Registry cleaning.

[Mike]

Isn't that an oxymoron?

Actually, you are the oxymoron.

 

[Peter Foldes]

It is false. Aside from creating enormous problems ,cleaning the registry does not
make your computer faster or does it free up space,It is a very dangerous tool in
the hands of the inexperienced and even occasionally for an expert

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

You're entitled to your opinion / expletives but you're wrong.

I could cite specific examples of in-built Vista programs that
progressively build up superfluous entries in the registry over time, and
cause a slowdown , but I'll refrain. I'll leave it as a homework exercise
for you to discover, should your humility ever get the better of you.

Also since it wouldn't allow to learn the more general and important
lesson, which is that Registry Cleaners are NOT inherently evil. The name
of a program doesn't make it good or evil. A program can be written well
or badly. It can address and solve particular bugs or issues, or not

Which should really be a self-evident platitude. Anyone who has ever
strung together a simple script, program or batch file, will be well aware
of this.

Why refrain from citing examples?

 

[Jon]

Why refrain from citing examples?

You'll all need to beg a bit louder first.

 

[DrTeeth]

CCleaner is the only program that I apply to any computer I
repair.

I started avoiding that program when they included the ability to
clean out the prefetch folder - another fable that is hogwash on
steroids.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

[DrTeeth]

Even pigs benefit from a bath. Think about it.

But they get dirty again very quickly. Seriously, these reg cleaners
clean out so little, the registry does not reduce in size
significantly after...'compacting' before and after cleaning.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

[DrTeeth]

Why refrain from citing examples?

I'm sure if he had any, he'd be happy to educate us.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

[DrTeeth]

Isn't that an oxymoron?

Not at all.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

[Richard Urban]

Don't go away mad - just go away!

 

[DrTeeth]

All views would be welcomed

Don't do it. You will get a warn feeling inside by seeing the amount
'cleaned', but it won't help at all. It is the VERY LAST thing I try
before reinstalling.

One registry cleaner I used in the past fecked up Encarta 2009 and I
had to repair it.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

You'll all need to beg a bit louder first.

LOL..

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I'm sure if he had any, he'd be happy to educate us.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

I have endeavored to search for anything good about registry cleaners, and
have yet to locate any other than the sales blurb put out by the authors of
said utilities..

 

[Jon]

I'm sure if he had any, he'd be happy to educate us.
--

Ordinarily yes, DrTeeth.

But in this thread, unfortunately, I get the sneaky suspicion that it would
be a case of pearls to pigs / hogs...unwashed ones as well.

Pearls to pigs DrTeeth, pearls to pigs .......

 

[Jon]

Don't go away mad - just go away!

Nah, that didn't do it for me. Try a little harder.

 

[Oren]

You'll all need to beg a bit louder first.

Not an answer for the question.

 

[the wharf rat]

Pearls to pigs DrTeeth, pearls to pigs .......

Stop swhining, you crybaby.

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Personally, I equate the indifferent use of a "registry cleaner" on the same
level as self-administered cranial surgery. There are specific times and
reasons that one would remove specific Registry data but to use a product
simply to "clean" the Registry in the hopes of improving performance is to
invite disaster.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

A friend has recommended that I clean up my registry.

Why do 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

He admits he is no
expert so I would appreciate other comments before I commit myself.
The software I would use would be C Cleaner.

CCleaner's registry scanner seems relatively benign, as long as you
step through each detected "issue" (almost all of which will be bogus)
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 testing,
though, most of the reported "issues" won't be issues, at all. I tried
the latest version on a brand-new OS installation with no additional
applications installed, and certainly none installed and then
uninstalled, and CCleaner still managed to "find" over a hundred
allegedly orphaned registry entries and dozens of purportedly
"suspicious" files. Its findings were utter nonsense, in plain terms.

CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it, lies
in its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard
drive; as a registry "cleaner," it's not significantly different from
any other snake oil product of the same type.


--

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]

It's not ony desirable to clean up the registry with Vista, it's essential.

Utter nonsense.

Otherwise your experience of the OS will be greatly reduced within a few
months. You'll have certain applications mysteriously slowing, and your
overall experience of the OS will be greatly reduced. Often
imperceptibly, since the changes are generally incremental.

A regular and targetted cleanout will keep the system speeding along.

Please provide some sort of proof or documentation to support this
patently absurd claim. You'd be the very first person to ever do so.

In all the years I've supported the various Windows operating systems,
I've *never* been able to find any verifiable, independent laboratory
reports that demonstrate the alleged value of registry cleaners. The
only people claiming that registry cleaners do any real good are the
people selling them.


--

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]

I could cite specific examples of in-built Vista programs that
progressively build up superfluous entries in the registry over time,
and cause a slowdown , but I'll refrain.

Meaning that you have no such examples.


--

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