"Empty" Registry Keys

[RAD]

Some reg cleaners delete 'empty" registry keys, while others don't seem to scan for them at all, or at least call them by a different name.

Are "Empty" registry keys ALWAY safe to delete ?

Can an 'Empty" key just be a placeholder that some software uses at a later time, so they should NOT be deleted ?

Thanks.

[zapjb]

1. I say no.
2. Yes.

But I could be wrong. And I'd think it'd be an OS specific deal.

[Arup]

I never touch my registry, I have a super fast two year old XPx64 installation running good till today. I also don't really experiment much with different AVs and programs. I install the ones I need and update when needed. The registry cleaning issue is actually quite market driven, unless you have done helluva amount of install/uninstall, its just not a good idea to tinker with the registry.

[optigrab]

What zapjb wrote. No expert here, but I've always applied the same reasoning.

[Kerodo]

Yeah, I have to agree with all the above. Just leave it alone. The "empty" keys are likely there for a reason too. Who knows what happens if you delete them, or anything else for that matter. I have never used Reg cleaners.

[Carver]

I've come to the same conclusion to leave empty keys alone. Let me add something to that. It is alright to detete empty keys from the registry if it is left from software that you installed, that got left behind by the un installer..an orphan if you will. The one's that came with the operating system may be leftover from setup tools and utilitys used to create the operating system itself and is tied to the operating system, and the operating system might become less stable if you delete the empty key.

[AKAJohnDoe]

Even as far back as IMS/DB, the absence, presence, or content of a data element can have specific meaning.

[RAD]

WISE REgistry Cleaner marks all Empty Keys as completely safe to delete.
The Live Onecare Scanner, and the
Auslogics scanner also presents them as safe to delete.

CCleaner doesn't scan for them.
Uniblue Registry Booster does not scan for them.

This corresponds wilth CCleaner and Uniblue working well, while Live Oncare hosed my machine.

Actually, Uniblue hosed my PC once also; but later careful diagnostics traced it to the driverscanner module. Since the it has worked well and safely.

Overall, CCleaner seems like the best of the bunch, considering it is free. Uniblue also seems worth the money.

I still scan with the others, but am very cautiouds about accepting any suggestions.

[Fontaine]

I've been using registry cleaners for years and [knock on wood] never had a problem. Right now I use CCleaner to scan/fix registry items.

Important to note: I try out a lot of software and probably end up removing 90% of it...so I don't like having all the leftover entries. No problems yet.

[Howard Kaikow]

-{ Quote: "Some reg cleaners delete 'empty" registry keys, while others don't seem to scan for them at all, or at least call them by a different name.

Are "Empty" registry keys ALWAY safe to delete ?

Can an 'Empty" key just be a placeholder that some software uses at a later time, so they should NOT be deleted ?

Thanks." }-

NEVER delete or modify a registry key unless you know why.
I would never rely on a registry cleaner to automatically clean things

Even delting pointers to non-existing files may do some damage.
A reference to a non-existent file might be valid, e.g., a pointer to where a particular program defaults to writing files, in which case, the file or directory would be created on the fly.

A reference to a non-existing registry key might be a candidate for deletion, but why take the chance.

[majoMo]

-{ Quote: "A reference to a non-existent file might be valid, e.g., a pointer to where a particular program defaults to writing files, in which case, the file or directory would be created on the fly." }-

Exactly like that!

Some app. create empty folders for future use; if they are removed, and the app. doesn't create it again when needed, annoyances can comes out.

With the empty registry keys the situation is similar.

Again: with the Registry - with files also... to remove all .bak, .tmp files it's a mistaken idea... :ouch: - to clean too much is to want troubles... :what:

[Howard Kaikow]

-{ Quote: "Exactly like that!

Some app. create empty folders for future use; if they are removed, and the app. doesn't create it again when needed, annoyances can comes out.

With the empty registry keys the situation is similar.

Again: with the Registry - with files also... to remove all .bak, .tmp files it's a mistaken idea... :ouch: - to clean too much is to want troubles... :what:" }-

It bears repeating:

-{ Quote: "NEVER delete or modify a registry key unless you know why." }-

[AKAJohnDoe]

If you call a telephone number and the message comes up that it is blocked for anonymous calls, does that make that number a valid or invalid key? Is it empty?