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Summary: Registry cleaners are widely available. When do you need one? Why? In general, a registry cleaner isn't needed and when it is shouldn't be used frequently. What would be the best software to buy to fix and clean the registry for Windows XP Professional? There's a wide variety of opinion on registry cleaners. Many people believe that they're important tools to keep your system running smoothly. My opinion's a little different. • I rarely use a registry cleaner. In fact, I've never actually felt that I've needed to use a registry cleaner. And I definitely install and play with random things on my machine on a regular basis. My fundamental belief is that the best registry cleaner is no registry cleaner at all. Most people simply don't need it, and don't need to run one. "My fundamental belief is that the best registry cleaner
is no registry cleaner at all."
Many people reach for a registry cleaner when an application is having problems, or when Windows is misbehaving. The problem is that these types of situations rarely respond to registry "cleaning" - it often requires application or Windows-specific resolution. So when is registry cleaning appropriate? Besides rarely? I would identify two cases:
In both cases, I consider it one of the last resorts because while it might help, it's just not that likely to help much. But as I said, there are those that disagree with this position. And, to be honest, registry cleaners are unlikely to do any damage. Naturally you should take care to always be backed up properly, but unless you explicitly select advanced or aggressive options meant for the more advanced (or aggressive) users, you're unlikely to hurt anything with one of the recommended registry cleaners. It can happen, but it's rare. So if you're going to use a registry cleaner, what tool to use? There are plenty of tools out there. Rather than duplicate his effort, last year Fred Langa compared several registry cleaners: Langa Letter: Testing 10 Windows 'Registry Cleaning' Software Packs. I'll simply endorse his conclusion: EasyCleaner as a free solution, and Macecraft's JV16PowerTools, an inexpensive commercial solution that includes not only a registry cleaner but an entire suite of maintenance utilities. (Full disclosure: Macecraft is an occasional advertiser in Leo's Answers Newsletter. That being said, this is the package I own, and I purchased my copy just like anyone else.) Related:
Article 10467 | Posted July 2, 2006 |
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Thanks for the good advice on registry cleaners!!
Posted by: Garth at June 17, 2008 2:22 PMMy personal preference is Windows Live One Care. For a nominal fee you can cover off up to three computers providing you with virus protection, clean up, defrag etc. Registry clean up is also available through Microsoft Safety Scan at no additional cost.
Posted by: Mike at July 8, 2008 8:55 AMAppreciate opinions.
REGISTRY REPAIR >>> PERFORMANCE
Posted by: Den at August 12, 2008 7:04 PMBest registry repair is a "clean/fresh install"
of the systen software with latest drivers.
TIPS:
_clean install XP, then do repair install
(this rearranges the xp loading.. seems improved)
_install drivers before XP SP2 if possible.
_XP SP3 after a clean install seems to improve
performance: memory management, filekeeping,
and fragmentation
_defragment: boot defragment and XP defrag
at startup (UltraDefrag boot works for me,
but in OS it requires shutdown of security suite)
Registry repair after clean install really slows
performance and causes video "glitches".
My choices for registry repair have been:
1. Advanced System Optimizer (ASO), SysTweak
2. Registry Mechanic, iolo
3. Glary Utilities (free).
I agree and do not use registry repair except
as a temporary patch and tnen only one element at a time with restore points.
is kool z explanation
Posted by: kash at August 24, 2008 10:08 AMAgain everyone has their own tastes and I with mine have to disagree with Leo. I think Registry Cleaners are a vital part of our computer's lives. When the aforementioned annoying problems persist it tends to reflect upon a heavily damaged, poorly kempt Windows Registry. By utilizing todays registry technology computers can recieve their regular maintenance easily by their owners. Not some overpayed geek. Theres a ton of registry programs out there and the wrong one can do more harm then good. But with the right one your computer can continue to run as new. There is freeware type programs available but if a vital mistake is made there is no support team to help. Sometimes even no backup options. Leave something as important as your computer registry not to chance. Click here To see my review page of today's top Registry Cleaners.
-Leo
Posted by: Gabe Redfield at September 1, 2008 3:58 PM
Definitely Registry Fix!
Second pick: RegSweep... :)
Posted by: Matt at September 6, 2008 11:25 AMThis article is 100% bullcrap! The auther tells you the best registry cleaner is no registry cleaner at all because he fails at understanding how the Registry works. Any free or old programs you might have installed, licences, keyboard, mouse operations, tracking programs, and may other things that hinder your PC experiene exist in the registry. You must clean it and keep it compact. Anyone who does not or says you dont (Leo) is a complete moron!
I stand by what I said, moron or not. 99% of the crap that does end up in the registry is totally benign, and most of the time doesn't impact performance in any appreciable way. There's simply no need to clean it out.
What you don't see are the people who've totally hosed their system by running a registry cleaner that "cleaned too much". I see that. Often.
Unless you know what you're doing (see my response to the next comment), in my opinion registry cleaners are simply not necessary 99% of the time.
22-Sep-2008
Leo's (Opinion) is very wrong!
You need a registry cleaner to uninstall old data from programs that did not fully install, erase invalid settings and keys.
The health of your registry is critical to the total health of your PC.
Many, Many programs you no longer have on your PC currently might still exist and have registry keys in your Registry File.
So people please invest in a good registry cleaner to keep your machine from stressing you out and running invalid keys.
Pointer : You can make registrybackup files by typing regedit in your run button box located on start menu. Choose file export from the registry window with the My Computer (top of list) selected. Save the export file (regbackup01.reg) in a folder (registry back up).
To restore your registry back to its old version just double click on your back up file.
Specifically "The health of your registry is critical to the total health of your PC" is much too broad a statement. Having a lot of old data left in the registry does not make for an "unhealthy registry" or an unhealthy machine. The impact is typically minimal, and not worth the risk of an over-aggressive registry cleaning.
Yes, there are absolutely things that can happen in the registry that can adversely impact your machine's performance. But that's quite different than the oft-repeated "there's stuff left over in your registry". The later is, again, benign 99% of the time.
Registry cleaners are an appropriate tool for those who know what they're doing - perhaps even GeekSquad members - but they're not something I recommend for the average user, except as the article calls out, as a last resort.
One other thing: "To restore your registry back to its old version just double click on your back up file." - that assumes your machine still boots. In the scenarios I hear about quite often it does not, and recovery isn't nearly that simple.
22-Sep-2008
Regsitry Easy is a good one to use. It helps you scan your PC, safely clean the errors & invalid entries cause system slow, freezing and crashing, and repair registry problems to speedup your computer performances. It is easy to use.
Registry Easy
Posted by: Michael Bourquin at September 29, 2008 8:53 AMThanks for an excellent article Leo.
The people who say that is essential to use a registry cleaner are clueless - it is not essential.
Another point, most of the cooments with links to download registry cleaners or to review sites have been made by affiliates of the programs they suggest and they make money from sales of them. So their opinion is worthless as they are just trying to make money.
Having used practially every registry cleaner written for Windows I can honestly say that more that 99% of registry cleaners identify at least some valid registry entries as being bad, and deleting these entries can and often does cause problems with the worst case scenario being that Windows will no longer start.
For people who do feel the need to mess with their registry I recommend TuneUp Utilities 2009 as it very safe and the trial version is fully functional, unlike many registry cleaners.
CCleaner and Argente Registry Cleaner are the only free registry cleaners which are safe to use, however on occasion the deletion of empty software keys can cause problems and a restore will be needed.
Posted by: Roger at October 3, 2008 8:09 PM