I have seen registry cleaners only to fix issues, like BSOD and driver problems. I do not even backup registry anymore and I use deep cleaning over 10 years since Vista on multiple computers. It is like letting a bad mechanic fix your car and then saying, that all mechanics are bad, because some bad one broke your car. It is the same with software, but this myth keeps being alive. Problem is, that Google and other search engines promote reg cleaners, which pay to display ADs, so obviously they are shown on top, when searching for one, like Registry Mechanic. A typical scareware: makeuseof.com/tag/registry-mechanic-virus-can-remove
I've used every registry cleaner, and 99% of them have issues with false positives. Even well known and trusted ones can cause problems. This is based on me manually checking the scan results for false positives.
I admire that, you judge them based on your experience, most people just keeps saying, what everyone else say. As I said, I have never had a single bad experience, with reliable ones.
Registry cleaners can sometimes fix issues, so I would never say that you shouldn't use them. But, based on my experience over many years, it is extremely rare for them to actually fix anything. Most PC issues require specific fixes rather than just deleting unneeded or invalid registry keys.
CCleaner hasn't destroyed any of my systems so far, Auslogics cleaned the computer to death. I've never ever noticed a better performance after cleaning, wiping, boosting and I tried nearly all known tools on several computer. Maybe some rhino powder can speed up my computer ...
I find CCleaner's registry cleaner quite conservative. It doesn't try to clean "too much" IMO. Still I review problems that it finds before cleaning and sometimes keep some registry entries, which I think that should not be deleted.
* Other: Power Tools Lite, on the very rare occasions I need to hose out the registry. But I've cleaned out Nero, Symantec, MacAfee... A few others have left the most Deity-Awful conglomerations. I guess from now on I won't need a System Cleaner
As far as registry cleaners go: None. I have used them in the past but I no longer see the need for them on modern OS and hardware. Deleting so-called "unnecessary" registry entries seem really unnecessary to me these days. Look past all the marketing bullshit (even if it's free) and you would realize how dumb it is to mess with the registry just to get what 1% improvement at most. You are far better off running one less app or one less browser tab...or if you are that concerned...uninstall one app and use a portable version instead for less registry "bloat" (if that is even a thing). I have recovered from my old addiction to placebo optimization. It felt good while it lasted but I have better things to do with my time now.
I've been using IObit's Advanced SystemCare (on a daily basis) for the past 3 years. It seems to do a thorough clean-up job (much better than CCleaner imho) and over that period it hasn't introduced any system issues whatsoever.
Although I have been using ASC 10 for only about a year I concur with Cruise's opinion as to its effectiveness and safety.
@Cruise @Jo Ann I use it too, and like it a lot. I use the Pro version. I got the license for free, as it's regularly available as a giveaway. The registry cleaner used to have issues with false positives, but some time ago I reported false positives to IObit and they updated the registry cleaner and it's safe to use now.
it might be that some software that removed some need files and the extra delay was caused by looking for them
Since I did an OS reset, it doesn't happen to my laptop now. Shutdown and restart times are now normal.
Exactly. I have had to fix more systems with moderate to severe corruption due to these type applications then I have ever witnessed them cleaning properly. I personally use built in tools for optimization, and when necessary to remove items from the file system or registry, I do so manually.
I completely agree, back in the XP days there were perhaps situations where performance could be improved with optimizing tools, but nowadays with fast processors there is really no need to touch the registry.
