Optimising the registry

[Guest]

In Windows ME it was possible to boot to DOS and do a scanreg /fix to
optimise the registry.

Is there a simple and safe way to optimise and compact the registry in
Windows XP sp2 Home Edition without having to buy additional utilities?

Thanks for any help,
Paul

 

[Guest]

Replaced by System Restore.

 

[Guest]

Yes, in the sense that there is no longer a need to repair the registry with
System Restore, but I thought that a scanreg /fix rebuilt the registry
compacting it in the process. I was wondering whether there is a way of
compacting the registry in XP.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Performed by XP.
--
Ted Zieglar

Yes, in the sense that there is no longer a need to repair the registry with
System Restore, but I thought that a scanreg /fix rebuilt the registry
compacting it in the process. I was wondering whether there is a way of
compacting the registry in XP.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Guest]

Do you have a source for this? It doesn't surprise me if, in fact, XP
handles its own registry cleaning and optimizing -- but this is the first
time I have heard of such a thing. Usually the discussion or debate on this
topic is whether third party registry cleaners or optimizers actually do any
good, or even if they often end up doing more harm than good.

 

[la_bruin]

Good news!

There's a free tool that does what you'd like for Windows
XP Professional called NTREGOPT. It take a few minutes
but it rebuilds the registry top down and effectively
compresses the entire database. The end result is a
registry that is substantially smaller, saves disk space,
and potentially quickens registry access. Give it a
try. I think you'll be impressed.

NTREGOPT:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/index.htm

It's actually part of a larger suite of tools I use to
optimize Windows XP Professional's performance for my
customers after being installed on a workstation for a
while. Note however that NTREGOPT does not defrag the
registry itself on the file system to quicken registry
access, nor does it remove illegal or irrelevant keys &
values which can stifle performance.

If you'd like a tool that defrags the registry (and all
the other system files) use PAGEDFRG.EXE from
SysInternals. It's a great tool that helps kick
performance up a notch if you can't afford Diskeeper 9 by
defragging the page file, the registry, and other system
components.

PAGEDFRG:
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/pagedefrag.shtm
l

Now, if you'd like a tool that cleans out irrelevant keys
& values from the registry, there's a slew of tools that
do the job but I like one called RegScrubXP that I use
that used to be located at
http://home.carolina.rr.com/lexunsoftware but they seem
to have 'disappeared' so if you can still find it on
http://www.download.com or something go for it. I also
like the notorious CrapCleaner which has a tab
specifically for eliminating illegal or unreferenced
registry entries.

CRAPCLEANER:
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Hope this helps.

- LA_Bruin
(a Microsoft employee that's just kinda passing by! ;-))

 

[Guest]

Good news!

There's a free tool that does what you'd like for Windows
XP Professional called NTREGOPT. It take a few minutes
but it rebuilds the registry top down and effectively
compresses the entire database. The end result is a
registry that is substantially smaller, saves disk space,
and potentially quickens registry access. Give it a
try. I think you'll be impressed.

I have used NTREGOPT before. It never caused harm to my system, but whether
it resulted in any transparent (measurable and noticable) improvements in
performance is another matter.

[...]

If you'd like a tool that defrags the registry (and all
the other system files) use PAGEDFRG.EXE from
SysInternals. It's a great tool that helps kick
performance up a notch if you can't afford Diskeeper 9 by
defragging the page file, the registry, and other system
components.

I'm using Diskeeper 9. Right now, it is the only third party tool that I
use that is specifically intended to improve Windows XP performance, and even
then only because it is a more souped up version of the built in defragger.
In particular, I like the Set It and Forget It feature, and I also like the
feature that measures the performance gains that you can expect to achieve by
using Diskeeper. To be sure, I also like PerfectDisk, and if Diskeeper
didn't exist I would probably use PerfectDisk. But as far as
performance-enhancing utilities go, that's it for me.

[...]

Now, if you'd like a tool that cleans out irrelevant keys
& values from the registry, there's a slew of tools that
do the job...

I have used many of them in the past. At best, I've noticed no change in my
overal system performance. At worst, they caused me new problems, sometimes
major problems. Again, none of these programs seems to provide any
transpaent improvement in system performance and stability, nor do they
provide any means of measuring any such performance.

Most of these third party performance tools are snake oil. I have learned
-- through the hard way (trial and error), that if you really want fast,
stable performance in Windows XP, less is almost always more. IMO, here is
what you need to do, and it has worked far better for me than third party
utilities:

1. Keep your disks free from errors (run chkdsk regularly), free of junk
(XP's Disk Clean program is more than adequate for the job), and regularly
defragged.

2. Make sure your machine has enough CPU and memory to do normal computing
tasks without having to use the pagefile. This means either that you need to
buy a new machine (e.g. don't expect XP Professional to run well on an old
computer designed to run Windows 98) or cut down as much as you can on
multitasking.

3. Review Event Viewer regularly and, when it reports an error or warning,
fix the ones that you can fix.

4. Last but not least, keep the crudware -- viruses, spyware, adware, ad
nauseum -- off your machine. This means keeping Windows up to date
(including SP2), keeping your antivirus program up to date, and regularly
checking for spyware and adware (or, better yet, don't download it in the
first place!).

Ken