Total Commander

Very glad about the percentages of this poll so far. Avoid the registry as much as possible !
With that : also glad that TC is one of the very vew apps where you can choose during setup where the ini-file must be.

exactly, i like to keep my apps in separate folders, so all ini's, user bars etc in TC's directory make it pretty easy to move and handle.

Only INI!
TC is cool because it's almost machine-independent

i voted "only in .ini files". and it came to my mind: "and only in the plugins folder. all other locations are crap."

Registry is the most foolish and f**kish M$ invention! AVOID IT ALWAYS!!!

I selected "only *.ini files", but I spoke too soon.

I have no problem with the filetype of the configuration (*.ini, .*reg, *.xml or whatever), as long as it is stored in the same directory as the concerned plugin (or application) such that it is portable.

Even for applications I only use on one PC, why would the settings be lost/changed by installing another OS? (or by using in another OS with multi-boot). I always use portable software if I can help it (TC included).

I've had bad experiences with "centralized configuration" (Windows registry, Windows directory full of INIs, user-profile full of INIs, TC plugins INIs in TC directory instead of plugin directory, etc.), so I have become allergic to installers.

P.S. To me, INIs seem easier to edit than XMLs, which seem easier to edit than REGs, which are all easier to edit than binary files (SumatraPDF .dat, Firefox 3 .sqlite, etc.), but as Flint said: if the plugin/application has good configuration GUI, I don't much care about file format.

I agree with siealex but it's not realistic to avoid it totally at the moment, or ignore it.
I do care about the formats. I dunno about XML, but a *.reg file is considered to be an application, because it can be run.
An *.ini file not. If a *.reg file is double-clicked, the key contents are added to the registry. A very riskful situation.
An INI file should be in the root of the application, or plugin, simply because it's the first location the system will look.

INI file for CE versions too!

INI, INI, INI!!! For WM versions too! An ini file must be in the same folder as EXE.

DEFINETLY .... INI!!!

Because when you reinstall Windows ... you only copy the ini files and everything is back to normal

I keep all my TC INIs and Plugins on my backup drive (D:). Easier to re-insall in I lose drive C for some reason.