📊 Project Statistics

Current coverage across 100 open-source Windows applications — updated with each release.

🗂️ Registry Coverage

Metric	Count
Total apps documented	100
Total registry paths documented	323
Apps that write to HKCU	78 (78%)
Apps that write to HKLM	85 (85%)
Apps that write to HKCR (file associations / URI schemes)	34 (34%)
Apps that write to all three (HKCU + HKLM + HKCR)	21 (21%)
Apps with Windows service keys (`HKLM\SYSTEM\...\Services`)	15
Apps that write to HKLM only (no user-level keys)	13
Apps that write to HKCU only	11

🔑 Hive Distribution

HKLM  ████████████████████████████████████████████████  85%  (85 apps)
HKCU  █████████████████████████████████████████████     78%  (78 apps)
HKCR  ████████████████████                              34%  (34 apps)

📦 Installer Type Breakdown

Type	Count
`.exe` (various)	63
`.msi`	11
Portable (no installer)	12
Built-in / OS feature	1

🖥️ Apps with Windows Services

These apps install Windows services (HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services) — relevant for sysadmins managing startup behavior and service accounts:

Application	Service Name
Docker Desktop	`com.docker.service`
Nextcloud Desktop	`nextcloud` (VFS)
OBS Studio	`OBSVirtualCam`
OpenVPN	`OpenVPNService`, `tap0901`
Process Hacker	`KProcessHacker3` (kernel driver)
RustDesk	`RustDesk`
Syncthing	`SyncTrayzor`
Oracle VM VirtualBox	`VBoxDrv`, `VBoxNetFlt`
Wireshark	`npcap` (packet capture driver)
WSL	`WslService`, `LxssManager`
ZeroTier	`ZeroTierOneService`

🔗 Apps with File Associations (HKCR)

28 apps register file type handlers or URI schemes in HKCR. Key examples:

Application	File Types / URI Schemes
7-Zip	`.7z`, `.zip`, `.rar`, `.tar`, `.gz`, `.bz2`
AutoHotkey	`.ahk`
Calibre	`.epub`, `.mobi`, `.fb2`
Firefox	`FirefoxHTML`, `FirefoxURL`, `mailto:`
Git Extensions	`.git`
IrfanView	`.jpg`, `.png`, `.bmp`, `.webp`, `.heic`
KeePassXC	`.kdbx`
MPC-HC	`.mkv`, `.mp4`, `.avi`, `.mov`
MusicBee	`.mp3`, `.flac`, `.ogg`, `.aac`
Nmap	`.nmap` (Zenmap profile)
Python	`.py`, `.pyw`
Signal	`sgnl://`
Sumatra PDF	`.pdf`, `.epub`, `.cbz`, `.djvu`
Telegram	`tg://`
Thunderbird	`mailto:`, `.eml`
VLC	`.mp4`, `.mkv`, `.avi`, `.mp3`, `vlc://`
WinMerge	Explorer context menu (all files)
Wireshark	`.pcap`, `.pcapng`, `.cap`

🛠️ Apps with Portable / No-Install Options

These apps can run with zero registry footprint (useful for restricted environments):

Application	Notes
Everything	Portable `.exe` available
KeePass Password Safe	Portable `.zip` available
KeePassXC	Portable `.zip` available
MPC-HC	Portable `.zip` available
Notepad2	Primarily portable
Rufus	Single `.exe`, no installer
Sumatra PDF	Portable `.exe` available
Syncthing	Single `.exe`, no installer
WinDirStat	Portable `.exe` available

📈 Growth History

Milestone	Apps
Initial release	19
Batch 2 (developer tools)	29
Batch 3 (productivity + dev tools)	39
Batch 4 (utilities + security)	50
Batch 5 (sysadmin + multimedia)	60
Batch 6 (media + sync + dev)	70
Batch 7 (creative + utilities)	80
Batch 8 (network + media + dev tools)	90
Batch 9 (hardware + utilities + developer tools)	100

🔄 Keeping Docs Current

Registry keys can change between major app versions. This project uses two mechanisms to stay up to date:

Automated Staleness Detection

A weekly GitHub Actions workflow runs every Monday. It:

Queries winget for the latest version of each documented app
Compares it against the version recorded in each .md file
Opens a GitHub Issue automatically listing any docs that appear stale

You can also run the check locally:

# Check all apps — show table of current vs. latest
pwsh -File tools/check-versions.ps1

# Show only stale apps
pwsh -File tools/check-versions.ps1 -StaleOnly

# Output GitHub issue-ready markdown
pwsh -File tools/check-versions.ps1 -OutputFormat issues

`last_verified` Tracking

Every entry in index.json includes a last_verified date derived from the last git commit to that file. This makes it easy to identify docs that haven't been touched in a long time.

How to Update a Stale Doc

Install the latest app version on a test system
Use regedit or reg query to verify current registry structure
Update the version number and any changed keys in windows/<app>.md
Run pwsh -File tools/validate-docs.ps1 to verify
Run pwsh -File tools/build-index.ps1 to rebuild the index
Submit a PR — see CONTRIBUTING.md

Want to add an app? See CONTRIBUTING.md.