registry question!

[craft211]

I need someone to tell me if this is possible. What i'm trying to do is: make a registry file in the form of a .cab install file, that when installed would automaticly change all the reg keys without going through and changing them 1 by 1, much like you would in windows xp. is this possible?

I need to know if I can do this. I have to do about 6-10 reg tweaks on almost 500 different AT&T tilts.

Please help or direct me to a website that might know.

Thank you
James

 

[kbcherry]

The answer to your question is yes, you can create .cab files to do the registry updates. But I'm no help after that as I am not familiar with creating cab files. CodyPPC (a member here) has created several of them over at ppcgeeks.com for the Mogul. If you PM him he may be able to point you in the right direction. He gives back an awful lot to the community and is busy so you may need to be patient.

You can find a same of his work here:

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=10668

 

[taylorh]

I created .cab files to edit registry settings and posted them on my (pathetic) web site:
http://www.gadgetech.info/treo/hacks/registry/
In fact, HTC stole the ones I created for disabling/enabling the cingular proxy and included them on the 8525 update and Tilt (calling it the proxy manager.) LOL. If they didn't steal mine, they created identical ones.

I'm trying to remember what program I used to create them. There are a couple of ways to do this. It's just been so long I forgot how.

I promise I'll post back instructions for doing this. I have some reg tweaks I need to roll in to a .cab for myself to use on my Tilt when I factory reset it anyway.

 

[taylorh]

I found this in my bookmarks. It's an FAQ on how to create a CAB file with registry edits.
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BA_PersonalCAB
The instructions are geared to making changes, exporting the whole registry, making it a CAB, then putting it in a custom ROM.
But I prefer creating a .cab file with ONLY the few changes you want. And just run the .cab file manually from an SD card or download. I'm not in to custom ROMs, I don't see much point, you don't want to do that anyway.

The Jist of it is that you use that program WinCE Cab manager:
http://www.ocpsoftware.com/products.php?nm=cecabmgr
Pretty much it's a GUI that will create a .CAB file for you. It can install files, or simply include reg edits. It's pretty easy to use.

What I usually do is this:
1) Install Resco Explorer registry editor
2) Make the registry changes.
3) Export just the KEY (folder) of the section you made the changes to a .reg file.
4) Open the .reg file in a text editor and
5) Copy what's in the .reg file to make the changes in WinCE CAB manager. Then create the CB.

The problem is that software is $100. It has a trial period. The trick is that every time you close and open the app, you use up one of the sessions. So if you can, execute it and keep it open as long as you can to prolong the trial period.

Alternatively here's the MANUAL way to do it.
1) Create a file _setup.xml
Here's an example of what goes in _setup.xml (note this forum removed the indentations in the XML code):

<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="Registry">
<characteristic type="HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings">
<parm name="EnableAutoDetect" value="1" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>

This is equivalent to the following .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"EnableAutoDetect"=dword:00000001

Both of those files the .cab and .reg files (DisableProxy) are found here:
http://www.gadgetech.info/treo/hacks/disableproxy/index.shtml
To extract the contents of the .cab file, use winrar extract.

2) OK, so once you create _setup.xml, simply use WinRAR to create a .rar file, then rename it to whatever.cab.
I BELIEVE this is how I created the .cab file. (shrug, I don't fully remember.)

3) Then you should be able to execute the .cab file on the Tilt and it should import the reg change.

Honestly, I might have done the _setup.xml files using WinCE cab manager initially then reverse engineered it to create them by hand. I don't remember.

You can find more information on MSDN here:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb737517.aspx
Search MSDN for "wap-provisioningdoc" or other key words in that .xml file.

I hope this helps. I know it's not totally straightforward. Using the WinCE Cab manager is probably the easiest way to go.

Here is another example.
The _setup.xml file in the .cab file

<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="Registry">
<characteristic type="HKLM\Security\Internet Explorer\User Agent">
<parm name="CustomBase" value="Palm750/v0005 Mozilla/4.0" datatype="string" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>

The equivalent .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Internet Explorer\User Agent]
"CustomBase"="Palm750/v0005 Mozilla/4.0"

Those two files are found here:
http://www.gadgetech.info/treo/hacks/registry/

I think the tricky part is knowing what value to use for 'datatype'

OH OH OH!!! (said very excitedly) I found the page on MSDN!!!
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa457894.aspx
Title: "Setup XML in .cab and .cpf Files"

Note this line: "A hand-made _setup.xml can be used with the makecab.exe utility to generate .cpf files for Pocket PC and Smartphone."
I believe makecab.exe can be found in the "Microsoft Cabinet Software Development Kit" here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310618

Sorry this is all over the place. I'm discovering this stuff as I go along and write this.
In any case, this should get you started. That is assuming you understand anything I've said here

 

[Dieter Bohn]

Sorry this is all over the place. I'm discovering this stuff as I go along and write this.
In any case, this should get you started. That is assuming you understand anything I've said here

...sounds like a candidate for a front page article there, taylor.

 

[craft211]

i just want to make sure that this is the correct code. if someone could check it for me and tell me if i made any mistakes in it. thank you

<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="Registry">
<characteristic type="HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\RIL">
<parm name="EnableFastDormantDisplayDuringCall" value="0" datatype="integer" />
<characteristic type="HKCU\ControlPanel\Phone">
<parm name="Sleep" value="0" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>

 

[taylorh]

i just want to make sure that this is the correct code. if someone could check it for me and tell me if i made any mistakes in it. thank you

<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="Registry">
<characteristic type="HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\RIL">
<parm name="EnableFastDormantDisplayDuringCall" value="0" datatype="integer" />
<characteristic type="HKCU\ControlPanel\Phone">
<parm name="Sleep" value="0" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>

This looks right to me. I can't give you the 100% guarantee.
You just need to test it now.
Manually set those values differently (using resco explorer registry, or another reg editor) and then run the cab to test it.