Miscellaneous

I'm not familiar with Install Watch. Could you be more specific on what you expect of the tool?

What kind of output do you want for example?
Do you want to use it to build a 'package' or simply detect some changes and have it placed in a report?

Use Picture Taker from Lannovation if you want to monitor the changes ,again as Rheuvel pointed out need to be specific on the expectations

I would like for the software to take a registry, file, and folder structure snapshot prior to software installation. I would install adobe reader (for example), then I would take another snapshot. At this point, I would want the software to return a report to show me what changes were made on the machine for reference, etc. It would also be useful if the software could monitor settings changes caused by a program that is already installed, similar to regfromapp, but capable of monitoring the entire registry and not just the changes caused by a specific process.

Install Watch 2.5, a product [who's] whose parent site seems to be out of commissionYou can get v2.5 here.

Thanks to all who posted. I also found 'Registry Watch' which is a great, simple tool for snapshots. I downloaded the other suggestions, including InstallRite, which has all features of Install Watch 2.5, and will be testing those later today.

Hi bowlesrice

I would recommend "installrite" it is easy to use and and free to download. it iwll help you monitor any changes made with file and registry and folders during installation of the software