Copyright: Copyright © Ziff-Davis Publishing Company
Citation: Copyright © Ziff-Davis Publishing Company


Cannot Reactivate Fast File Notification

INCTRL 2 has survived a restart of Windows or reboot of the system, and is now reloading. However, something about the system configuration was changed by the install program such that INCTRL 2 can no longer access the Fast File Notification feature of Windows. Chances are good that this is not important; most install programs that restart Windows do all their file copying first. But any file system changes that may occur between now and the time you tell INCTRL 2 to generate its report will not be included in the report.


Cannot Survive Restart

In order to "survive" an install program that restarts Windows, INCTRL 2 needs to put its own full pathname at the beginning of the RUN= key in the [windows] section of WIN.INI. The existing RUN= string is long enough that adding INCTRL 2's pathname would make the string longer than the 127 character limit imposed by Windows.

What can you do about this? You may be able to move the programs currently on the RUN= line to directories with shorter names and adjust the RUN= line to match the new locations. Sometimes putting INCTRL 2 in a directory with a shorter name is all you have to do. You can experiment with moving programs from the RUN= line to its companion, the LOAD= line. Or you may be able to start some of the programs that are on the RUN= line by putting them in Program Manager's Startup group instead. Until and unless you make one of these changes, INCTRL 2 will not be able to survive a restart.

If INCTRL 2 is using disk contents comparison, it doesn't really matter that it can't survive a Windows restart. All you need to do is run INCTRL 2 again after the installation is complete and it will finish the job, just as it does in two-phase mode.

But if INCTRL 2 is using fast file notification, file system changes made before you re-launch INCTRL 2 will be missed. When an install program restarts Windows, if INCTRL 2 can't add itself to the RUN= line it will warn you of that fact. If fast file notification is in use, it will write the report before terminating, and you will need to restart Windows yourself to complete the installation.


Choose Install Program Page

If you're installing from floppy disks, the install program will usually be some variation on A:SETUP or B:INSTALL. If you're installing from CD-ROM, the program is still likely to be named SETUP or INSTALL, but it will be in the root directory of the CD-ROM drive. You can type the install program name if you know it, or press the Browse button to select the install program using the standard Windows file open dialog.

When you enter a valid filename, complete with 3-letter extension, you'll notice a line appear below it. This line defines what kind of file it is. Why is this important? In some situations, INCTRL 2's fast file notification is available only for Windows programs. Also, the Next button won't be available until you've entered a valid executable filename. Pressing Next takes you to the Descriptive Name Page.

Occasionally you'll come across an install program that requires command line parameters. That's no problem for INCTRL 2. Just enter the parameters after the install program name and continue.

It's always possible that you'll come across an install program that just isn't compatible with INCTRL 2. In that case, leave the install program name completely blank. This will cause INCTRL 2 to run in two phase mode; when you run the install program, INCTRL 2 will not be present.


Compatibility

INCTRL 2 has been tested with Windows, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 beta, and Windows NT. Note, however, that INCTRL 2 is a 16-bit program and only works with ordinary DOS-style filenames. If you use it to track an installation using Windows 95 or Windows NT long file names, it will report the equivalent DOS-style filenames. Also, Windows 95 is a "moving target"; it is possible, though unlikely, that the shipping version of Windows 95 will have incompatibilities with the initial release of INCTRL 2.

INCTRL 2 can be used with DOS-only install programs on a Windows-equipped system by using its two phase mode.

INCTRL 2 has been shown to work on network systems, both in Fast File Notification mode and Disk Contents Comparison mode. Naturally, you must have both read and write access to any network drives you'll be tracking with Disk Contents Comparison, and you should only turn on tracking for network drives that will clearly be involved in the installation. It's not practical to test INCTRL 2 with every possible network configuration; there may be a configuration in which INCTRL 2 does not work. If you discover such a configuration, please eMAIL details to the author (72241.50@compuserve.com).


Contents
 INCTRL 2 - Installation Control for Windows

Gone are the days when installing a program simply meant copying the .EXE file to your hard disk. Modern Windows applications all come with their own personal installation programs that create directories, copy files, change your .INI file settings, and generally litter your disk. When you want to uninstall a particular program, it can be nearly impossible to determine just what files to get rid of.

INCTRL 2 eases the process of uninstalling programs by recording all changes made during the installation process and saving them in a report file. It handles all types of install programs, even those that restart Windows or reboot the system. INCTRL 2 is compatible with Windows 3.1 or later, including NT and Windows 95; it should work with any Windows-compatible network as well.

Overview

Version 1.02


Descriptive Name Page

Just about every Windows install program is named INSTALL.EXE or SETUP.EXE. It doesn't make any sense to record the name of the install program in the report. You know what program you're installing, so you're the best source of a descriptive name for the INCTRL 2 report. Just enter that name in the box, for example, "Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0".

The Next button is always enabled on this page. Press it to go to the Name Output Report Page.


Disk Contents Comparison

The most dependable way for INCTRL 2 to determine what files and directories have changed is to simply record the disk layout before and after the installation and compare the results. This does take a little time, however, so Fast File Notification is a better choice, when available. When Disk Contents Comparison is used, INCTRL 2 creates two disk layout files named INCTRL$$.$$1 and INCTRL$$.$$2, containing a record of the disk contents before and after the installation. Be sure you have enough disk space available for the disk layout files; they require 18 bytes per file or directory tracked.

Because recording the layout takes time, INCTRL 2 lets you limit the drives and directories it will scan. By default, removable (usually floppy) disk drives are NOT scanned and fixed disk drives ARE scanned. CD-ROM drives are never scanned. You can choose to omit a disk from the scan if you know the install program will not install any files on that disk. For example, if you have drives C:, D:, and E:, with Windows in C:\WINDOWS, and you'll be installing to C:\FOOBAR, you can skip scanning drives D: and E:. However, if you have Windows in C:\WINDOWS and plan to install to an unspecified directory on D::, you should leave both C: and D: selected, as many install programs install to the Windows directory.

You can also choose a particular starting directory for each drive. In the previous example, it would make sense to scan all of D:\ but just scan C:\WINDOWS and directories below. For details on the selection of drives and directories, see the Select Drives To Watch Page.

If you're installing on a system with network access, it's especially important to limit the disk contents tracking to drives that may actually be affected by the install. By default, INCTRL 2 doesn't track network drives. Only enable tracking for drives on which you have both read and write access. And do note that, although INCTRL 2 has been tested successfully on network systems, it may not be compatible with every configuration.


Disk Layout Files

INCTRL 2's disk layout files are not meant to be read by humans. Certainly you must not modify these files while INCTRL 2 is running, or you'll introduce errors into the output report and possibly crash INCTRL 2 itself. For those who just have to know these things, the format of a line in a disk layout file is this:

subdirectory depth	1 char

file/directory name	12 chars

file or directory	1 char (0 if file, 1 if directory)

date/time/size	4 chars

For example, one entry might be "1386SPART.PAR0xxxx". The 1 indicates that this file is in the root directory, and 386SPART.PAR is the name of the file. The 0 indicates this is a file, not a directory. The last four characters can be anything at all except for the Tab, Carriage Return, Line Feed, and End-Of-File characters. These four characters are calculated by combining the date/time and size information for the file; any change to the file should cause a change in this data.


Execute Failed

For some reason, INCTRL 2 was unable to execute the install program. If you report this problem to PC Magazine, be sure to include the numeric code included in the error message, as it may provide a clue to what went wrong.

You can still use INCTRL 2 to track the installation even though it seems to be incompatible. Abort this run of the program, then run INCTRL 2 again, but this time leave the install program name blank to use two phase mode.


Fast File Notification

Fast File Notification is the name INCTRL 2 uses for a particular method of detecting changes to the file system using an undocumented feature of Windows itself. You may have noticed that the Windows File Manager seems to be psychic - as long as you're running Windows in Enhanced mode, if you delete or create a file with another application, File Manager knows about it right away. In fact, File Manager calls the undocumented Windows function called FileCdr to get notification of significant file events. INCTRL 2's Fast File Notification simply involved using this same undocumented function to get that notification for itself.

There are many pitfalls to getting this function to work, though. First, if Windows is not running in Enhanced mode, it won't work. If Windows is running in Enhanced mode but another program is using Fast File Notification, it won't work. So, for example, if File Manager is running then INCTRL 2 can't use Fast File Notification. Fast File Notification is available for DOS programs only if the key FileSysChange=ON is present in the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI. If your selected install program is a DOS executable, you can't use Fast File Notification unless this key is present.

Note also that while INCTRL 2 is running with Fast File Notification in use, File Manager won't be able to get notification itself; you'll have to press F5 in File Manager to refresh the display as needed. However, normally you won't be running File Manager in the middle of installing an application.

It appears that Windows 95 always takes over Fast File Notification for itself, so Fast File Notification isn't available in Windows 95. The fast file notification function within Windows doesn't get called for changes to NTFS (New Technology File System) drives under Windows NT, so by default fast file notification is also disabled under Windows NT. However, since it's possible to run NT without using NTFS, INCTRL 2 provides a "trapdoor" to enable fast file notification under NT. See the description of the fast file notification page for details.


Fast File Notification Available

Fast file notification is available on your system for any install program you care to use. This is a much faster method than the disk contents comparison method. However, it relies on undocumented features of Windows. Before using fast file notification for a real and important installation, you may want to try it out using some innocuous Windows program like Notepad as an install program surrogate. When Notepad comes up, create and save a few files, and confirm that INCTRL 2 "saw" the changes. Save files to your network drive, if you have one. Once you've confirmed that fast file notification works correctly on your system, you'll want to use it all the time; it's MUCH faster.


Fast File Notification Page

If the check box is disabled on this page, it means that Fast File Notification is not available to you. Press the "Explain" button for details on why not; there may be something you can do to make it available. If Fast File Notification is available, you should generally select it, as it's much faster than Disk Contents Comparison.

The Next button is always enabled on this page. If you have checked the Fast File Notification check box, it will take you to the Final Page. Otherwise, it will take you to the Select Drives to Watch page.

Under Windows NT, the fast file notification checkbox is disabled. That's because Windows NT doesn't send notifications of changes made on NTFS (New Technology File System) drives. It is possible to run Windows NT without creating any NTFS drives, or to perform an installation only to non-NTFS drives. If you're sure your installation is not going to make changes to an NTFS drive, there's a secret method to get fast file notification enabled. Just double-click on the phrase "not available" and it will become available. Note that this only works when the reason for disabling fast file notification is nothing more than the fact that you're running under Windows NT.


Fast File Notification: Why not? (#1)
Fast File Notification: Why not?

Windows Programs Only

Your system has the ability to use fast file notification, but only for Windows-based install programs. The install program you have selected is DOS-based, so fast file notification isn't available.

You can make fast file notification available by setting FileSysChange=ON in the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI and restarting Windows. Do note that this can slow down performance of DOS boxes on some systems; that's why it's not on by default.


Fast File Notification: Why not? (#2)
Fast File Notification: Why not?

Not in Enhanced mode

Fast file notification is not possible on your system because you are not running in enhanced mode.


Fast File Notification: Why not? (#3)
Fast File Notification: Why not?

Fast File Notification already in use

Fast file notification is possible on your system, but another program is already using it. Only one program at a time can receive fast file notification. The culprit is probably File Manager. If File Manager is running, shut it down, shut down INCTRL, and start INCTRL again.


Fast File Notification: Why not? (#4)
Fast File Notification: Why not?

Not available in Windows 95

It appears that Windows 95 doesn't allow programs access to fast file notification. Sorry!


Fast File Notification: Why not? (#5)
Fast File Notification: Why not?

Not possible in two phase mode

You are running INCTRL 2 in two phase mode. INCTRL 2 will record the information it needs, then terminate. It will not be running when the install program runs. Fast File Notification can't work unless INCTRL 2 is present to receive messages.


Fast File Notification: Why not? (#6)
Fast File Notification: Why not?

Doesn't work with Windows NT NTFS drives

Fast File Notification works in Windows NT, but only for file system changes affecting FAT (File Allocation Table) drives - that is, drives that are also accessible to MS-DOS or Windows 3.x. File changes made to NTFS (New Technology File System) drives won't be reported. INCTRL 2 has no way of knowing whether the install program will attempt installing files on an NTFS drive, so by default it disables fast file notification under Windows NT.

If all of your drives are still FAT-based, or if you're quite sure the install program will not make changes on NTFS drives, you can force INCTRL 2 to use fast file notification by double-clicking on the words "not available" above the "Explain..." button. This functionality is deliberately hidden, so you won't do it without thinking!


Final Page

At this point, INCTRL 2 is ready to proceed with the installation. It reports the options you've chosen; carefully review these options. If any are incorrect, just press the Prev button to go back and correct the information, then Next again until you reach this page.

On the final page, the Next button is replaced by a DO IT! button; pressing DO IT! begins the installation. INCTRL 2 shrinks to a small window that's always on top. You can ignore INCTRL 2 until the installation is complete, at which time you should press the Install Done button.


Gathering Post-Install Data

You have informed INCTRL 2 that the installation is complete. It is now in the process of comparing the stored copies of the essential .INI files with their current contents to report any changes, and reporting on changes to the file system. If you used Fast File Notification, it is simply processing the information reported during the installation. If you chose Disk Contents Comparison, it is rereading the disk layout and comparing it with the previously recorded layout. If for some reason you don't want a report, you can press the Abort button.


INCTRL 2's Report

INCTRL 2 produces output reports that report on changes to the file system and to essential INI files. The report starts with a header that includes the description you entered on the Descriptive Name page. It lists the date and time of the installation and the Windows version, and indicates whether the file system was checked using Fast File Notification or Disk Contents Comparison. Here's an example header:

Installation report: Example report

    (generated by INCTRL 2)

Tuesday, May 23  04:36 PM

Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Notification by fast file notification

After the header comes a listing of files and directories added, delete, and renamed. Note that the deleted section just shows ????????.~?? as the "one" file deleted. That's a result of issuing the command "DEL *.~*" in a DOS box. In this case, Fast File Notification just records the wildcard file specification, while disk contents comparison would show precisely which files were deleted. However, it's rarely important to know about deleted files during an install.

FILES AND DIRECTORIES ADDED: (3)

C:\PCMAG\INCTRL2\NEWDIR

C:\PCMAG\INCTRL2\NEWDIR\FOO.DAT

C:\PCMAG\INCTRL2\NEWDIR\BAR.DAT

FILES AND DIRECTORIES DELETED: (1)

C:\PCMAG\INCTRL2\????????.~??

FILES AND DIRECTORIES RENAMED: (1)

C:\PCMAG\INCTRL2\SCRUG.COM TO SNAFU.COM

Next comes a report on changes to the INI files. If a file that's being tracked showed no changes, INCTRL 2 reports that fact; here SYSTEM.INI had no changes. Then it lists the changes to WIN.INI; a section added, some keys added and deleted, and one key's value changed.

NO CHANGES MADE TO SYSTEM.INI...

CHANGES MADE TO WIN.INI...

SECTIONS ADDED TO WIN.INI: (1)

[NewSection]

KEYS ADDED TO WIN.INI: (2)

[NewSection]bar=foo

[NewSection]foo=bar

KEYS DELETED FROM WIN.INI: (2)

[Extensions]3da=c:\3dchor\\3dChor.exe ^.3da

[Extensions]3dc=c:\3dchor\\3dChor.exe ^.3dc

KEYS CHANGED IN WIN.INI: (1)

[Desktop]IconSpacing=84 to 75


INCTRL 2's Small Window

Once you've pressed the DO IT! button, INCTRL 2 shrinks down to a small window like the one shown here. This window floats on top of other windows, so you won't forget to press the Install Done button when the installation is complete. The caption of the small window is used to report on what INCTRL 2 is doing. The various possibilities are:

d:\dirname	INCTRL 2 is memorizing the file and directory layout in and below the specified directory. (appears only when tracking via Disk Contents Comparison).

Copying NAME.INI	INCTRL 2 is making a copy of the specified INI file for comparison purposes

Installation in progress	INCTRL 2 has executed the install program. When the installation is complete, press the Install Done button.

Execute failed: ##	INCTRL 2 failed to execute the install program. You can probably complete the process successfully by running INCTRL 2 again in two phase mode.

Installation restarted	INCTRL 2 has reloaded itself after a Windows restart caused by the install program, or INCTRL 2 is running the second phase of a two phase mode installation.

After the install program has finished its work, you should press the button labeled "Install Done: Report". At this point, INCTRL 2 gathers information again and compares it with the saved information. Again the caption of the small window reports what INCTRL 2 is doing:

d:\dirname	INCTRL 2 is checking the file and directory layout in and below the specified directory and comparing it with the saved layout. (appears only when tracking via Disk Contents Comparison).

Copying NAME.INI	INCTRL 2 is comparing the specified INI file with the saved copy.

When this process is complete, INCTRL returns to its original size and displays the Report Preview Page.

Pressing the small question-mark button will explain what INCTRL 2 is doing at the moment.


Installation After Restart

Either the install program has restarted Windows or rebooted the system as part of its processing, or this is the second half of a two phase mode installation. When the installation is complete, press the Done button to create the final report. When the report is ready, INCTRL 2 will display the Report Preview page.


Installation In Progress

INCTRL 2 has launched the install program and is simply waiting for you to tell it the installation is complete. When the install program has finished, press the Done button. INCTRL 2 will create a report of changes to the file structure and selected INI files, and display it on the Report Preview page.. If you press the Abort button now, the installation will still take place, but you will not get a report on it.


Name Output Report Page

INCTRL reports on the files and directories added and deleted by the install program. It writes this information to the report file whose name you specify on this page. The default location for this file is the same directory as INCTRL 2 itself. The default name is ####.RPT, where #### is the first 4-digit number not already in use for a report file.

Press the Select button to select a directory and filename for your output report. If you enter a name but omit the extension, it will default to .RPT.

The Next button will be enabled when you have selected a filename that is not on either a floppy disk or a CD-ROM drive, and will take you to the Fast File Notification Page.


Overview

INCTRL 2 eases the process of uninstalling programs by recording all changes made during the installation process. It copies WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI before the install program runs, and checks for changes in these essential files afterward. (INCTRL 2 can track other .INI files as well, if you wish).

Because INCTRL 2 is a program you'll only use occasionally when installing a new application, its interface is styled after the "wizards" and "experts" that are common in modern programs. INCTRL 2 asks a series of questions, starting with the name of the install program. It lets you proceed to the next question only when an appropriate answer has been given. A Help button supplies help for each question at the push of a button (or the F1 key). Before springing into action, INCTRL 2 displays all your answers; you can go back and change any of them.

INCTRL 2 provides two different methods for tracking file and directory changes. The Fast File Notification method causes Windows to simply notify INCTRL 2 of all file changes. However, this method uses an undocumented Windows functions and is not always available. The Disk Contents Comparison method is always available, but it takes a bit longer as it has to read the file and directory layout before and after the installation and compare them for differences. Because disk contents comparison is relatively slow, you will have the option of selecting which drives and directories to watch.

Once the installation program starts, INCTRL 2 will shrink to a small window that's always on top of other windows. When the installation is complete, simply press the Done button. INCTRL 2 will gather the data it needs to determine what changed and then write an installation report to the file you selected. It will also preview the report for you. If the install program restarts Windows or reboots the system, INCTRL 2 will restart when Windows restarts, ready to make its report when the installation is complete.

Even if the install program is somehow incompatible with INCTRL 2, you can still get a report in two phase mode. In this mode, INCTRL 2 records the disk layout and copies INI files, then terminates. You run the install program without INCTRL 2 loaded, then launch INCTRL 2 again to get your report.


Preparing for Installation

INCTRL 2 is recording information about your system prior to executing the install program. If you press the Abort button, INCTRL 2 will terminate and the install program will not be executed.


Report Preview Page

INCTRL 2 has successfully completed its reporting on the installation process. The output is stored in the file whose name you chose back on the Name Output Report Page; the filename is displayed at the top of this page.Before terminating, INCTRL 2 simply loads the report into a read-only memo box for your perusal. Note that on this page the Cancel button has changed to Close, because it's no longer possible to cancel the process.


Select Drives to Watch Page

If INCTRL 2 is not using fast file notification, it detects changes in the file system by recording the contents of your disk or disks in disk layout files before the install program runs and comparing this record with the contents of the disks after the install program is finished. This can take a while if you have many, many files. To avoid spending time unnecessarily, you can choose to skip recording information for drives that won't be changed by the install program. By default, INCTRL 2 sets removable and network drives to NO and fixed drives to Yes. CD-ROM drives are locked at NO; their buttons are disabled.

You can also restrict INCTRL to watching to the directories in and below a particular directory on a given drive. Each time you press the drive button, the status for that drive toggles from NO to YES to DIR> and back to NO. When it hits DIR>, a directory list for that drive opens, and you can choose a directory. Note that you must double-click on a directory to select it and then click the OK button.

To select drives using the keyboard, press Tab repeatedly until the desired button is highlighted, then press Space Bar to press the button. To select directories using the keyboard, navigate with the arrow keys and press Enter to open and/or select the highlighted directory. When you've chosen the directory you want, Tab to the OK button and press Space Bar.

The Next button is always enabled, and takes you to the Final Page.


Tracking Other INI files

By default, INCTRL 2 makes copies of the WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files, and compares them with the same files after installation. If you want to choose your own set of files to watch, you can do so by editing INCTRL2.INI, found in the same directory as INCTRL2. Add a section titled [INI Files To Watch], and simply use the name of each desired INI file as a key in this section, for example:

[INI Files To Watch]

CONTROL.INI=foo

C:\MYPROG\MYPROG.INI=bar

The value of the key is unimportant; it's the name that INCTRL2 cares about. Filenames with no path information are assumed to be in the Windows directory.

If you have specified a file with a full pathname that does not exist, or specified a filename without path information that does not exist in the Windows directory, INCTRL 2 will warn you upon startup and remove this file from its internal tracking list. INCTRL 2 will not remove the filename from INCTRL2.INI.


Two Phase Mode

No matter what precautions you take, for any given program there's bound to be another program that's incompatible. INCTRL 2 is no exception - for example, any install program that attempts to overwrite the existing copy of the CTL3DV2 DLL in the Windows System directory will fail if INCTRL 2 is running. Other install programs may need to be run from DOS only, or otherwise have some problem running at the same time as INCTRL 2.

For these programs, INCTRL 2 has a two phase mode of operation. Simply leave the install program filename blank and INCTRL 2 will enter this mode. Fast File Notification is not available, since INCTRL 2 will not be running while the install program runs. INCTRL 2 will make copies of the essential INI files and record the contents of the drives and directories you have selected as usual. Then it will remind you that you're in two-phase mode.

At this point, you simply press the Close button to shut down INCTRL 2 and do whatever you must in order to install the program. When the installation is complete, run INCTRL 2 again. It will pick up where it left off, just as it does when an install program restarts Windows. If for some reason you decided not to perform the installation, or the installation failed, just press the Abort button. Normally, though, you'll press the Done button to get your report.


Two Phase Reporting Page

You have run INCTRL 2 in two phase mode. INCTRL 2 has stored copies of the INI files tracked and of the disk contents, and is now ready for you to shut it down by pressing the Close button. You should now run your install program from Program Manager. Or, if necessary, you can exit to DOS to run a DOS-based install program. When the installation is complete, start INCTRL 2 again and press the Done button to get a report.


Uninstalling Programs

INCTRL 2 does not uninstall programs for you; rather, it gives you the information you need to wisely handle uninstalling them yourself. INCTRL 2's report includes a list of all the files and directories added by the install program, and a list of sections and keys added to important INI files. You also get information about files changed by the install program, and INI file keys whose values have changed.

However, uninstalling does NOT mean blithely deleting every file listed as having been added. It is possible that other programs have been installed later that rely on some of the same files. For example, suppose program A installs the file FOO.DLL in the Windows System directory. Program B relies on that same DLL, but since it's already present program B's installation does not change anything. If you delete the DLL upon uninstalling program A, you will disable program B.

Files that are added in a directory created by the install program can probably be deleted without worry. Files added in a "public" directory like the Windows or Windows System directory should be treated with more care. Don't delete them; move or rename them. Then try all of your applications to make sure they still work. Or use a program like the PC Magazine utility FDDLLS to see if any other applications reference these "public" files.

Similar guidelines hold for INI files. If the install program added a whole new section to WIN.INI, for example, chances are good you can delete that whole section. If it added lines in existing sections, the choice is less clear. Rather than delete added lines in either case, you can comment them out by putting a semicolon at the start of the line. If this change causes problems, you can simply restore the commented-out line.

If the install program changed an INI file key to a different value, don't blindly change it back upon uninstallation. Make a copy of the line in the INI file, comment out the line itself, and change the value back in the copied line. Again, it's possible that program A made this change, but program B relies on it.


Version 1.02

Version 1.02 fixes a couple of small glitches in the initially-released INCTRL 2.

The ability to use command-line switches for the install program was accidentally disabled in version 1.0.

INCTRL 2 normally gives special attention to WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI. You can track other INI files as well, but INCTRL 2 version 1.0 assumed those files were in the Windows directory. If you spelled out a full pathname for an INI file to watch, INCTRL 2 would fail to watch it. Version 1.02 fixes this problem. Also, version 1.02 checks at startup to make sure the specified INI files exist, and warns you if a file is missing.

The report heading in version 1.0 indicated the report was generated by the "beta version" - this has been corrected to "version 1.02"

When the report preview page appears, it now responds immediately to PgDn for scanning the report; previously you had to click on the report first.

NOTE: When the install program adds or removes a device= line to SYSTEM.INI, the report can be surprising. Instead of reporting that one device= line was added, INCTRL 2 may report that a different line was added and many device= lines were changed. This is because of the anomalous nature of device= lines. The keys in INI files are, by definition, unique. You can't have two keys in the same section with the same name. But Windows breaks this rule in SYSTEM.INI specifically for device= (and one or two less common lines). For example, if you previously had

[386Enh]

device=Bravo

device=Charlie

... and the install program added "device=Alpha", INCTRL 2 would report

KEYS ADDED TO SYSTEM.INI: (1)

[386Enh]device=Charlie

KEYS CHANGED IN SYSTEM.INI: (2)

[386Enh]device=Bravo to Alpha

[386Enh]device=Charlie to Bravo