module that uses the DOS "FC" command
Name it compare.txt
Its contents will be:

 fc c:\windows\before.ini c:\windows\after.ini >c:\windows\changes.txt
     

save it as: compare.bat
Before installing your new software, copy your win.ini file to before.ini
Install your new software
Copy your changed win.ini file to after.ini
Run compare.bat
Read the output (in changes.txt) and save it for future reference.