Angus said:
Hello
Quite often customers PC's get totally trashed because X conflicts with Y
and I was wondering if a registry clean might sometimes save me
reformatting, reinstalling etc.
Actually, most automated regisrty cleaners will probably make the need
for a format and clean installation more likely.
If product was free would be easier.
Y&ep. It'll be worth exactly what you paid for it.
Anyone have any comments as to the likelihood that a registry clean would
have much of an effect on a screwed PC?
It depends upon what is actually wrong with the PC, doesn't it.
Also where can I get one? Even if
a cost what is best product to use?
By "best," I assume you mean the one least likely to render your
computer completely unusable? CCleaner 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 experience, most of the reported
"issues" won't be issues, at all. CCleaner's main strength lies in its
usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard drive.
Why would you think you need to clean your registry?
What specific problem are you experiencing that you *know* beyond
all reasonable doubt will 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. Why use a shotgun 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 multiple changes simultaneously.
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 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.
The only thing needed to safely clean your registry is knowledge
and Regedit.exe. 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.
Further, no one has ever demonstrated, to my satisfaction, that the
use of an automated registry cleaner, particularly by an untrained,
inexperienced computer user, does any real good. 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.
I always use Regedit.exe. I trust my own experience and judgment
far more than I would any automated registry cleaner. I strongly
encourage others to acquire the knowledge, as well.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
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. -Bertrum Russell
