Is Registry Cleaning Software Safe To Use?

Hello.

I know next to nothing about personal computers. The pc my wife and I have was but for us by a friend of mine.

Can anyone say whether or not Registry Cleaning software, for example, "Crap Cleaner," or "XP Repair Pro," or "RegCure Registry Cleaner," or some other such software is safe to use?

Thank you.

 

Hi,

Are they safe to use? Not really, all depends upon which ones do you pick.

Some are paid wares, some are freewares. For a beginner, I would highly recommend this one to start with:

I have used it for a considerably long time, and I can assure you is is SAFE.

Registry Repair 2.6

You can d/l from www.glarysoft.com it is absolutely free.

Take care.

 

Thank you, Perman, for your response.

I'm an academic, a theoretical sociologist, and I think I know just about as much about personal computers as my 11 year old nephew does.

The same friend who bought us our pc suggested that we use "Crap Cleaner" which I installed. He assured me that this program is safe to use but I'm thinking of removing it because an acquaintance of mine told me that NO registry cleaning software should be used.

Then again, I do notice that after use of "Crap Cleaner" our pc does, occasionaly, run....uhmm, I'll use the word "smoother."


I'll take a look at the software you have suggested.

Thank you.

 

Since you know next to nothing about computers, I think it´s best that you wouldn´t even bother about cleaning the registry.

/C.

 

Some registry cleaners can be safer than others. If youre really unsure, just dont use them.

That said, Ive had no problem with CCleaner's registry cleaner.

 

I don't remove any registry that is installed by a legitimate software.
If a registry cleaner reports them, I exclude them in my registry cleaner instead of removing them. These registries are harmless, just not used.
Excluded registries are still there, but not reported anymore. I have about 150-200 excluded registries.
So my registry doesn't report anything anymore and if it does it might be a bad one. So far it didn't happen yet.
Besides that, I replace my registry with the original one during each reboot and that keeps my registry clean. So I use my registry cleaner very rare.

 

Just back up. Most apps give you the option to back up before repairing or cleaning. I use cCleaner after uninstalling anything and I also scan once a month with PC Tools Registry Mechanic.

 

Hi,

If you never or seldom install/uninstall programs, then "registry cleaner" will never be in your vocabulary at all.

Even with reboot-restore technique, you probably still need reg cleaner to rid of residues, that is when have several other installations between then(initial install) and now(uninstall), unless you make a new snapshot after each newer installation.

Residues left after prog uninstallation just resemble bad density cholesterol, clogging vital blood vessels, heavy accumulation will eventually burst the system, rendering it unbootable. Routine cleanup is a recommendation(if not a must).

Take care.

 

Hi, stay away from registry, don,t invite troubles and enjoy your PC.

 

I am currently using Advanced Registry Optimizer from Sammsoft. www.sammsoft.com

 

I hope this is not reputed to be out of topic,but why not take the problem from another perspective and use a program like Total Uninstaller?
Like Peter,i also use CCleaner and Regsupreme,and i run one or the other Registry-wise quite often, most of the time with spot-on results, sometimes with horripilant disasters (really only a couple of times in many years).
I also use TotalUninstall since many years, the free program. I've just purchased the paid version 4 because i felt the free 2 version was not anymore valid with all the kernel level installs of nowadays and i deem the software a crack (in horse racing parlance).
With TotalUninstall you can get rid of ALL the files left over by programs,this way you will not have to worry about searching for them with Registry Cleaners of sort.
I do both, but someone who doesnt want to be bothered or run the risk of cleaning, can rest assured NO errors will be made.

 

Registry cleaners aren't really needed unless the system has some major issues. Even with heavy computer use, 'cleaning/repairing' the registry isn't going to show much of an increase in performance. On the flip side, you can easily damage your machine. Registry cleaners are pretty hyped up and most of the time provide nothing more than the benefit of knowing certain entries were removed or repaired, while system performance either shows no or minimal benefit.

Computer cleaning software that affects more than the registry is going to provide more benefit for a novice user. Ridding temporary or unnecessary files will provide more noticeable results and has less danger of mangling the system. Having a system problem in the first place and then looking in to registry cleaners/repairers is usually a better idea than constantly running it, if you're a novice.

For novices I recommend just avoiding a registry cleaner and using something like CCleaner's other functions (or Disk Cleanup or similar) every once in a while. Either educate yourself on the registry and the impact of cleaning it will provide or have someone else do that maintenance for you, or just stick to other maintenance functions.

Of course this is all my opinion on the subject, derived from years of administrating various levels of users and personal experience.

edit: clarity

 

Thank you for all of your thoughts.

I think that, for now, I'll just use Windows "Disk Cleanup" utility.

Thank you.

 

every time i tried a Registry cleaning program i had trouble...even CCleaner gave problems, so i dont even attempt any more...

 

The 'safest' cleaner I've seen is Ace Utilities, but not really 'thorough' cleaning (perhaps that's why it's safe). Never a mistake. AU has other excellent utilities included.

Best combination of 'safe' and 'thorough' seems to be RegistryBooster2.

CrapCleaner is thorough, but I'm not certain about 'safe'. I've used it without problems in the past, but it did cause a problem with a registry entry for TrueImage 10.

When I really want fast and aggressive removal by search-string (cleaning up after Symantic, SpyBot, etc.), I use RegSeeker. Not at all 'safe', but removals can be backed-up for recall.

Hope this helps!

 

I am using for years, a number of freebies.

-Reg Seeker
-Last free version of JV16 Power Tools
-Eusing Free Registry Cleaner
-Registry Repair (latest addition).
-CCleaner

No visible problems whatsoever. Add the Ashampoo Magical Uninstall + a registry optimizer like the one from Auslogics or ERunt (and rarely pagedefrag) and you are fine.

 

Safe ? No !

First, you have the free programs, that typically are malware or are associated with malware.

Then, you have the programs you have to pay for. You may get a free trial (make sure it's not malware!) which may just detect 'errors', or detect 'errors' and fix a limited number for free.

Messing with the registry is always dangerous, even if the person in question is knowledgeable. My advice: don't use one unless it's really necessary.

Aside from the fact that some programs are 'safer' than others, there really is a difference between the various products. I have an older version of the Registry Mechanic, which is supposedly less agressive than many other programs. Generally, more agressive ('fixing' more 'errors') programs pose a higher risk.

If the PC is older, has experienced many installations and deinstallations of programs, registry 'fixing' software may make sense. But then you should really consider reformatting the harddrive and reinstalling everything (assuming you know how). (And don't forget to backup the data).

The Registry Mechanic (from Pctools, a company with unscrupulous business ethics) I have is quite eager to fix 'errors' related to McAfee software, but if I'd let it do that I'd risk crippling the software.

Especially when you have programs (usually security programs) that have hooks deep into the windows registry, using a 'registry cleaner' is asking for trouble, especially if you're not an expert.

 

Not sure why this thread is posted in this section, but personally I would stay away from regcleaners, sooner or later they (or you) will break something. For example, a few months ago I felt like cleaning my registry (and I´m not a newbie) but I´d still managed to screw up IE7. At the moment I can´t access "internet options" from within IE anymore. Not really that important, but still annoying.

 

I have used Ace Utilities and System TuneUp to clean the registry with no trouble at all.
If a registry cleaner doesn't have a restore/backup feature,I wouldn't use it.
I can understand why some don't use these programs at all.It is risky.
Cleaning "junk files" may be more important.I delete to the recycle bin to insure that I'm not deleting something that I need.Haven't had a problem or need to restore an item from the recycle bin yet.

 

I used RegSeeker to clean my registry and it screwed up AdobeReader. Couldn't upgrade from v7 to v8. Couldn't uninstall either. Ended up installing winXP from scratch. After that I used TuneUp2007, which didn't cause any problem (that I'm aware of).
Now I just stopped playing with my registry.

 

i use 3 registry cleaning programs and dont ask me how but they work great together without messing up my system. i used to have very bad results in the past with registry cleaners. so im really wondering why they work so great now. but use such programs with caution and always use the built-in backup feature.

 

So I guess cCleaner and Regisrty Mechanic are forms of malware. Too funny since PC Tools makes Registry Mechanic. Using a registry cleaner is safe. Just back up. All programs I use back up for me or prompt you.

 

Hi,

Nice to hear these three are working for you.

What are they ? Thanks.

 

Eusing Free Registry Cleaner, Wise Registry Cleaner, CCleaner, Ntregopt (registry defrag), using WinXP