I know this is an older thread, but I thought I'd add my 2 cents.
I like to keep all my programs and data on an SD disk, this is because I keep forgetting to recharge the ppc.
If you have had a PPC for very long then most likely you have needed to hit the reset button or left it to the point the backup battery died.
I'm not sure if this this resets the registry but why take the chance ( I don't).
If you use external memory (SD card) then why not write to an ini file in the default program folder?
Ian