.ini or registary for program settings

[isnoend07]

A few yrs back Microsoft said to sore program settings in the regristary. That is where mine are stored.
Now i hear vista won't allow this.
Is .ini files the solutation ?

[realbogus]

I have used INI files, due to the ease of remote updating.

I don't know enought yet about the nuts and bolts of Vista, but a friend has had issue with VB6 and .NET 2003 running right under it... so if I was you, stick with what you know. Most corporate entities are not moving to Vista anytime soon, so XP will be around for a long time.

If you are concerned, just use and INI file. They are easy and quick.

[Keithuk]

Stick with ini files they are simple and easy at least they don't leave crap in the registry after you've uninstalled.

[isnoend07]

Thanks for your reply
I have given this more thought and i have 5 programs that write to the registary stuff like combo indexs, option button values, window placements etc. It would be a big hassel to rewrite.
Here is why i use the registary:
No need to ship and install more files
Users Cannot delete them.
I sell roof estimating programs and not to corp users and i think many people will be using Vista. I understand that all new pc's are loaded with vista.
I am gonna just wait at this time and see what happens.
Does anyone know for a fact that vista will not allow registary writes?

[RhinoBull]

...
Here is why i use the registary:
- No need to ship and install more files
- Users Cannot delete them...

True, but "so what" ??? Let them delete "their" files - you would just have everything back to defaults.
I would use INI or XML file (most likely the xml) rather than registry.

[randem]

I have always use ini files and an occasional registry entry. This is what works for me. I use Ini files because if the user wants to move the installation of any of my programs the registry is not of any use. They could backup the ini file and preserve all information. Especially is the machine crashed and they needed to re-install. The registry would be a complete waste for this and all of their information stored in the registry would be lost also, since no backup could preserve this for a re-install.

After re-installing the application and copying the ini file back to it's original location all functions would be back to the point they were just before the crash.

I think that MS has also figured this out by now...

[schoolbusdriver]

Thanks for your reply
I have given this more thought and i have 5 programs that write to the registary stuff like combo indexs, option button values, window placements etc. It would be a big hassel to rewrite.

The much underused functions "Write / ReadPrivateProfileStruct" make it very easy to store and retrieve a mass of settings with a single call.

Ini files make life easier if you want to share settings across different logged-in users. If you want individual settings, you could create several ini files based on, say, the currently logged-in user (or just lump it all in one file).

[Jaquio]

Or you can do what I did, and created something along the lines of an INI file but encrypted instead and using a setup I made. It is pretty awesome, all my programs I made use the system.