Alien Registry Viewer

  What is Alien Registry Viewer?

Alien Registry Viewer is similar to the RegEdit application included into Windows, but unlike RegEdit, it works with standalone windows registry files. While RegEdit shows the contents of the system registry, Alien Registry Viewer works with registry files copied from other computers.  Alien Registry Viewer can be extremely useful for system administration and forensic computer examination purposes.

The current version of Alien Registry Viewer works in the read-only mode, i.e. you can view but you cannot edit registry files.

  Using Alien Registry Viewer

The system registry resides in several files. In Windows 9x/Me there are two registry files: system.dat and user.dat. User.dat contains the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive while system.dat contains all other hives. Both these files can be found in the Windows directory.

In Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 the system registry resides in the following files:

NTUSER.DAT. - this file contains the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive

SAM. - this file contains the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHIVE\SAM hive

SOFTWARE.  this file contains the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHIVE\SOFTWARE hive

SECURITY. this file contains the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHIVE\SECURITY hive

SYSTEM. this file contains all other subhives of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHIVE such as SYSTEM

NTUSER.DAT is located in the Documents and Settings\<username> folder. The other four files are located in the Windows\system32\config folder. Sometimes, you can also find copies of registry files in the Windows\repair folder.

To view registry files use the File|Open menu command. You will be prompted to choose one or more of the five registry files to open. You should specify at least one registry file to proceed. You can omit one or more files, however, if you do, the corresponding registry keys will not be available.

The user interface of Alien Registry Viewer is straightforward and similar to that of RegEdit. Alien Registry Viewer allows you to explore registry files, search for specific key names and values, export registry data into a .REG file and bookmark registry keys as favorites.

  Related software

You could be interested in the following related software products:

RegSnap - Registry Viewer, Registry Analyzer, Registry Tracer. RegSnap takes registry snapshots and compares them. It generates a report that shows differences between snapshots. It can also generate undo and redo .REG files.

Secret Explorer - Protected Storage Explorer. Secret Explorer allows you to view and edit system Protected Storage. Windows uses Protected Storage to store various passwords and settings such as Internet Explorer autocomplete data. Secret Explorer is a must have tool for forensic computer examination.

If you have any problem or question, feature request or inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us. Just send us email, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.