RegClean

[David E. Ross]

Is there a freeware tool for WindowsXP equivalent to RegClean (which I
used with Windows09)?

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<http://www.rossde.com/>

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[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Is there a freeware tool for WindowsXP equivalent to RegClean (which I
used with Windows09)?

Windows 09?

Registry cleaners are like snake oil: They give you a
good feeling inside but they don't do anything useful
(at best) or damage your machine (at worst). People
using them wisely refrain from checking their PC's
performance with a stop watch, both before and
after, because in most cases they would notice no
difference in performance. Free registry cleaners
are probably worse because nobody needs to take
any responsibility for disasters.

Think about it like this: The registry contains thousands
of entries that were placed there by Windows and by
various applications. Unless the registry cleaner had
intimate knowledge of the exact nature of each entry,
it would have no hope of doing anything useful. Much
better to use msconfig.exe to disable unwanted tasks.

 

[Rock]

Is there a freeware tool for WindowsXP equivalent to RegClean (which I
used with Windows09)?

A registry cleaner is not needed in XP. They can cause more harm than good.
It's not uncommon for us to get a post in here where someone has some
mysterious problem that has appeared from out of nowhere, and then discover
that sometime prior to that a reg cleaner was used

The only time a reg cleaner can be of value is if you are knowledgeable in
the registry and only use it as a guide to suggest things, then research the
items, and make a decision what to remove.

Orphaned entries in the registry very seldom cause problems. When a problem
occurs it's best to figure out what in particular needs to be removed rather
than using a reg cleaner on a regular basis.

 

[Newbie Coder]

Me personally have many years of experience in the registry & know what I am
looking for, but if you don't then I wouldn't suggest tampering.

The RegClean utility used to error quite a lot & each time you ran it, it
added new values. Microsoft have now removed that utility from their
website. However, they point to a registry cleaner utility bundled with the
MS Office packages.

However, if you wish to use a free reg tool then here's one:

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/...es/Eusing_Free_Registry_Cleaner_Download.html

I hope this helps,

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Is there a freeware tool for WindowsXP equivalent to RegClean

WinXP does not need any "Registry Cleaner". There is no benefit versus
the high risk to render applications and/or the entire system useless.

 

[Newbie Coder]

No machine NEEDS a registry cleaner, but if the user wants to use one then
let he/she do it

 

[Rock]

No machine NEEDS a registry cleaner, but if the user wants to use one then
let he/she do it

Who are you replying to? Since you, as usual, didn't quote any of the
message to which you replied, you are again, talking to yourself.

 

[Incognitus]

Is there a freeware tool for WindowsXP equivalent to RegClean (which I
used with Windows09)?

MS is still offering a Registry cleaner for XP.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/center/cleanup.htm

 

[bxf]

... Free registry cleaners
are probably worse because nobody needs to take
any responsibility for disasters.

Although I don't disagree with the opinions expressed in this post,
I'd like to point out that the one cleaner that has never caused me
problems is in fact the free Crap Cleaner (CCleaner). Apparently, this
product limits itself to items that are safe to delete.

Ironically, it appears that Registry cleaners try to show their
superiority to competing products by highlighting the number of
"problems" they detect. By doing this, they hit on every inconsistency
they find, regardless of whether or not this inconsistency is an
actual problem. One of the favourite targets is references to missing
files. Consider this scenario as an example:

You install an application that, as part of the install process,
creates a Registry entry that will house, say, the name of the last
file processed by this application. Whenever you start the
application, it looks at this Registry entry, extracts the file name,
and opens it. If the file does not exist then the application will
simply wait for you to open a file. Now, the application was coded so
that it will act according to whether or not the referenced file
exists, but it was not necessarily coded to cope with the case of a
MISSING Registry entry. The application has every right to expect to
find the entry that it had created, and "has a right" to crash if it
doesn't find that entry.

In reality, most applications do not crash as a result of the above,
and I imagine this is simply because the programmers know what users
can do and code accordingly. Nevertheless, the above is intended to
point out that most Registry "problems" are nothing of the sort. This
also applies to unused file extensions. So your Registry has
definitions for some extensions, and you don't have any files with
these extensions. So what, this is a Registry error? I don't think so.

Being (probably excessively) obsessed with keeping crap off (NOT off
of) my machine, I use CCleaner regularly (excluding cleaning of Unused
File Extensions) . I also use RegScrubXP to SELECTIVELY remove
references to CLASSIDs that I know should no longer be present.
Commercial cleaners that I've tried occasionally, but not often, point
out legitimate errors, but most of their reported "problems" are
simply not.

 

[Poprivet]

Is there a freeware tool for WindowsXP equivalent to RegClean (which I
used with Windows09)?

Sloshing thru the BS in all the other posts, yes. One, CClean is decent,
and Registry Mechanic has one too. Google to find them.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Although I don't disagree with the opinions expressed in this post,
I'd like to point out that the one cleaner that has never caused me
problems is in fact the free Crap Cleaner (CCleaner). Apparently, this
product limits itself to items that are safe to delete.

Undoubted some registry cleaners are more dangerous than others, but in my
view, none is safe and I recommend against all of them. That's not to say
that every time anybody uses a registry cleaner, serious problems will
result, but the risk is always there. If you haven't had a problem using
CCleaner's registry cleaning functions, consider yourself lucky.

Leave the registry alone and don't use a registry cleaner. Despite what many
people think, and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince
you of, having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it may
have.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

No machine NEEDS a registry cleaner, but if the user wants to use one
then let he/she do it

None of us here has any ability to let someone do something or prohibit him
form doing it. All any of us can do is make recommendations. Ultimately the
choice is the individual's.

 

[Galen Somerville]

Undoubted some registry cleaners are more dangerous than others, but in my
view, none is safe and I recommend against all of them. That's not to say
that every time anybody uses a registry cleaner, serious problems will
result, but the risk is always there. If you haven't had a problem using
CCleaner's registry cleaning functions, consider yourself lucky.

Leave the registry alone and don't use a registry cleaner. Despite what
many people think, and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to
convince you of, having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it
may have.

I have found that ToniArts EasyCleaner does a good job. It only looks for
items that refer to a hard drive location and that location no longer
exists. Very good after you have done some uninstalls.

Galen

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have found that ToniArts EasyCleaner does a good job. It only looks for
items that refer to a hard drive location and that location no longer
exists. Very good after you have done some uninstalls.

Galen

Have you ever tried to establish if there is any measurable
benefit this running this product, other than having some
unused registry entries removed? If so please supply details.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Is there a freeware tool for WindowsXP equivalent to RegClean (which I
used with Windows09)?

Why would you think you need to clean your registry?

What specific problems are you *actually experiencing* (not some
snake oil program's bogus listing of imaginary problems)?

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
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.

On those rare occasions when I suspect there might be a problem in
the registry, 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. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have found that ToniArts EasyCleaner does a good job. It only looks for
items that refer to a hard drive location and that location no longer
exists. Very good after you have done some uninstalls.

Galen

Isn't that the one that crippled the Help and Support Center?


--

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. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Galen Somerville]

Isn't that the one that crippled the Help and Support Center?


--

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. -Bertrand
Russell

As I remember the first two versions had that problem. After all, Toni was
only fifteen when he wrote it.

Galen

 

[bxf]

bxfwrote:


Undoubted some registry cleaners are more dangerous than others, but in my
view, none is safe and I recommend against all of them. That's not to say
that every time anybody uses a registry cleaner, serious problems will
result, but the risk is always there. If you haven't had a problem using
CCleaner's registry cleaning functions, consider yourself lucky.

Leave the registry alone and don't use a registry cleaner. Despite what many
people think, and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince
you of, having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it may
have.

The risk would be non-existent if the deletions are limited to items
that are always expendable - whatever they may be. If a cleaner is
written by a person who is thoroughly knowledgeable on Registry
structure and use, etc., then, by definition, that person's candidates
for deletions can be taken as valid. I'm not making a statement on
whether or not such code actually exists.

As for CCleaner, perhaps I've lucky, as you say, or perhaps it limits
itself to deleting safe items. I use it often and regularly, but I do
perform a visual evaluation of the items it intends to delete. And
although I occasionally hold off on deleting some items immediately, I
eventually do delete them. If one compares what CCleaner deletes to
the list of problems commercial products claim to have found, one sees
that the latter list is much, much larger, indicating that CCleaner
takes a much safer approach in deciding what's to be deleted.

 

[bxf]

I have found that ToniArts EasyCleaner does a good job. It only looks for
items that refer to a hard drive location and that location no longer
exists. Very good after you have done some uninstalls.

Galen

Apart from the fact that EasyCleaner did cause a problem for me at one
time in the past, I'll again comment on the fact that a non-existent
location does not necessarily constitute an error. Many applications
keep track of the last file used, and merely deleting that file does
not make the Registry reference "an error". It will be recreated
immediately when the application is restarted. This, for the most
part, is useless cleaning.

 

[bxf]

Have you ever tried to establish if there is any measurable
benefit this running this product, other than having some
unused registry entries removed? If so please supply details.

Of course not. But, have you ever tried to establish whether or not
the presence of a thousand unused empty folders on your drive
measurably affect performance? They wouldn't, but I'd still get rid of
them.