Sins Creates too many unneccessary Windows Registry entries

Windows XP, Retail Patched

While cleaning the Windows XP registry, I noticed Sins placed hunders and hundreds of keys related to textures and game assets in this registry key:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\
Components\00127AA46723FBF46B58B65D1393963A

The data that particular key holds is a directory and file:

\Sins of a Solar Empire\Textures\Unit_Hud_CursorOver.tga

This continues a few hundred times, with different data. I have seen this registry behavior before with Sega's expansion pack to Rome: Total War, Barbarian Invasion.

Not only is this a silly way to store data, it's problematic for users and if the uninstall process ever gets corrupted, woe to the user (ME) who has to manually uninstall these keys, like I had to do with Barbarian Invasion.

What were you thinking?

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Sins itself does not use the registry at all, so far as I'm aware. That UserData key must be full of recently used files or something.

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Then why would they be under the Installer section?

Another program that does this kind of thing is the Microsoft Office suite - perhaps not the same section, but the same idea. I find it annoying too

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You might want to check out the stardock installer. Most likely that is the cause of the registry entries.

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