Registry Cleaners

[JohnD]

Can anyone recommend a good, safe registry cleaner that may or may not be a
freebie, but doesn't bring in a lot of unwanted stuff with it? (XP Pro SP3)

Thanks

 

[Guest]

JohnD,

Never use a registry cleaner!!!!

 

[Alias]

Can anyone recommend a good, safe registry cleaner that may or may not be a
freebie, but doesn't bring in a lot of unwanted stuff with it? (XP Pro SP3)

Thanks

It is not advisable to use any, free or for pay. They can do a lot more
harm than good. What problems are you having that makes you think you
need one?

Alias

 

[John John - MVP]

Don't bother with those useless programs, they cause more harm than good.

John

 

[John Barnett MVP]

In most cases registry cleaners cause more problems than they actually cure,
for that reason they are best left well alone.

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org


The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

Can anyone recommend a good, safe registry cleaner that may or may not be
a
freebie, but doesn't bring in a lot of unwanted stuff with it? (XP Pro
SP3)

Thanks

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
signature database 4080 (20090515) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4080 (20090515) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

 

[JohnD]

After running AdAware it said it had removed all suspect files, but left me
with two "Threatware" items that I was asked to advise them of. Vboxs430.DLL
and vboxt430en-us.vboxlm. These files remain in the vbox folder inside the
Windows folder.
So I located a program called RegCure that purported to come from a
Microsoft certified guy and was advertised as free, downloaded it , ran it
and it found over 800 "problems", but would only fix one until I bought the
program.

Something about this whole thing said "scam" to me, partly because only a
couple of weeks ago I reformatted my hard drive and re-installed everything,
so there didn't seem to have been time to build up so many problems.

Anyway, since I was concerned about the "Threatware" items I thought I
should do something.

 

[Alias]

After running AdAware it said it had removed all suspect files, but left me
with two "Threatware" items that I was asked to advise them of. Vboxs430.DLL
and vboxt430en-us.vboxlm. These files remain in the vbox folder inside the
Windows folder.
So I located a program called RegCure that purported to come from a
Microsoft certified guy and was advertised as free, downloaded it , ran it
and it found over 800 "problems", but would only fix one until I bought the
program.

Something about this whole thing said "scam" to me, partly because only a
couple of weeks ago I reformatted my hard drive and re-installed everything,
so there didn't seem to have been time to build up so many problems.

Anyway, since I was concerned about the "Threatware" items I thought I
should do something.

Try these programs instead:

Malwarebytes:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe

SuperAntispyware:
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

Spybot, Search and Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

All free.

AdAware is pretty much useless nowadays. It used to be good but not any
more. Download the above programs, update them and run them one at a
time in Safe Mode to get rid of those "Threat wares".

Alias

 

[ColTom2]

Download and install Malwarebytes Anti-Spyware
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.htmlto counter any concern about Threatware etc.The other related postings gave you some great advice about RegCleaners....just leave them be.ColTom2"JohnD" <[email protected]> wrote in messagerunning AdAware it said it had removed all suspect files, but left mewith two "Threatware" items that I was asked to advise them of.Vboxs430.DLLand vboxt430en-us.vboxlm. These files remain in the vbox folder inside theWindows folder.So I located a program called RegCure that purported to come from aMicrosoft certified guy and was advertised as free, downloaded it , ran itand it found over 800 "problems", but would only fix one until I bought theprogram.Something about this whole thing said "scam" to me, partly because only acouple of weeks ago I reformatted my hard drive and re-installed everything,so there didn't seem to have been time to build up so many problems.Anyway, since I was concerned about the "Threatware" items I thought Ishould do something.

 

[John John - MVP]

After running AdAware it said it had removed all suspect files, but left me
with two "Threatware" items that I was asked to advise them of. Vboxs430.DLL
and vboxt430en-us.vboxlm. These files remain in the vbox folder inside the
Windows folder.
So I located a program called RegCure that purported to come from a
Microsoft certified guy and was advertised as free, downloaded it , ran it
and it found over 800 "problems", but would only fix one until I bought the
program.

The "strange" thing about that particular program is that almost
everyone who reports using it almost always post saying the exact same
thing as what you've just told us, the program seems to always find
about *800* problems! Something is fishy indeed, how can all computers
have an almost identical number of problems? If the program were legit
it would report different number of problems and on many machines it
wouldn't find any more than a handful of so called "problems", problems
that aren't really problems at all.

In this case the "scamware" in question may be a bit a bit less
obnoxious and aggressive than others. Some of these programs will try
to hide and set themselves to automatically start and always run on your
computer. Then, even if you didn't run the program, it will give you
popups saying that you have problems with your computer. Problems
indeed, the only problem you will have will be the annoying popup
telling you to pay the authors of the scamware if you want to fix the
problem! Some of these pests can be difficult to remove and some of
them are very obnoxious. At first you may only get a popup when you
start the computer but if you ignore the request to pay the popups will
increase in frequency, to the point where they may be so frequent as to
make it next to impossible to properly run your computer.

John

 

[JohnD]

"Thanks everybody!"

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Can anyone recommend a good, safe registry cleaner that may or may not be a
freebie, but doesn't bring in a lot of unwanted stuff with it? (XP Pro SP3)

No, nobody can. That's because there are *no* good, safe registry
cleaners.

Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of the
registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and
don't use any 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.

Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Can anyone recommend a good, safe registry cleaner that may or may not be a
freebie, but doesn't bring in a lot of unwanted stuff with it? (XP Pro SP3)

Thanks

There's no such thing.

Why would 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
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.

A little further reading on the subject:

Why I don't use registry cleaners
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643

AumHa Forums • View topic - AUMHA Discussion: Should I Use a Registry
Cleaner?
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099



--

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

 

[Bruce Chambers]

After running AdAware it said it had removed all suspect files, but left me
with two "Threatware" items that I was asked to advise them of. Vboxs430.DLL
and vboxt430en-us.vboxlm. These files remain in the vbox folder inside the
Windows folder.

So, why not just delete to two suspicious files? Or, if unsure that
they're really malware (sound like it to me), simply rename them to see
if something "breaks."

So I located a program called RegCure that purported to come from a
Microsoft certified guy and was advertised as free, downloaded it , ran it
and it found over 800 "problems", but would only fix one until I bought the
program.

Something about this whole thing said "scam" to me,

And you were 100% correct. It is a scam.

... partly because only a
couple of weeks ago I reformatted my hard drive and re-installed everything,
so there didn't seem to have been time to build up so many problems.

Yes, that's a pretty clear demonstration of the worthlessness of such
products.

Anyway, since I was concerned about the "Threatware" items I thought I
should do something.

Again, simply delete the offending files and leave the registry alone.


--

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

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

If you think your Registry needs to be "cleaned" or "repaired," read
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

If you think your Registry needs to be "cleaned" or "repaired," read
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.

 

[milt]

Can anyone recommend a good, safe registry cleaner that may or may not be a
freebie, but doesn't bring in a lot of unwanted stuff with it? (XP Pro SP3)

Thanks

No such thing, none of them are any good. Avoid at all costs.

 

[noone]

JohnD,

Never use a registry cleaner!!!!

That's not what they say here:
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/cleanup.htm

 

[Twayne]

If you think your Registry needs to be "cleaned" or "repaired," read
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.

Useless trash - responses by the same ignorants and closed minds that
post here, all feeling cozy in their own little web space.

 

[Alias]

That's not what they say here:
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/cleanup.htm

They LIE. Why do they lie? To sell the product, what else?

Alias

 

[noone]

They LIE. Why do they lie? To sell the product, what else?

It's free and it is a Microsoft site.