Registry cleaner

[Judy Canty]

What is a registry cleaner and why would I need one?

[JRS]

The Registry contains information that Windows continually references during operation, such as profiles for each user, the applications installed on the computer and the types of documents that each can create, property sheet settings for folders and application icons, what hardware exists on the system, and the ports that are being used. The Registry replaces most of the text-based .ini files that are used in Windows 3.x and MS-DOS configuration files, such as the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. Although the Registry is common to several Windows operating systems, there are some differences among them.

Programs, when installed, write lines to the Microsoft "Registry" file. When programs are removed, some do a good job of removing those same lines from the Registry - others do a poor job. Over a period of time, these leftovers just clutter the Registry. To avoid potential conflicts, a "Registry Cleaner" looks for lines in the Registry that are no longer valid and advise you of this.

Beware though, manipulating the Microsoft Registry can be very dangerous. Under no circumstances should you just allow the program to automatically remove - what it thinks are invalid entries. The better ones will flag each entry with the potential issue should you remove said line or lines. And the better products also allow for a backup of the Registry before removing entries.

Personally, I use CCCleaner. It removes temporary internet files and cookies, and allows for Registry cleaning. I still review entries before deletion, but it has been a useful tool.

One last note: if you intend to do this on a "corporate" computer, watchout for it to return multiple hits in a variety of places. Corporate boxes tend to have a bunch of stuff installed you might not be aware of. So unless you understand how the Registry works - use cation.

[DragonLensmanWV]

I agree - Ccleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner) does an admirable job of cleaning both unused junk and temporary files, then you run it's registry scanner.
It's not aggressive enough to do any damage.

[rbaker]

And, we certainly don’t want to be in an accident and find ourselves admitted to the emergency room with a dirty registry. Its just common sense hygene.

Like:

Practice safe dining - Use a condement!

[DemiMoore]

There are many people would choose Ccleaner as a best registry optimizer & cleaner to help them, which is free and easy to use!

[thomasstuart]

With Registry Mechanic you can safely clean, repair and optimize the Windows® registry with a few simple mouse clicks! Problems with the Windows registry are a common cause of Windows crashes, slow performance and error messages. By using a registry cleaner regularly and fixing registry errors your system should not only be more stable but it will also help improve your system performance without expensive hardware upgrades.

[Rails3]

[deleted]

[fjpod]

I would respectfully disagree...but in any case, what do you think of the new Microsoft Security Essentials?

[Rails3]

[deleted]

[DragonLensmanWV]

I used Eset for two years then I dumped it because for an unknown reason, it totally blocked all access to our host drive for our POS software. Nothing I could do, or Eset could do, would return it to a usable state, so off it went. Norton Internet Security worked perfect from the get-go. In the past I was pretty anti-Norton, but I have to say that since 2010 version, Nortos seems to have gotten it together. The install is fast, and Live Update, never a model of speed, is now (dare I say it?) lightning-like.
I also use Spybot S&D, along with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, complemented by NIS to remain malware-free.
Now we wouldn't need registry cleaners if the software designers were competent enough that their uninstall routines would actually remove all the program,folders and registry entries when you uninstalled their product, but that's pie in the sky.
A really good program to do just that is Revo Uninstaller. Even the free version removes the folders and remaining registry entries from products it uninstalls.


Oh, and the first computer I built was a 286.

[edKENdance]

Microsoft security essentials is a solid, light-weight program... but I don't think it should be the sole protector for your computer and network.

With ESET, and the occasional cookie cleaning by S&D - I do weekly scans using wireshark, and have been malware free for several years.

I use Security Essentials and actually like it. I do occasional scans with Malwarebytes too. Don't use Spybot or Lavasoft anymore but they used to be staples.

[fjpod]

Used to use Lavasoft with good results, but I find it no longer necessary. Always found programs like Norton to have a lot of overhead and occasionally interfered with programs I need to run.

Best way to prevent infection??? Block your computers so staff cannot go to risky websites.

[karen6philips]

Registry cleaner programs are very important computer maintenance tools. Without them, registry corruption would run rampant throughout our Windows registries and cause our computers to malfunction..
The smaller Windows operating systems were able to work around a fair amount of registry corruption without being affected noticeably by it. Still, after a while, this corruption would cause a computer to break down. However, back in those days, the answer was to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows. I know, I had done it many times.