Let's say I'm installing a software on Windows and I want to see all the changes it has made during its installation, what is the easiest way to keep track of system changes. The change could happen in program/system files or registry etc., Is there a tool that tracks that changes? This could be useful in, for example, a patch installation where an administrator may want to keep track of all the changes it has made.
Windows – Keeping track of changes to a System during Software/Patch Installation
patch-managementwindowswindows-server-2003
Related Solutions
There are several ways of accomplishing this. One of my favorites is using WinInstall LE (a free product which has changed hands many times over its lifetime) to capture the installation package. The same pre / post snapshot method is available in many products. It'll detail exactly what changes are being made.
You can also use a couple of the sysinternals tools to do the same thing but it tends to have more background noise.
Best Answer
Sysinternal's Process monitor might come in handy here. Though it could be a bit too verbose, you can filter out other processes and tweak until it works best for you. Launch it and scan, then start your install and stop once it's done.
Process Monitor
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx
There might be other Free solutions that are specific for the launched binary install, but I'm not aware of them.
Quick Update
I agree with Evan, at least for the registry, if it's too verbose you might want to run an export before and after the install. Windows 2003 Support tools come with windiff.exe (an old favorite for looking up differences in the registry - between two .reg files).