registry cleaning undo ?

[Daave]

I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading
several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it
several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before
uninstalling the program ?

Without knowing what it "fixed," it's hard to know. For all you know,
you have lucked out and haven't done any real damage yet. Just because
registry "fixing" programs aren't beneficial doesn't mean they always
hose up systems. And I don't believe Free Registry Fix is a rogue
program (although it is certainly a ripoff), so you might be alright.

It's possible your system is still fine. Personally, I would just
uninstall it (and avoid all similar programs in the future) and cut my
losses. For all you know, running its undo function may screw up your
system.

Do you have any actual problems other than worrying about what this
particular program may have done?

 

[BillW50]

In

I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading
several posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it
several months ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before
uninstalling the program ?
RH Daniels

Most of the people here are dead set against registry cleaners. Some are
okay and virtually all of them are okay if you know what you are doing. Most
of the time, they don't help anything. Once in awhile, they break something.
And then again, sometimes they actually fix something.

Now if you can't find anything broken in a couple of months, I wouldn't
worry about it. The only worry is something you haven't used in a couple of
months. Like the recovery partition or something important. Then undo all of
the fixes in that case. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway Celeron M 370 (1.5GHZ)
MX6124 (laptop) w/2GB
Windows XP Home SP2 (120GB HD)
Intel(r) 910GML (64MB shared)

 

[Roger Daniels]

I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading several
posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it several months
ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before uninstalling the program ?

RH Daniels

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I installed Free Registry Fix approx. two years ago. After reading several
posts that it is not a good thing to do I stopped using it several months
ago. Should I undo the supposed fix's before uninstalling the program ?

It's hard to be sure without knowing what the "fixes" were, but if the
fixes it made several months ago haven't caused a problem yet, it's
unlikely that they will. I wouldn't undo anything.

 

[JS]

I second Ken's advice but also add that since this tool apparently has an
undo feature, I'd leave it installed but unused for a while longer as a just
in case.

Also take note that any bug that does crop up after this period of time
could not be caused by using the reg fix tool, so if you do choose to undo
in an attempt to fix the bug, I would create a new System Restore Point just
prior to using the undo feature (which could conceivably make things worse)
as you may just need that restore point.

JS

 

[Roger Daniels]

Without knowing what it "fixed," it's hard to know. For all you know, you
have lucked out and haven't done any real damage yet. Just because
registry "fixing" programs aren't beneficial doesn't mean they always hose
up systems. And I don't believe Free Registry Fix is a rogue program
(although it is certainly a ripoff), so you might be alright.

It's possible your system is still fine. Personally, I would just
uninstall it (and avoid all similar programs in the future) and cut my
losses. For all you know, running its undo function may screw up your
system.

Do you have any actual problems other than worrying about what this
particular program may have done?

Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any problem that
I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to run very slow. This
seemed to get worse after installing Spyware Docter W/antivirus. I suspect
this may be due to lack af memory. I am running XP Home SP2 on an X86,
2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual mem. I am considering purchasing 2GB of
mem. to replace exist. 256MB. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Daave]

Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any
problem that I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to run
very slow. This seemed to get worse after installing Spyware Docter
W/antivirus. I suspect this may be due to lack af memory. I am running
XP Home SP2 on an X86, 2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual mem. I am
considering purchasing 2GB of mem. to replace exist. 256MB. Any advice
would be appreciated.

You're on the right track. 256MB is not enough RAM (more than likely).
Then again, 2GB is probably going overboard. As long as you don't do ant
memory-intensive work on your PC (e.g., graphics and video editing,
enormous databases, etc.), I'm sure that 1GB will suffice. There's
actually chance that 512MB would be more than enough, but since memory
is so cheap, you should bump it up to 1GB.

But if you ever plan on upgrading to Vista (shudder ;-) ), then 2GB
would be the way to go.

The trick is to not rely on the pagefile (virtual memory) for your
memory needs, because it is slower than RAM.

Here are the three most common causes for PC slowness:

1. Malicious software (malware)

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton,
McAfee, and perhaps Spyware Doctor -- don't know, not too familiar with
that one). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply use
way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other things
in your system. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive
each time you boot up.

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge.

4. Not enough RAM because again over-relying on the pagefile slows
everything down.

Everything you need to know to address the above four issues and more
can be found at these links:

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks for the advice. I don't think the reg cleaner caused any problem that
I am aware of. My main concern is that my PC seems to run very slow. This
seemed to get worse after installing Spyware Docter W/antivirus. I suspect
this may be due to lack af memory. I am running XP Home SP2 on an X86,
2003Mhz with 256MB and 2 GB virtual mem. I am considering purchasing 2GB of
mem. to replace exist. 256MB. Any advice would be appreciated.

If it's truly *very* slow, my guess is that, although more memory may
help, I doubt that that's your primary problem. The two most likely
causes of poor performance are

1. performance-robbing programs that start automatically and run in
the background.

2. Malware infestation.

2GB is very likely significantly more than you need, and will probably
show no improvement over 1GB or even 512MB. Read my standard message
on this subject below, and run the utility I mention in the last
paragraph.

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of
RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on
what apps you run. Most people running XP with a typical range of
business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well,
others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less
than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing
large photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even
more than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[Daave]

Daave,
Thanks a bunch! very helpful info.I do not plan on going to Vista and
dont do mem. intensive work. I believe the biggest problem is Spyware
Dr. eating up the mem. Every time I start the PC it takes approx. 8
min. to get going and often loading a program takes 1-2 min. I think I
will try the 1GB upgrade. I am curious if you could recomend any other
virus & malware protection that would be suffecient for a novice comp.
user and doesn't eat up a lot of mem.and is free or cheap?

You're welcome.

I like both AVG and Avast. There are free versions available for both.
SpywareBlaster (also free) is useful to prevent malware entering your PC
via IE or Firefox. Spybot Search & Destroy is an excellent scanner. I'd
hold off on its Immunization feature because it may conflict with with
SpywareBlaster. I used to like AdAware, but the last time I used it, I
noticed too much memory hogging. I also like SUPERAntiSpyware Free.
There are free versions of all of these:

http://free.avg.com/ww.download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition
(choose the AVG Free column)
Do a custom install. No need to enable e-mail or SafeSearch/SafeSurf web
link scanning. This will still give you enough protection and should be
lighter on resources.

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
Again, configure lightly.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
Be careful not to also install unwanted toolbars, etc.

http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

I also like the free Cleaner to quickly delete different types of temp
files:

http://www.ccleaner.com/
Again, make sure you also don't install any piggy-backed programs like
browser toolbars, etc. And when you run it, avoid the registry
scanning/cleaning function. Although it is normally benign, there is
probably no benefit to using it and there's no good reason to chance
something going wrong.

Once all your temp files are deleted and your Recylce Bin is empty, you
should defrag your hard drive periodically.

Good luck!

 

[Roger Daniels]

You're on the right track. 256MB is not enough RAM (more than likely).
Then again, 2GB is probably going overboard. As long as you don't do ant
memory-intensive work on your PC (e.g., graphics and video editing,
enormous databases, etc.), I'm sure that 1GB will suffice. There's
actually chance that 512MB would be more than enough, but since memory is
so cheap, you should bump it up to 1GB.

But if you ever plan on upgrading to Vista (shudder ;-) ), then 2GB would
be the way to go.

The trick is to not rely on the pagefile (virtual memory) for your memory
needs, because it is slower than RAM.

Here are the three most common causes for PC slowness:

1. Malicious software (malware)

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton,
McAfee, and perhaps Spyware Doctor -- don't know, not too familiar with
that one). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply use
way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other things in
your system. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
time you boot up.

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge.

4. Not enough RAM because again over-relying on the pagefile slows
everything down.

Everything you need to know to address the above four issues and more can
be found at these links:

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

Daave,
Thanks a bunch! very helpful info.I do not plan on going to Vista and dont
do mem. intensive work. I believe the biggest problem is Spyware Dr. eating
up the mem. Every time I start the PC it takes approx. 8 min. to get going
and often loading a program takes 1-2 min. I think I will try the 1GB
upgrade. I am curious if you could recomend any other virus & malware
protection that would be suffecient for a novice comp. user and doesn't eat
up a lot of mem.and is free or cheap?

 

[Gerry]

Roger

How you can improve system performance is about determining where the
bottleneck is. RAM memory is just one aspect. CPU processing capacity,
disk read / write speeds etc are others. It can even get down to
avoiding multi-tasking and timing automatic scans at more convenient
time. In essence it is the balancing of supply and demand. Cutting out
wasteful use of memory is as important as ensuring you have enough RAM
to carry the tasks you require your computer to perform.

To determine how much RAM is needed you should not look at what RAM is
being used but what use is being made of virtual memory (the pagefile).
In simple terms you can look in Task Manager at the Commit Charge figure
on the Performance tab. Deduct the amount of installed RAM from the
Total and you get a rough idea of how much the pagefile is being used.
If the figure is negative then very little use of the pagefile is
currently is occurring (the system and some programs make some use of
the pagefile notwithstanding the existence of available RAM memory). Do
the the same exercise with the Peak to see what has been the situation
previously. Normally you need to think of adding RAM if you are seeing
pagefile usage above 10% to 20% of the installed RAM.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

You can get more accurate information on pagefile usage using
pagefilemon, a small freeware utility.

Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage. Start it to run
immediately after start-up and look at the log. Pagefilemon takes
snapshots. You need to run it at the beginning of the session at then
run it again at intervals throughout the sessions. The log is Pagefile
log.txt. If you right click on the file in Windows Explorer and select
Send to, Desktop (Create Shortcut). The same applies to
XP_PageFileMon.exe.

A small utility to monitor pagefile usage:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

Note that programs using undo features, particularly those associated
with graphics and photo editing, require large amounts of memory so if
you use this type of programme check these first observing how the page
usage increases when they start and whether the usage decreases when you
close the programme.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~