What is MUICache? (XP registry)

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north1

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Apr 4, 2004
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It's located in the XP registry at HKCU > Software > Microsoft > Windows > ShellNoRoam > MUICache
After some searching, I haven't been able to find a definitive answer for what this key is used for and how significant it is.

The reason I want to know is that the installer of a new program I just tried (PTLens) deleted almost the entire MUICache during the install. Most of the entries it deleted reference other programs or Windows components. This seems very suspicious. Those entries have nothing to with the new program.

Here's a list from Total Uninstall of the things it deleted.
 
MUI = multi-language user interface. Basically it's the language pack.
 
I'm sure that acronym is correct, but I want to know what the registry keys are used for and the level of their importance. They reference specific programs and Windows components and in this case were suspiciously deleted by a program installer. Surely the actual registry data is used for a specific purpose.

Any idea why a program that corrects distortion in photos would go into the registry and delete references to things like Peerblock, Notepad, Firefox, 7zip, Winamp, and Windows Messenger?
 
Did the PTLens installer do that, or did the windows installer do that?

Its for grouping programs by name on the taskbar. It recreates out of /.default in Users. Critical stuff ;)
 
That's a good question. How to know which installer? It was a very simple install - just click next and in less than 2 secs everything is done.

Is there any confirmation from Microsoft about it being taskbar related? It just doesn't make sense to me because (1) all those programs are never opened at once on the taskbar, (2) It's only a small percentage of the total programs that are installed/used, (3) it contains many non-taskbar items such as Fonts, Network Connections, Folder Options, Administrative Tools, etc.

And again, why would any installer delete these references to unrelated items. I've never noticed it with any other install.
 
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