Are there any tools to diff two VMWARE Windows XP images?

Question

Is there any tool that can summarize Registry and File differences between two VMWARE Windows XP images?

Answer 1

I'm not aware of anything specifically for VMWare images, but if you can start up the VMs then why not use standard file & Registry diff tools?

For example, RegShot will allow you to take a snapshot of Registry and filesystem information, and compare it with another snapshot taken from a different machine.

Answer 2

Assuming the VMs you want to compare are powered off, I would try using the VMware Disk Mount utility to mount their virtual disks and then use diff or your favorite file comparison tool on them. There is a little tutorial on using the utility here: http://www.petri.co.il/virtual_mount_vmware_virtual_disk_without_vmware.htm.

Good luck!

--jed

Answer 3

For generic files you could use md5sum (or whatever GUI alternatives there are) and then diff that and for registry whatever tool that can dump it to a file.

Answer 4

I can suggest you Ashampoo Uninstaller

It can create shanpshoot of registry and file system, export it to various formats. 2 different snapshots can be visually compared within it, or you can even create installation out of it.

Superb tool, I use it for years even before Ahsampoo bought it, to make portable tools.