registry patches

when you apply a patch to the registry, does it append or does it overwrite? if it appends, does it only append the strings that are not already contained in the key?

 

nm

nm, i figured it out... Yes, it appends all strings not already present in the branch of the registry you are adding to.

 

It depends on how it was written.
If Windows Explorer called it "Registration Entries" as a file type, it was a Reg file. The Reg file can create and modify Keys and Values. It is not limited to merely appending. Right click on the file and select Edit, it will open in Notepad and you can see what what was added/changed, if you have that in the context menu for that file type.

There are three other file types which can be used in the registry.
The Inf, VBS, and the JS file types, but their usage is beyond the scope of your question.