Freeware Registry Cleaner

[Jerry]

I have found plenty of freeware for registry scans but they do not remore
files or correct errors unless you purchase a program. Is there a Registry
Cleaner that will fix registry problems that is freeware?

Thanks in advance for any help given.
Jerry

 

[TheManifold]

http://www.ccleaner.com/ [Crap Cleaner] is excellent.

 

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

I have found plenty of freeware for registry scans but they do not remore
files or correct errors unless you purchase a program. Is there a Registry
Cleaner that will fix registry problems that is freeware?

Thanks in advance for any help given.
Jerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a bunch, but a word of caution is in order. I have tried
several, both free and paid, and I have two observations:

1. Unless your registry is grossly overloaded with crap, they make
very little improvement in performance. It only takes Windows a few
milliseconds to read the registry, so whatever is excess causes little
harm.

2. Without exception, every one I have tried has munged the registry
is one way or another, usually minor but one screwed things up enough
that Windows would not boot.

IMO, if you really, really, want to clean the registry, reinstall
Windows. This is not as big a deal as it sounds if you have an image
of your HD with all your programs, but before any web visits, email,
downloads, etc, etc. In other words, a pure, uncorrupted HD, ready to
go. In my computer I have two HDs, the C: drive for the OS and
programs and the D: drive for all my data. With that arrangement,
reinstalling Windows and still having all my data takes less than five
minutes and I have a perfectly clean, fresh computer.

Although you didn't ask, there is another thing I do which saves lots
of time and grief. My C: drive is in a removable tray, so when I want
to play with some new program or other weird thing, I put in a second
drive and install the image to that, then install whatever I want to
play with. No matter how badly that drive gets messed up, the original
is right there on the desk, ready to go back to work.

The only way to go.

Bill T.

 

[Buzzie]

IMO, if you really, really, want to clean the registry, reinstall
Windows. This is not as big a deal as it sounds if you have an image
of your HD with all your programs, but before any web visits, email,
downloads, etc, etc. In other words, a pure, uncorrupted HD, ready to
go. In my computer I have two HDs, the C: drive for the OS and
programs and the D: drive for all my data. With that arrangement,
reinstalling Windows and still having all my data takes less than five
minutes and I have a perfectly clean, fresh computer.

I will be getting a new pc next month to replace my 6-year old W98, 3 GB
HD, 64 MB RAM, CD read only, system and would like to follow your
advice re: making an image of the new system's HD before I get a chance
to stuff up the nice clean install.

Could you help me with a few questions please?

1) Can I do this if I only have one HD?
2) If I must have a second HD, what size is the minimum I could get
away with if the main HD is 160 GB?
3) What programme should I use to make the image? (OS will be XP Home)
4) If the original install gets screwed, how do I replace it again with
the image I've made?
5) Can you recommend any websites that explain drive imaging, and how
to do it?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Buzzie

 

[Ron May]

I have found plenty of freeware for registry scans but they do not remore
files or correct errors unless you purchase a program. Is there a Registry
Cleaner that will fix registry problems that is freeware?

Thanks in advance for any help given.
Jerry

There are several (CCleaner, Easy Cleaner, e.g.,) but my personal
favorite is RegSeeker:

http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

On automatic scans, you can delete the "green" entries without a
second thought. Care should be exercised when deleting "red" entries,
although I've never personally experienced a problem from doing so.
(The program does generate backups of deleted entries.)

Most useful feature for me is "search" when an automatic scan doesn't
ferret out all of the entries left behind by some uninstalled program
that still causes issues with file associations and the like. Do a
search for the file name, aliases and vendor name and you'll get most
of them.

Standard disclaimer applies, however, that you make changes to the
registry at your own risk.

 

[Spratman]

I have found plenty of freeware for registry scans but they do not remore
files or correct errors unless you purchase a program. Is there a Registry
Cleaner that will fix registry problems that is freeware?

Thanks in advance for any help given.
Jerry

I'd suggest getting Microsoft's Regclean 4.1a. Microsoft have removed it
from their own site to the best of my knowledge, but PC World still has it,
as do other sites [but I think I trust PC World more than a few others].

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,4666,00.asp

Pretty simple to use, no fancy options - no money required either. I usually
run this after a serious crash and it seems to put things right. The problem
I've had with other products is that sometimes the fine line between
"Fixing" and "breaking" is almost impossible to determine.

CCleaner, that others here recommend is not the most bug free software I've
come across either [which is perhaps a bit alarming considering what it is].
I had a go with v1.25.201 and found I could amongst other things make it
crash - and that some of the settings may have undesired effects - even if
they look innocent. It did however manage to remove a number of entries for
DirectX filters that I had that had not deregistered themselves properly,
which was helpful.

Sprat

 

[Bill Turner]

Could you help me with a few questions please?

1) Can I do this if I only have one HD?

I think so. You would have to have two partitions on the HD, and you
would save the image of your main partition to the second partition. I
have not done this myself, so someone please correct me if that's not
possible.. I have always used two separate drives. You have the
option of creating the image directly to a DVD or CD, using multiple
disks if needed. After you have created the image, ALWAYS run the
verification test to make sure the image is good.

One very good option is a second HD in an external USB case, so when
you've created your image you can take it away and store it in a safe
place. Highly recommended!

2) If I must have a second HD, what size is the minimum I could get
away with if the main HD is 160 GB?

To give you an idea, my C drive is 20Gb, but I only have about 3.5Gb
used. When I make an image I use moderate compression so the image
itself comes out about 2Gb. My second HD is a 250 Gb, so I can store
my "golden" image plus lots of daily or weekly images going back
months.

3) What programme should I use to make the image? (OS will be XP Home)

I like Acronis True Image. I have used Norton Ghost which is OK but
Acronis can create an image without rebooting into DOS. It has the
ability to "lock" files which are in use so it can read and image them
while Windows is running. My Norton Ghost is the 2003 version so it's
possible later versions can to the locking too.

4) If the original install gets screwed, how do I replace it again with
the image I've made?

With either Acronis or Norton Ghost, you use a rescue disk which you
create during the installation process and boot into DOS. Then select
the image you want to restore and tell the program which drive to
restore it to. Easy.

5) Can you recommend any websites that explain drive imaging, and how
to do it?

I don't know of any other than Acronis' and Norton's. I'm sure there
are some. Google will find them.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

My pleasure. Have fun.

Bill T.

 

[Buzzie]

....helpful responses to my questions with heaps of advice.
Thank you so much for such a full and quick reply, Bill.

Happy New Year to you, and everyone else on acf, when it gets here.
Have a good one!

Best,

Buzzie.

 

[mike ring]

One very good option is a second HD in an external USB case, so when
you've created your image you can take it away and store it in a safe
place. Highly recommended!

I'm sure this is good advice - but I've now got a terror of burglars; if my
computers get nicked; and my nice book size external drive is nicked too,
my life is gone!

Can anyone suggest a better hiding place that the laundry basket?

mike

 

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

I'm sure this is good advice - but I've now got a terror of burglars; if my
computers get nicked; and my nice book size external drive is nicked too,
my life is gone!

Can anyone suggest a better hiding place that the laundry basket?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take it to work. Actually, have two so you can rotate them.

Bill T.

 

[Bob Adkins]

I'm sure this is good advice - but I've now got a terror of burglars; if my
computers get nicked; and my nice book size external drive is nicked too,
my life is gone!

Can anyone suggest a better hiding place that the laundry basket?

Refrigerator, vegetable drawer. Burglars hate healthy food.

 

[Bob Adkins]

My personal favorite is RegSeeker:

http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

On automatic scans, you can delete the "green" entries without a
second thought. Care should be exercised when deleting "red" entries,
although I've never personally experienced a problem from doing so.
(The program does generate backups of deleted entries.)

Most useful feature for me is "search" when an automatic scan doesn't
ferret out all of the entries left behind by some uninstalled program
that still causes issues with file associations and the like. Do a
search for the file name, aliases and vendor name and you'll get most
of them.

Standard disclaimer applies, however, that you make changes to the
registry at your own risk.

I second RegSeeker. I used to be cautious, and just zap the "green" or
"safe" entries. After a while, I became more confident, and started zapping
the "red" entries. I have never had a problem, or never had to restore the
saved settings.

That said, I am only 99% confident in RegSeeker. That may not sound like
much confidence, bur hey, I'm only 95% confident my hard drive won't fail
tomorrow.

 

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

Refrigerator, vegetable drawer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not a bad idea, but what about condensation? Keep it in a ziploc bag,
maybe?

Bill T.

 

[mike ring]

Take it to work. Actually, have two so you can rotate them.

Bill T.

I've forgotten what work is. :~))

mike

 

[mike ring]

I second RegSeeker. I used to be cautious, and just zap the "green" or
"safe" entries. After a while, I became more confident, and started
zapping the "red" entries. I have never had a problem, or never had to
restore the saved settings.

Me, too

That said, I am only 99% confident in RegSeeker. That may not sound
like much confidence,

And then there's always scanreg/restore (in my OS...)

mike

 

[Franklin]

There are a bunch, but a word of caution is in order. I have
tried several, both free and paid, and I have two observations:

1. Unless your registry is grossly overloaded with crap, they
make very little improvement in performance. It only takes
Windows a few milliseconds to read the registry, so whatever is
excess causes little harm.

My registry has grown to a very large size and accessing it is not
always so swift. I like to use SysInternals Regmon to keep an eye
on what's going on.

2. Without exception, every one I have tried has munged the
registry is one way or another, usually minor but one screwed
things up enough that Windows would not boot.

This can easily happen if you merrily remove everything it draws
to your attention. It's a problem with this sort of software.
Have had the same problem too.

IMO, if you really, really, want to clean the registry,
reinstall Windows. This is not as big a deal as it sounds if you
have an image of your HD with all your programs, but before any
web visits, email, downloads, etc, etc. In other words, a pure,
uncorrupted HD, ready to go. In my computer I have two HDs, the
C: drive for the OS and programs and the D: drive for all my
data. With that arrangement, reinstalling Windows and still
having all my data takes less than five minutes and I have a
perfectly clean, fresh computer.

For me it's a very big deal to re-install windows as I have
customized my registry no end.

Oddly enough, I too work as you do with a C and D drive. Trouble
is some software puts a lot of data into %PROFILE%\APPLICATION
DATA and %PROFILE%\LOCAL SETTINGS\APPLICATION DATA.

Although you didn't ask, there is another thing I do which saves
lots of time and grief. My C: drive is in a removable tray, so
when I want to play with some new program or other weird thing,
I put in a second drive and install the image to that, then
install whatever I want to play with. No matter how badly that
drive gets messed up, the original is right there on the desk,
ready to go back to work.

Why not have a look at a boot manager like Bootit ($$$WARE) from:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

I have at least six working XP partitions on my PC (some are
backups and some are test systems). I swap them in and out with
Bootit boot manager before I boot into one of them. I have them
all configured to access the D drive for data.

So I have no messing with BOOT.INI or with partition boot sectors
or any other fiddly stuff like that. The boot manager approach is
clean and simple: just select a different XP partition for the
next boot and away you go. However it is not for everyone if they
do not know a bit about partition theory.

Other XP boot managers will probably work just as well:

XOSL is freeware but far too limited for me.
http://www.ranish.com/part/xosl.htm
Boot-US is one I haven't tried but it is free and looks nice.
http://www.boot-us.com/license.htm

 

[Franklin]

I second RegSeeker. I used to be cautious, and just zap the
"green" or "safe" entries. After a while, I became more
confident, and started zapping the "red" entries. I have never
had a problem, or never had to restore the saved settings.

That said, I am only 99% confident in RegSeeker. That may not
sound like much confidence, bur hey, I'm only 95% confident my
hard drive won't fail tomorrow.

I use regseeker sometimes. I agree: only the green entries!

 

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

I have at least six working XP partitions on my PC (some are
backups and some are test systems). I swap them in and out with
Bootit boot manager before I boot into one of them. I have them
all configured to access the D drive for data.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know that's a popular way to go but when the HD self-destructs,
you're dead. I don't think you can beat a full HD image saved on a
second drive or DVD. Different strokes.

Bill T.

 

[Morgan Ohlson]

I have found plenty of freeware for registry scans but they do not remore
files or correct errors unless you purchase a program. Is there a Registry
Cleaner that will fix registry problems that is freeware?

Thanks in advance for any help given.
Jerry

Thiese must be regarded as registry security tools, don't they? Good any
how!

Hijackthis
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/hijackthis.html

a-squared HiJackFree
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/hijackfree.html


Morgan O.

 

[Franklin]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know that's a popular way to go but when the HD
self-destructs, you're dead. I don't think you can beat a full
HD image saved on a second drive or DVD. Different strokes.

I think we are actually in agreement. I make sure I save my
partition backups on another hard drive. With a boot manager like
BootIt I can boot from the current XP partition or from my backup
or from an earlier backup.