[Guide] Clean, Compact and Optimize the Registry with Freeware

[Ted Zieglar]

Nice novel, and a work of fiction. No one has been able to prove that a
"bloated" registry has any measurable effect on your system's performance -
because it doesn't. The effect of "bloat" and "holes" in the registry exists
in your mind, because you believe the hype.

 

[XPGuru]

The Microsoft Windows registry is a hierarchical database of system
configuration data. Many of the programs written for Windows 32-bit and
64-bit platforms require data from the registry. This means it is used
often, and some programs really like to hammer the registry. Running a
program such as SysInternal's 'RegMon'
(http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Regmon.html), which logs access
to the registry, can show you just how much some programs make use of
the registry. Even Explorer, the file browser built into Windows, makes
heavy use and this can have wide impact on performance.

When Windows is first installed, the registry is relatively lean. It
shouldn't contain any extraneous data nor is the data file bloated or
very fragmented. Over time though this can change, especially when many
programs are installed and uninstalled. When programs and other
components are removed from the system they can leave behind data
inside the registry.

Many programs have been made to clear out the data left behind by
poorly uninstalled programs. The original, RegClean, was developed by
Microsoft. A search on the web will show many results for registry
cleaners, some sites touting their commercial solution as a cure-all
for any Windows problems. Choosing a registry cleaner is best done on
good advice, and forums are a great place to look and ask what cleaners
people are using. I suggest you find a shareware or freeware cleaner,
it's not worth paying for one when there are excellent free ones
available. RegClean is available from 'Microsoft Download Centre'
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp).

After data is deleted from the registry, the space in the file used by
that data is kept until it can be re-used by newly added data. If lots
of very small bits of data are deleted the registry can become very
bloated with 'holes' where no data will fit. This causes the registry
to be larger than neccesary which in turn means it is spread over more
hard drive space and hence slower to access. To solve this issue there
registry compactors which can rewrite fresh registry hives without the
holes. I use ExperimentalScene 'RegCompact.NET'
(http://www.experimentalscene.com) to compact my registry - with great
success. My system very noticeably speeds up when the registry has been
very bloated and I compact it.

Once the registry is cleaned and compacted it also should benefit from
being optimized. This is done by rearranging the location of the
registry hives as they are stored on your hard drive. Like normal file
optimization or defragmentation this process will further enhance the
speed of the registry. To optimize the registry use SysInternal's
'PageDefrag' (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PageDefrag.html)
which also happens to defragment the virtual memory page file.

Following these steps in order will keep your registry nice and lean,
speeding up your Windows experience.

 

[dwerner]

Nice novel, and a work of fiction. No one has been able to prove that a
"bloated" registry has any measurable effect on your system's performance -
because it doesn't. The effect of "bloat" and "holes" in the registry exists
in your mind, because you believe the hype.

It's no hype, users of this software claim that it does speed up their
computers - just do a search of the net and you will find people saying
this in forums. It is a nice novel, but I think you need a book:
"Computers for Dummies".

 

[Kerry Brown]

The Microsoft Windows registry is a hierarchical database of system
configuration data. Many of the programs written for Windows 32-bit
and 64-bit platforms require data from the registry. This means it is
used often, and some programs really like to hammer the registry.
Running a program such as SysInternal's 'RegMon'
(http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Regmon.html), which logs access
to the registry, can show you just how much some programs make use of
the registry. Even Explorer, the file browser built into Windows,
makes heavy use and this can have wide impact on performance.

When Windows is first installed, the registry is relatively lean. It
shouldn't contain any extraneous data nor is the data file bloated or
very fragmented. Over time though this can change, especially when
many programs are installed and uninstalled. When programs and other
components are removed from the system they can leave behind data
inside the registry.

Many programs have been made to clear out the data left behind by
poorly uninstalled programs. The original, RegClean, was developed by
Microsoft. A search on the web will show many results for registry
cleaners, some sites touting their commercial solution as a cure-all
for any Windows problems. Choosing a registry cleaner is best done on
good advice, and forums are a great place to look and ask what
cleaners people are using. I suggest you find a shareware or freeware
cleaner, it's not worth paying for one when there are excellent free
ones available. RegClean is available from 'Microsoft Download Centre'
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp).

After data is deleted from the registry, the space in the file used by
that data is kept until it can be re-used by newly added data. If lots
of very small bits of data are deleted the registry can become very
bloated with 'holes' where no data will fit. This causes the registry
to be larger than neccesary which in turn means it is spread over more
hard drive space and hence slower to access. To solve this issue there
registry compactors which can rewrite fresh registry hives without the
holes. I use ExperimentalScene 'RegCompact.NET'
(http://www.experimentalscene.com) to compact my registry - with great
success. My system very noticeably speeds up when the registry has
been very bloated and I compact it.

Once the registry is cleaned and compacted it also should benefit from
being optimized. This is done by rearranging the location of the
registry hives as they are stored on your hard drive. Like normal file
optimization or defragmentation this process will further enhance the
speed of the registry. To optimize the registry use SysInternal's
'PageDefrag' (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PageDefrag.html)
which also happens to defragment the virtual memory page file.

Following these steps in order will keep your registry nice and lean,
speeding up your Windows experience.

Can you please point me to some data verified by a third party which proves
your claims. In my own admittedly informal testing I have not found any
significant speedup by cleaning the registry. It was not measurable with a
stop watch. I have tested several computers some of which had been in daily
use for two years. I am sure there are some very small improvements but if
they are so small that my reaction time in pressing a button is more
significant then the possible dangers of using a registry cleaner outweigh
the possible improvements. Same thing with the page file. If your computer
is using the page file so much that fragmentation causes a noticeable
slowdown then you need more ram and/or a bigger hard drive. I'm not saying
there aren't special cases where both procedures may be needed. I'm saying
neither procedure should be part of normal maintenance. Also regclean.exe by
Microsoft is no longer available. It has some bugs in it which can corrupt
Microsoft Office registry settings.

Kerry

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Lol...just because people say things in forums doesn't make it true.

I'll cut you some slack because you're probably new to newsgroups.
Otherwise, you would know to read through earlier threads before making a
new post, to see if your issue has already been addressed. Had you done so,
you would have discovered that the hype about registry "bloat" and "holes"
has been discussed and explained almost to tears.

Something to keep in mind as you continue to learn about computers: Often,
what seems logical to the human mind is quite irrelevant to a computer.

 

[Andre DeLemarre]

I try the 3 software you recommend and I cannot find Regcleaner on the
Microsoft download,the reg compact net did not work,so I did not continue .

 

[Guest]

After a "clean observation" and reading about 50 posts on cleaning the
registry, I have found before I ask a stupid question, it's been awnsered.
Thanks to all who have gone though the misery of cleaning , repairing and
writing these lines of wit.

I have made a decision NOT to fix what ain't broke and defrag once in a
while and safely remove any unused programs and hope for the best.
Thanks Ted for making more sence out of the mess.
Kind regards and to those still cleaning, good luck
Chuck

 

[Ted Zieglar]

I try to prevent people from making the same mistakes I made and
occasionally still make. Mind you, it takes a certain talent - or perhaps
the lack thereof - to make the kind of mistakes I make.

Something I learned early on is to separate hype from reality. And there's
plenty of hype in computer-dom.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

After a "clean observation" and reading about 50 posts on cleaning the
registry, I have found before I ask a stupid question, it's been awnsered.
Thanks to all who have gone though the misery of cleaning , repairing and
writing these lines of wit.

I have made a decision NOT to fix what ain't broke and defrag once in a
while and safely remove any unused programs and hope for the best.
Thanks Ted for making more sence out of the mess.
Kind regards and to those still cleaning, good luck
Chuck