different ways that Windows store config settings

Mods: I hope this is the right forum. If not please move.

I am working with Claude AI to do a PS script to back up all changes to Windows default settings (as in SETTINGS). I had assumed that all these settings were just reg entries. I was wrong. Here is what Claude wrote:

This one cannot be taken literally, and I want to reset the expectation before building. Windows Settings is not a single storable object:

Some panels map to registry keys - these we can capture and restore

Many panels live in opaque per-app containers, databases, or cloud-synced state that cannot be exported and reimported as settings

So "capture all Settings" is not achievable as stated. The reliable approach is the one you are already doing: keep your accumulating list of SPECIFIC settings, and for each we determine whether it is (a) registry-capturable, (b) scriptable another way, or (c) manual-only. I capture the ones that can be captured and clearly document the rest as manual.

So what do we make of this "split" configuration management? Are we in the middle of some migration from Control Panel to SETTINGS? In which direction? Something else?

PhilB said:

back up all changes to Windows default settings

Click to expand...

Not sure what your goal is, but if it's to restore a system to factory defaults, I think "Reset this PC" does that.

The majority of Windows settings are stored in the registry.
Some Windows settings are stored in local config files.
Some Windows settings are stored in SQLite databases.

UWP apps create their own registry files, outside of the Windows registry in a per-user and per-app basis. This follows the UWP security model.

For many Windows settings, there isn't a notion of restoring to "default". There is an initialized setting, which is what the settings are immediately after a clean install or recent update. But Windows tends not to have "Reset All" for settings. It's best to perform a full backup immediately after an install if you want to preserve the same starting point.

The other problem is there is no comprehensive list of Settings, because it depends on what Windows release and build you have. Some settings are added, removed or modified between different builds. Windows is a moving target.

MS's stated goal is to eventually remove all "classic Windows" features like the Control Panel. Different parts of its feature set have been moved to the Settings app but MS admits it's a major project that will take them a long time. But work is speeding up, because it's a priority again.

Banjoman301 said:

Not sure what your goal is, but if it's to restore a system to factory defaults, I think "Reset this PC" does that.

Click to expand...

No. Qiite the opposite. It's to restore my system to the same state it was just before a wipe and clean install.

You could use a tool like Carifred's PCDataBack to backup user accounts and profile data before doing a wipe, then restore them using the same tool after the clean install.

Then it's just reinstalling apps.

"The problem's all inside your head," MS said to me
"The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be succeed
There must be fifty ways to store your Settings"
MS said, "It's really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued
But I'll repeat myself at the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways to store your Settings"
Fifty ways to store your Settings.