balenaEtcher

Version documented: 1.19.21 Installer type: .exe (NSIS, user-level) Hives written: HKCU, HKLM

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📁 Registry Paths

Path	Hive	Purpose
SOFTWARE\balena\balenaEtcher	HKCU	User preferences
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{GUID}	HKCU	Uninstall entry (user install)
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\balenaEtcher	HKLM	Uninstall entry (machine install)

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🔑 Keys

HKCU\SOFTWARE\balena\balenaEtcher

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
updater.disabled	REG_SZ	false	Auto-update toggle
analytics.enabled	REG_SZ	false	Usage analytics
windowBounds	REG_SZ	{"x":100,"y":100,"width":800,"height":600}	Saved window position/size
lastOpenedDrive	REG_SZ	\\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1	Last target drive

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall{GUID}

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
DisplayName	REG_SZ	balenaEtcher 1.19.21	Display name
DisplayVersion	REG_SZ	1.19.21	Version string
Publisher	REG_SZ	Balena	Publisher
InstallLocation	REG_EXPAND_SZ	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\balenaEtcher	Install path
UninstallString	REG_SZ	"...\Uninstall balenaEtcher.exe"	Uninstaller path

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📝 Notes

• User-level installs write uninstall entry to HKCU; machine-level write to HKLM.
• Preferences stored as JSON strings in REG_SZ values (Electron app pattern).
• No HKCR file associations — Etcher does not register .img/.iso handlers.
• To disable analytics before first launch, pre-create the analytics.enabled key set to false.

# Disable analytics silently
$path = "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\balena\balenaEtcher"
if (-not (Test-Path $path)) { New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null }
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name "analytics.enabled" -Value "false"

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🗑️ Cleanup

# Remove balenaEtcher registry entries after uninstall
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\balena\balenaEtcher" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\balena" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Remove uninstall entry (user-level install)
Get-ChildItem "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" |
  Where-Object { (Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPath).DisplayName -like "*balenaEtcher*" } |
  Remove-Item -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

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📦 Package Managers

Manager	ID / Command
winget	winget install Balena.balenaEtcher
Chocolatey	choco install etcher
Scoop	scoop install extras/balenaetcher