X-Setup Pro 7.0
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Windows Registry
Extensive knowledge of the expansive and labyrinthine database known as the Windows Registry can give you great power to control your computer's appearance and behavior. Then again, mastering the thousands of obscure and esoteric settings found in the Registry is a lot easier said than done.
X-Setup Pro is a handy tool that aims to make the task of managing the Registry easier by exposing access to nearly 1800 different settings. Compatible with all Windows versions from 95 through XP and Windows Server 2003, X-Setup Pro can be run in two modes Classic and Wizard. If you're not intimidated by the thought of getting up close and personal with your Registry, then the former is for you.
Classic = Finely Tuned Control
When you run X-Setup Pro in classic mode, you're presented with a seemingly endless array of configurable settings organized into nine categories, including Appearance, Hardware, Internet, and Startup/Shutdown. As you browse the extensive hierarchical list and select individual items, most offer a brief explanation of their purpose, and because the sheer number of settings is so voluminous, you can add specific settings to a Favorites list, making them easier to access upon future use.
The range of modifications you can make in Classic mode is broad for example, you can perform relatively simple tweaks like removing applet icons from Control Panel, disabling ToolTips, or changing the default folder for desktop wallpaper. You can also make more complex and subtle changes, like adding custom options to Windows' context menus, disabling the operating system's built-in CD/DVD burning capability, or overriding the default NTFS behaviors regarding ACLs (Access Control Lists) so that when you copy a file or folder, the original permissions are retained (normally they take on the permissions of the destination location).
To minimize the possibility of serious system problems, X-Setup provides stark warning dialogs for options where changes might cause system instability or other negative consequences. You can also invoke a Safe Mode feature, which will prompt you to confirm each change you seek to make before it's actually implemented.
Depending on the area of the Registry being modified, a change may apply to the current user, all users, or the system itself, and X-Setup Pro points out when the effects of changing a setting will go beyond the currently logged on user. X-Setup Pro also gives you the ability to load the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key from any user profile located on the system, which lets you modify settings only for a specific user and have the changes take effect once that user logs into the system. This feature can come in handy for those wanting to lock down certain aspects of a system for users other than themselves.
If you're a systems administrator and you want to tweak the Registry of another machine or of multiple systems, X-Setup Pro's Record Mode will record all the changes you make to the local system and save them to a .REG file, which can then easily be imported to one or more machines.
Another useful feature especially for troubleshooting disabled systems is the ability to add X-Setup Pro to a bootable system CD or DVD made with BartPE (Pre-installed Environment). This will let you use X-Setup Pro on a system that's been rendered unbootable due to a damaged Registry, even if the utility wasn't previously installed on the system.
Because too many options can often be overwhelming, X-Setup Pro accommodates those who may approach Registry mods with some trepidation by providing a Wizard mode. This mode doesn't really provide any more setting information than Classic mode, but it does let you focus in on a specific category and related group of settings. Somewhat annoying, though, is the fact that the program closes after completing a wizard, forcing you to re-launch it constantly when using multiple wizards.
Undoing Changes
As powerful as X-Setup Pro is, there are a few things it could do a bit better, and one example concerns undoing changes. In most cases, the configuration changes made by X-Setup Pro take effect instantly, X-Setup Pro's Restore Log lets you undo changes you made, but not individually which lets you immediately see whether a modification had the intended effect.
(Or any effect at all in a few cases, changing a setting didn't seem to have a discernable effect in the relevant area.) If the new setting proves to be undesired, it can easily be reversed in most cases, at least.
Undoing a change can be a simple matter, because many settings modifications involve selecting or unselecting a single item. But some settings have multiple items and free text fields (for example, when you edit a file path) to be modified, and in these cases the burden is on the user to remember (or write down) what the original setting was. An actual undo function would come in handy here.
Fortunately, X-Setup Pro does automatically maintain a Restore Log that records all the changes by the utility to the system (it's independent of the System Restore feature built into Windows Me and later). However, it needs to be launched separately and is somewhat inconvenient to access when you simply want to undo the last change you made.
More concerning is the fact that the Restore Log also can't be used to roll back individual modifications; when you select a setting to revert, all the changes made since then will also be undone.
Another drawback results from registry settings occasionally differing depending on the generation of Windows. Unfortunately, X-Setup Pro doesn't display only those options that are relevant for your OS version. When you select a particular setting, the utility usually but not always indicates which specific Windows versions systems it applies to.
Licensing/Pricing
You can download a fully functional version of X-Setup Pro to try for 30 days. (To its credit, the software refrains from bombarding you with the annoying purchase "reminders" so common with shareware.) After the trial period, the software will stop working and must be registered. The registration fee is a mere $8 (purchasing more than 4 licenses gets you a 10% discount), a price that doesn't entitle you to updates or upgrades of the software.
For that, you'll need to ante up some additional scratch for "Update Protection" in the amount of $6 per year. Update Protection entitles you not only to new versions of the utility, but since each individual configuration option takes the form of a small XML plug-in, new and updated configuration options as well.
A word to the wise: If you install X-Setup Pro and decide to bail on it without buying, if you want to undo any changes you made with the utility you'll have to do so before removing the program, since uninstalling won't revert your system back to its previous configuration.
Overall, whether you're a network administrator looking for an easy and efficient way to modify multiple systems or a tech geek who simply likes to fiddle with your system's settings, X-Setup Pro will almost certainly satisfy your needs.
Pros: Quick and helpful access to more than 1800 registry entries, inexpensive ($8), works on all Windows platforms
Cons: Simplistic Undo function could be much more useful, Rollback Log function must be launched separately and does not offer the ability to undo individual changes, lacks the ability to filter OS-specific entries, updates require yearly subscription ($6/year)
