Registry Cleaner

Hi Roger

I'm using CCleaner to clean files but rarely to clean registry. I understand, after reading this thread, that the effect is more "psychological" when seeing it removed hundred of MB of leftovers.

Please can you guide me where in CCleaner is the option "to scan of empty software keys" located.

Thanks

 

If you have a look at the fourth screenshot here, you need to uncheck "Obsolete Software."

 

I agree with all those pointing out that registry cleaners are mostly useless and/or dangerous.

Keep in mind I edit the registry manually frequently, and I have done so for many years, but I stay clear of those "cleaners".

I kind of understand their use on an old win 95/98 setup, but since then things have changed.

If you have a problem with a service, disable it yourself. If a file or service reappears check the task scheduler. Use msconfig for autorun. Know your system and if you have a problem, manage it yourself, most of the tools for that are already present and built in. No need for third party.

Moreover do you really trust those companies giving those applications for free messing up your system ? I don't.

 

I run microsoft's own registry cleaner called regclean, once a week - it's been around about 15 years, and still cleans safely in my experience. It supports command line use as well.

 

It does not officially support Windows XP or later (sure, you can run it on XP or later, but it's not a good idea to do so), and due to it being unsafe to use is no longer available to download from Microsoft.

An example of the problems it can cause is here: Errors that the RegClean utility finds after you install Microsoft Office

 

yep, i've known about that for some time, thing is, i use apache open office, so i guess it wouldn't affect me. like i said, it's always cleaned safely in my experience.

thanks for the links and info though- that'd be valuable to someone who didn't know

 

A decent registry cleaner is only useless if you expect it to do anything other than clean the registry of redundant entries.It wont hurt to leave thousands of redundant entries there in the same way as it wont hurt never to clean your temp files .Its more of a personal preference rather than a useless software issue imo. Ive personally seen more systems being messed up from security related software than a decent registry cleaner.

 

You need more than a decent brain to filter out "anything other than clean the registry of redundant entries".

Temp files can definitely hurt your disk space. Anything that takes up too much space may affect performance. Neither is the case for registry cleaning.

As for security-related software, those usually cause more easily visible issues and it's a subjective argument anyways.

 

Well there are a few registry cleaners that have been going for years and have good user feedback ,so I assume the developers have the brains to develop the software likewise for any software.Ive yet to see the cleaning of temp files have any significant performance impact on a modern disk drive.True it can save you a little space...but on modern drives with terabytes of space.. negligible.The case for a registry cleaner is to clean the registry of redundant entries...thats it.I would say a registry cleaner is useless if it didn't do that.

 

I meant the click-happy user, not developer (unless they're a genius at making the tool usable for everyone). Gigabytes aren't really negligible and many users have seen that. As for redundant entries, you're free to do whatever you want, especially if it helps with managing the registry database and the like.

 

The default settings are usually pretty safe on the leading and popular registry cleaners.You could probably retrieve more hd space by reducing recycle bin size than years of temp cleaning would achieve...but each to his own.

 

The problem with temp files usually isn't the space they take but the fragmentation of the disk, especially if you separate os from data in at least 2 partitions. Even with the redirection of temp on another partition than the OS, many applications don't follow the standards and create temporary files wherever they want.

 

This is not the case, just about all of them delete valid registry keys. Doing so can cause problems.

 

That would depend on how well the software is written,and the experience of the developers ,which applies to any software that you might use.Avast a few months ago quarantined system files because of a corrupted database.If i were to perform a risk assessment on the probability of any problems occurring on my machine,due to registry cleaning the risk would be very low.Some software retain registration keys in the registry ,which don't get removed after uninstalling.These keys might be considered valid ,but I would say that is a matter of opinion.

 

Yes, and point is that registry cleaners are for the most part not well written, and will think that some valid registry keys are errors.

I would say that those keys are not valid and can be safely deleted. However, for example, registry cleaners often flag references to existing files as being errors. Deleting these registry keys certainly can cause problems in some cases. As an example of what a registry cleaner may wrongly delete is that may incorrectly think a program's uninstall information is invalid and delete it. This will mean that the program is no longer listed in Add/Remove programs.

 

If its not the registry then what is the usual culprit for causing the slowdown that Windows suffers after many months of use?

 

Bloat running at startup is the most likely cause, along with crapware installed on your browser. Check (or should I say uncheck) what you install and you won't be experiencing such problems.

 

Also not having enough RAM installed, or having multiple antivirus programs installed can cause massive slowdowns too. Some antivirus software can cause big slowdowns on some computers even if it is the only AV installed.

 

In my view and experience its usually software that cause both boot up slowdowns,and browsing slowdowns on modern machines.

 

Can you be more specific?

 

Security software background scanning or set to scan all files all the time.Some are cpu hogs.Ad browser addons....search bars.Basically software that are busy doing background stuff ...usually unnecessarily

 

If registry cleaners are no good what is the best method to use for uninstalling software? Is there a tool that will keep track of everything an installer does so it can be rolled back safely?

 

Revo uninstaller does a good job of uninstalling awkward problems.

It launches the built in uninstaller of the prog your are uninstalling then scans for what is left behind.

 

Registry cleaners are not meant for uninstalling software(although they may incorporate an uninstaller...usually the windows one).They are meant for cleaning the remnants/redundant entries of uninstalled software.There are a few uninstaller software that can create snapshots like total uninstall,revo etc.Just beware of any that dont use the software uninstaller first but rather would us a brute uninstall.This can sometimes cause problems especially with security software.Persoanlly i use advanced uninstaller pro(freeware) and vit registry fix to remove the empty software folders that sometimes get left over

 

Agreed. Given the crap left behind by so many uninstallers there must be a best practices for removing that crap. Reg cleaning is the first thought but not liked here.