Is Registry Cleaning Software Safe To Use?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by mrm3601, Dec 4, 2007.

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  1. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Have uninstalled RegSeeker-just too aggresive.

    Almost certainly, as I tried the same scenario twice,it was responsible for the non functioning and then having to reinstall an app.

    MajoMo's comment is on the right track.

    Being a hero with the registry isnt worthwhile.
     
  2. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    You'r just continue talking about a completely different software,no Regseeker,there are no GREEN items to delete,as i said it searches the registry and show all leftovers nothing more nothing less,its up to you what to keep and what to delete,there is no inbuild advisory kind of thing.
    To stay on the save side,delete only the matches with the EXACT NAME in the string,it useally shows up in blue color and leave anything different alone,nothing is failsafe,and its probably related to many moan about RS too aggressive because they blindly delete everything.

    IMO in general leave the registry alone,cleaning can be dangerous and as reported by many authorities is has no benefit in terms of functioning and speed.Its the way Windows searches the registry in a not sequential way as these people said,so the use of registry cleaners in their eyes is not needed.
    What these people useally recommend is NTregopt,its an optimiser but not a cleaner,and it should be enough. :cool:
     
  3. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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  4. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    RegSeeker 1.55 shows green entries, which are supposedly 'safe' to delete,
    and red entries which might not be safe to delete. See screenshot. Obviously
    user experience and familiarity with the registry is essential. There are many
    green items that I don't delete and some red ones that I know I can safely
    delete. After cleaning the registry I sometimes use NTregopt which only
    really compresses the registry. It does not defrag the registry.
    One of the Tweaks in RegSeeker is Rebuild Icon Cache (when your icons
    take a while to redraw) - it speeds the loading of icons - useful for slower
    computers. I like Regseeker. :p
     

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  5. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    The safe ones I use and never had a problem with are CC Cleaner-JV16-Tune up Utilities.

    Also Cleanse Uninstaller-not bad-shows items to be deleted by name rather than a tree view, where it could be easy to chop down the tree at the wrong level

    Generally any cleaner that suddenly finds 100s of new entries to be deleted must be regarded suspiciously.
     
  6. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    Sorry for that,to explain i use only the search function and not the clean function[and you'r right about the green entries in there]as Hairy already said to trust the cleaning is not a good idea and i concur.

    I think its a better to let RS search in search mode and lookup the found entries yourself and decide what to do one by one,anyway you'r supported by RS by coloring the exact name match in blue.

    With most cleaners,if you do thorough search changes are that many names akin to each other will show up,only differ in one number or letter or symbol.
    This is most dangerous cause if you tend to delete them all,you'r deleting entries from different aplications !! :(

    In the end bother with the registry is not worth the effort,and in most cases leave it alone.though there a few rare exeptions.
     
  7. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    Yes, 'Find' is the way to go. To uninstall a prog. first I backup registry
    with ERUNT, then remove via Add/Remove or 3rd. party uninstaller, then
    use RegSeeker's Find function to search for what is left. As you say, these
    entries are highlighted in blue, and as you say, caution needs to be
    exercised when deleting them. Although RegSeeker has a backup option,
    a problem might only manifest itself on the next reboot - hence ERUNT.
    To cleanly uninstall Comodo and apps. like Norton and then successfully
    do a fresh install of a newer version or different AV, I need a reg. cleaner.
    Despite Norton's own uninstall tool ( not much good ) and RegSeeker/jv16,
    I am still seeing old legacy entries with RegSeeker - so far I have
    left them alone as they do not interfere with anything. Norton was a hard
    nut to crack. :D
     
  8. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    Yes, Erunt and NTregopt from Lars Hederer are good proggies.
     
  9. Eh_Greg

    Eh_Greg Registered Member

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  10. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    I have tried RegSeeker and found it a bit on the scarry side, to aggressive
     
  11. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    I had the same impression when I ran RegSeeker for the very first time.
    StompSoft Registry Repair is also very aggressive, maybe even more than RegSeeker.
     
  12. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    It depend how you use it,in cleaning mode i guess its not different or better as compared with other cleaners[some more on the safe side,others more aggressive].

    I use RS in search mode to find the last remnants after an uninstall with Revo[not so total. lol] ,peruse over these finds and then decide to delete or not.
    As already said RS find much more entries then the others but you have to think twice so to speak before doing anything further.

    I stopped using automatic cleaners,and now i only uninstall and search for leftovers with RS.

    OT but FDISR can be used as the perfect uninstaller,using a special test snapshot or your regular snapshot,and refresh if needed with an archive or refresh in case using a testsnapshot with your regular snapshot or archive[very flexeable].
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2008
  13. majoMo

    majoMo Registered Member

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    @ Huupi,

    I posted the link-image firstly.

    Now I edited the post with "Attached Images". It seems clarified some mess. And some misunderstandings too.
     
  14. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Easycleaner and all Toniarts apps are safe-if anything a little too safe.

    My favorite for all round usefullness for registry work is JV16-it has many functions("a powerful set of tools"),including highlighting leftover entries and different cleaning modes.

    Get the last of the freeware here

    Actually these two are the ones considered the best also, in Huupis post 104
     
  15. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    Yes, I remember that one from this website :
    http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm#26
    I call it the registry cleaner with the Rubiks Cube Menu. ;)
    http://www.oidamedia.co.uk/interactive/cubeF4.swf
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2008
  16. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Erik Albert,

    If you havent already done so-try out JV16:thumb:
     
  17. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    If my memory is good, this was the favorite Registry Cleaner of Fred Langa.
    Very good one.
     
  18. HURST

    HURST Registered Member

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    RegSeeker was responsible for a format over here...ir messed up my adobe reader install.

    Now I don't use registry cleaner anymore, but TuneUp never caused me any problem
     
  19. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    It would be nice,but way of topic i guess, to look for alternative methodes in restore and optimising the registry,i mean beyond the traditional and common ways such as registry cleaners and backups.
    Sure there must be some ! :shifty:
     
  20. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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  21. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Yes its an all round great package

    Found this one a bit scary,but seems to work well
     
  22. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    Yes,many love this thingy,i have used it in the past but it let you guess what it's doing,its more a one button optimise all proggie.I prefer to have some control ! ;)
     
  23. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    before you allow it to clean, optimize or clean the registry it will tell you what it is going to do. You do have full control of what it does. after you run a scan with it a detailed summary is available right under the spot where it shows what it found in each section. I have never seen it do anything unexpected or out of line. "so far"
     

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    Last edited: Mar 28, 2008
  24. HURST

    HURST Registered Member

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    I just tried AWC under Returnil's protection... seems impressive, but the truth is, I got a bit scared... it wanted to do A LOT of changes. Good thing is, it showed clearly what it wanted to do.

    Are its security inmunizations worth it? What about system optimization? Is it possible to notice a better performance? Has anyone had a bad experience with this software so far?
     
  25. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    I try to keep my system pretty well tuned up but on one scan of AWC it showed that there were some start up settings that were not "optimized" so I let it go for it and I did notice a small speed up in boot time. but there is a restore function if any cleaning or registry fix or optimazation does go bad you can restore it to pre scan conditions.
     
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