P
Paulo Roberto
Hi, can you recommend good free windows xp registry cleaners?
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PA Bear [MS MVP]
Yes: NONE!
Think your Registry needs "cleaning" or "repairing"? Read
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.
Think your Registry needs "cleaning" or "repairing"? Read
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.
J
JS
Not a good idea.
Freeware registry cleaners can trash your PC at no cost $$$ to you.
Those registry cleaner utilities that cost money are best known
for cleaning your wallet and then trashing your PC.
Example #1
Ran a scan to count the number of entries in my PC's registry
Total was over 260,000
So if a registry cleaner (if it worked properly) removed say 1,000 entries
that would be less than one half of one percent space savings.
Example #2
I very recently ran a registry cleaner knowing in advance what some of the
fixes the cleaner should find and the suggested changes.
This was based on the fact I had uninstalled an application (knowing it
would leave some orphaned registry entries) and then reinstalled the same
application to a different directory location.
The cleaner's default suggested fix for the application's old directory
location (the orphaned entries) was to change these entries to the new
location, which was not necessary, so I manually deleted these entries.
Now here is where a registry cleaner could cause a real problem!
A few months ago I removed a large number but not all of the
$NtUninstallKBxxxxxx$ folders
(these are the folders and associated files left behind each time you
install the latest Windows Updates each month)
The cleaner reported the broken registry entries but the suggested fix was
to point the entries to remaining $NtUninstall files (on a random basis)
which I had not removed (the most recent 4 months of updates/patches) thus
royally screwing up the pointers. By that I mean you go to uninstall (in
rare cases) a patch that may be giving you problems and due to the screwed
up registry entry it instead removes the wrong patch.
JS
www.pagestart.com
Freeware registry cleaners can trash your PC at no cost $$$ to you.
Those registry cleaner utilities that cost money are best known
for cleaning your wallet and then trashing your PC.
Example #1
Ran a scan to count the number of entries in my PC's registry
Total was over 260,000
So if a registry cleaner (if it worked properly) removed say 1,000 entries
that would be less than one half of one percent space savings.
Example #2
I very recently ran a registry cleaner knowing in advance what some of the
fixes the cleaner should find and the suggested changes.
This was based on the fact I had uninstalled an application (knowing it
would leave some orphaned registry entries) and then reinstalled the same
application to a different directory location.
The cleaner's default suggested fix for the application's old directory
location (the orphaned entries) was to change these entries to the new
location, which was not necessary, so I manually deleted these entries.
Now here is where a registry cleaner could cause a real problem!
A few months ago I removed a large number but not all of the
$NtUninstallKBxxxxxx$ folders
(these are the folders and associated files left behind each time you
install the latest Windows Updates each month)
The cleaner reported the broken registry entries but the suggested fix was
to point the entries to remaining $NtUninstall files (on a random basis)
which I had not removed (the most recent 4 months of updates/patches) thus
royally screwing up the pointers. By that I mean you go to uninstall (in
rare cases) a patch that may be giving you problems and due to the screwed
up registry entry it instead removes the wrong patch.
JS
www.pagestart.com
C
cheley_bonstell88
Hi, can you recommend good free windows xp registry cleaners?
http://www.ccleaner.com/
good set of shareware utilities
T
Twayne
Yes: NONE!
No: WRONG!
Think your Registry needs "cleaning" or "repairing"? Read
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.
No: WRONG!
T
Twayne
Not a good idea.
Freeware registry cleaners can trash your PC at no cost $$$ to you.
Those registry cleaner utilities that cost money are best known
for cleaning your wallet and then trashing your PC.
Example #1
Ran a scan to count the number of entries in my PC's registry
Total was over 260,000
So if a registry cleaner (if it worked properly) removed say 1,000
entries that would be less than one half of one percent space savings.
Example #2
I very recently ran a registry cleaner knowing in advance what some
of the fixes the cleaner should find and the suggested changes.
This was based on the fact I had uninstalled an application (knowing
it would leave some orphaned registry entries) and then reinstalled
the same application to a different directory location.
The cleaner's default suggested fix for the application's old
directory location (the orphaned entries) was to change these entries
to the new location, which was not necessary, so I manually deleted
these entries.
Now here is where a registry cleaner could cause a real problem!
A few months ago I removed a large number but not all of the
$NtUninstallKBxxxxxx$ folders
(these are the folders and associated files left behind each time you
install the latest Windows Updates each month)
The cleaner reported the broken registry entries but the suggested
fix was to point the entries to remaining $NtUninstall files (on a
random basis) which I had not removed (the most recent 4 months of
updates/patches) thus royally screwing up the pointers. By that I
mean you go to uninstall (in rare cases) a patch that may be giving
you problems and due to the screwed up registry entry it instead
removes the wrong patch.
JS
www.pagestart.com
You generally alluded to whatever crappy app you used. But said nothing
to answer the OP's question. Good going.
T
Twayne
Hi, can you recommend good free windows xp registry cleaners?
Someone mentioned ccleaner; it's a decent one. Beware, some of the
no-names are real junk.
Someone mentioned ccleaner; it's a decent one. Beware, some of the
no-names are real junk.
J
JS
Again:
Freeware registry cleaners can trash your PC at no cost $$$ to you.
Those registry cleaner utilities that cost money are best known
for cleaning your wallet and then trashing your PC.
Have tried freeware, shareware and paid versions, all can get you into
trouble.
If there are any registry fixes to be done I do it manually after creating a
backup.
JS
Freeware registry cleaners can trash your PC at no cost $$$ to you.
Those registry cleaner utilities that cost money are best known
for cleaning your wallet and then trashing your PC.
Have tried freeware, shareware and paid versions, all can get you into
trouble.
If there are any registry fixes to be done I do it manually after creating a
backup.
JS
M
milt
No such thing, stay away from registry cleaners, they will do more harmPaulo said:Hi, can you recommend good free windows xp registry cleaners?
than good.
B
Bill in Co.
Paulo said:Hi, can you recommend good free windows xp registry cleaners?
NOT a good idea (i.e., the potential to create problems is too GREAT, and it
does NOTHING to speed up or really help your system).
A word to the wise is sufficient...
G
Gregory
CCleaner has done well for me. In its Options>Cookies one can choose cookies
to lock in and allow always, such as banking and log-in cookies. Then when
you clean out your cookie box, these chosen gems will not be deleted. Very
helpful.
to lock in and allow always, such as banking and log-in cookies. Then when
you clean out your cookie box, these chosen gems will not be deleted. Very
helpful.
T
Twayne
Again:
Good for you; I'll stay away from why that probably happened because
it'll just piss you off and make fodder for an arguement.
ANYTHING "can" and often does, trash your PC.
I always have to wonder how folks with attitudes like yours can stand
to install/uninstall any software at all, since the majority of it will
(gasp!) make several registry changes, both additions and deletions. In
fact, the registry is under constant change by the OS anyway; it's
impossible to get away from it.
I've tried "freeware, shareware and paid versions" too, and some can
indeed get you into trouble. In fact, some are designed to get you into
trouble so you'll go and pay THEM to fix it!
But OTOH there are several, with good reputations and outcomes, that
will not trash your machine, and ALL the decent ones these days provide
way to undo the changes in case something does go wrong or the user
misinterprets a message. I have NEVER had even a glitch with my chosen
registry maintenance applications.
The only times I've ever had problems was a couple times I made
changes that had interops I wasn't aware of. But, since I'd exported
those keys, it was simple enough to correct and put things back. There
ARE situations where registry software won't find problems, but my
chosen applications, as I said, have never let me down.
I've asked for, and only found black holes, those who hype the never
let a program touch your registry to back it up with proof of the damage
they can do. NEVER was there any response with anything that could be
verified. I on the other hand have provided such personal experiences
as I had, in detail, to those same people, and guess what? All of a
sudden they weren't responding anymore. The "compaly liners" and
parrot-people who like to bash attitudes different from their own never
have anything intelligent to say when it gets down to the nitty gritty
of proving or at least showing a preponderance of evidence against any
reliable registry software.
You said you did a "backup" before you edited the registry? A backup of
what? Your entire drive? You should already have that, if you're any
good with data at all. So what are you backing up?
Me, I simple create a copy of the System State. Much smaller,
quicker and easier to reinstate. All my backups are automated, as
should be yours, but it's easier to have a System State handy all by
istelf to grab should it be needed. To date I have never needed one.
Wait: That's not true. I did need a System State once when file
corruption went wild on me. Restored the system state and all was well.
OH well, each to his own, I guess. It just bugs me to see
misinformation about things posted so often by so many people when the
majority know it's not so and simply ignore the closed minds anymore.
But they need to be kept covered so they don't corrupt and mislead
newbies who don't have the advantage of being able to tell what's junk
and what isn't. It's real unfortunate so many MVPs tout this line as
well. A few of them are really good at their areas too, until someone
says "registry cleaner".
If you've read this far, I'll be surprised! <g>
Cheers,
Twayne
....Freeware registry cleaners can trash your PC at no cost $$$ to you.
Those registry cleaner utilities that cost money are best known
for cleaning your wallet and then trashing your PC.
Have tried freeware, shareware and paid versions, all can get you into
trouble.
If there are any registry fixes to be done I do it manually after
creating a backup.
JS
Good for you; I'll stay away from why that probably happened because
it'll just piss you off and make fodder for an arguement.
ANYTHING "can" and often does, trash your PC.
I always have to wonder how folks with attitudes like yours can stand
to install/uninstall any software at all, since the majority of it will
(gasp!) make several registry changes, both additions and deletions. In
fact, the registry is under constant change by the OS anyway; it's
impossible to get away from it.
I've tried "freeware, shareware and paid versions" too, and some can
indeed get you into trouble. In fact, some are designed to get you into
trouble so you'll go and pay THEM to fix it!
But OTOH there are several, with good reputations and outcomes, that
will not trash your machine, and ALL the decent ones these days provide
way to undo the changes in case something does go wrong or the user
misinterprets a message. I have NEVER had even a glitch with my chosen
registry maintenance applications.
The only times I've ever had problems was a couple times I made
changes that had interops I wasn't aware of. But, since I'd exported
those keys, it was simple enough to correct and put things back. There
ARE situations where registry software won't find problems, but my
chosen applications, as I said, have never let me down.
I've asked for, and only found black holes, those who hype the never
let a program touch your registry to back it up with proof of the damage
they can do. NEVER was there any response with anything that could be
verified. I on the other hand have provided such personal experiences
as I had, in detail, to those same people, and guess what? All of a
sudden they weren't responding anymore. The "compaly liners" and
parrot-people who like to bash attitudes different from their own never
have anything intelligent to say when it gets down to the nitty gritty
of proving or at least showing a preponderance of evidence against any
reliable registry software.
You said you did a "backup" before you edited the registry? A backup of
what? Your entire drive? You should already have that, if you're any
good with data at all. So what are you backing up?
Me, I simple create a copy of the System State. Much smaller,
quicker and easier to reinstate. All my backups are automated, as
should be yours, but it's easier to have a System State handy all by
istelf to grab should it be needed. To date I have never needed one.
Wait: That's not true. I did need a System State once when file
corruption went wild on me. Restored the system state and all was well.
OH well, each to his own, I guess. It just bugs me to see
misinformation about things posted so often by so many people when the
majority know it's not so and simply ignore the closed minds anymore.
But they need to be kept covered so they don't corrupt and mislead
newbies who don't have the advantage of being able to tell what's junk
and what isn't. It's real unfortunate so many MVPs tout this line as
well. A few of them are really good at their areas too, until someone
says "registry cleaner".
If you've read this far, I'll be surprised! <g>
Cheers,
Twayne
T
Twayne
Paulo said:No such thing, stay away from registry cleaners, they will do more
harm than good.
Perfect parroting there, Milt. Ever had an original thought?
M
milt
Twayne said:Perfect parroting there, Milt. Ever had an original thought?
No parroting, just common sense.
J
JS
Yep, I read it all the way to the end.
So what Reg tool do you use?
I'm always willing to look at another utility.
JS
So what Reg tool do you use?
I'm always willing to look at another utility.
JS
B
Bruce Chambers
Paulo said:Hi, can you recommend good free windows xp registry cleaners?
There is no such thing as a "good" registry cleaner, free or otherwise.
Why do you even think you'd ever need to clean your registry? What
specific *problems* are you actually experiencing (not some program's
bogus listing of imaginary problems) that you think can be fixed by
using a registry "cleaner?"
If you do have a problem that is rooted in the registry, it would
be far better to simply edit (after backing up, of course) only the
specific key(s) and/or value(s) that are causing the problem. After
all, why use a chainsaw when a scalpel will do the job? Additionally,
the manually changing of one or two registry entries is far less likely
to have the dire consequences of allowing an automated product to make
wide-spread multiple changes simultaneously. The only thing needed to
safely clean your registry is knowledge and Regedit.exe.
The registry contains all of the operating system's "knowledge" of
the computer's hardware devices, installed software, the location of the
device drivers, and the computer's configuration. A misstep in the
registry can have severe consequences. One should not even turning
loose a poorly understood automated "cleaner," unless he is fully
confident that he knows *exactly* what is going to happen as a result of
each and every change.
Having repeatedly seen the results of inexperienced people using
automated registry "cleaners," I can only advise all but the most
experienced computer technicians (and/or hobbyists) to avoid them all.
Experience has shown me that such tools simply are not safe in the hands
of the inexperienced user. If you lack the knowledge and experience to
maintain your registry by yourself, then you also lack the knowledge and
experience to safely configure and use any automated registry "cleaner,"
no matter how safe they claim to be.
More importantly, no one has ever demonstrated that the use of an
automated registry "cleaner," particularly by an untrained,
inexperienced computer user, does any real good, whatsoever. There's
certainly been no empirical evidence offered to demonstrate that the use
of such products to "clean" WinXP's registry improves a computer's
performance or stability. Given the potential for harm, it's just not
worth the risk.
Granted, most registry "cleaners" won't cause problems each and
every time they're used, but the potential for harm is always there.
And, since no registry "cleaner" has ever been demonstrated to do any
good (think of them like treating the flu with chicken soup - there's no
real medicinal value, but it sometimes provides a warming placebo
effect), I always tell people that the risks far out-weigh the
non-existent benefits.
I will concede that a good registry *scanning* tool, in the hands
of an experienced and knowledgeable technician or hobbyist can be a
useful time-saving diagnostic tool, as long as it's not allowed to make
any changes automatically. But I really don't think that there are any
registry "cleaners" that are truly safe for the general public to use.
Experience has proven just the opposite: such tools simply are not safe
in the hands of the inexperienced user.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell
The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
B
Bruce Chambers
CCleaner's registry scanner seems relatively benign, as long as you
step through each detected "issue" one at a time, to determine if it
really is an "issue" or not, and then decide whether or not to let the
application "fix" it. In my testing, though, most of the reported
"issues" won't be issues, at all. I tried the latest version on a
brand-new OS installation with no additional applications installed, and
certainly none installed and then uninstalled, and CCleaner still
managed to "find" over a hundred allegedly orphaned registry entries and
dozens of purportedly "suspicious" files, making it clearly a
*worthless* product, in this regard. (Not that any registry cleaner can
ever be anything but worthless, as they don't serve any useful purpose,
to start with.)
CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it, lies
in its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard
drive; as a registry "cleaner," it's not significantly better or worse
than any other snake oil product of the same type.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell
The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
B
Bruce Chambers
Twayne said:Perfect parroting there, Milt. Ever had an original thought?
At least he's "parroting" a correct thought, rather than mindlessly
recommending snake oil, as you did.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell
The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
T
Twayne
Twayne said:At least he's "parroting" a correct thought, rather than mindlessly
recommending snake oil, as you did.
Spoken like a true, closed-minded zealot. Back up your claims and prove
me wrong, or get off the pot. Make it clear WHY you say what you do and
and use something other than "I tried them all and ... " crap.
I have decades of use/experience and occasional research behind me;
something you obviously do not or you'd trot it out to recover at least
some modicum of credibility for your reputation over making the sweeping
claims you tend to issue. It makes everything you say suspect touting
the silly line you do over registry apps. You're just parroting too,
I'm afraid.
T
Twayne
Yep, I read it all the way to the end.
I use SystemWorks (sans GoBack) on this machine, ccleaner on the other
two. My confidence in both is high, with nary a problem, ever. There
are others but I can't find my list right now; those are the ones I'm
currently using.
So what Reg tool do you use?
I'm always willing to look at another utility.
JS
I use SystemWorks (sans GoBack) on this machine, ccleaner on the other
two. My confidence in both is high, with nary a problem, ever. There
are others but I can't find my list right now; those are the ones I'm
currently using.
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