Could I Still Program?

I'd like a program that would compare backups of the Windows registry. In the past I have written a similar system that would compare COBOL programs (before and after changes). It was written in COBOL. I could try Visual Basic. Is there a a COBOL compiler that will run on a personal computer? A first requirement would be to convert the register file to a fixed format if it isn't already. The output must show additions, deletions, and changes and where they are located. The general procedure was to add a sequence number, sort on content, match, create a matched file, and resort on sequence number. A procedure was devised to handle the many duplicates. Perhaps I could recreate that. The form of the output would require some thought. So would the easiest language.