Registry errors

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I was looking at a program that analyzes my computer to see how many registry
errors I have (a bunch) and promises to fix all of them for $30. My question
is; how important is this and what will I gain besides some decrease in boot
up time.
Dick
 
Dick said:
I was looking at a program that analyzes my computer to see how many
registry
errors I have (a bunch) and promises to fix all of them for $30. My
question
is; how important is this and what will I gain besides some decrease in
boot
up time.
Dick
Click to expand...
Leave the registry alone and keep the money in your pocket.
Jim
 
Generally a waist of time using an automated reg cleaning tool, may cause
more problems than it cures.
If you try to manually analyze and selectively fix reg issues it take a lot
of skill and time to make it worth the risk.
Still if you want to try a reg cleaner I would invest in a backup tool like
Ghost or True Image (where the money is better spent) and do an image backup
before you start.

I doubt boot times will decrease.

Also take a look at CCleaner as a tool to remove temp files and other junk
as well as a reg scanner and it's free.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

JS
 
Dick said:
I was looking at a program that analyzes my computer to see how many
registry
errors I have (a bunch) and promises to fix all of them for $30. My
question
is; how important is this and what will I gain besides some decrease in
boot
up time.
Click to expand...

These are snake oil remedies intended to get you to part with your money.
There is no need to run an automated registry cleaner in XP, and they can
cause more problems than they fix. There are other ways to increase boot
time such as removing unnecessary programs and services from running at
startup, and you don't need a registry cleaner for that.

Unused / orphaned entries in the registry do not normally cause problems.
If there is a particular problem that can be associated with a registry
entry, the way to address that is manually edit the registry and
change/delete the offending entry. This takes knowledge. The downside to
an automated registry cleaner is that it is making some arbitrary decisions
about what needs to be removed, and can end up removing something that is
needed later, then you run into some inexplicable problem down the line and
can't figure out the cause.

The only way to use a registry cleaner would be to give suggestions on what
to remove, then research those and only make those changes which are needed.

Best approach is to avoid registry cleaners.
 
Hi Rock,

XP doesn't really suffer from having invalid registry entries - best thing
is to leave it alone. If you're having performance issues, look elsewhere.
Registry cleaners can do more harm than good.

I'll take your $30 if you like! :-))

HTH Tony.
 
Tony Luxton said:
Sorry, Rock, I see what I've done.

regards Tony.
Click to expand...

Lol, yep preaching to the choir here. No problem Tony, good advice though,
especially on the redirection of that $30 eh?
 
Dick said:
I was looking at a program that analyzes my computer to see how many registry
errors I have (a bunch) and promises to fix all of them for $30. My question
is; how important is this and what will I gain besides some decrease in boot
up time.
Click to expand...

You'll gain absolutely nothing. You might even LOSE something.

Save your money.

Spend it on a good drunk.

You'll be happier.
 
Dick said:
I was looking at a program that analyzes my computer to see how many
registry
errors I have (a bunch) and promises to fix all of them for $30.
Click to expand...


It's nothiong but a scam designed to separate you from your money...


.. My question
is; how important is this and what will I gain besides some decrease in
boot
up time.
Click to expand...


It's important to avoid such snake oil "solutions," and you won't gain
anything, especially not a decrease in boot time -- that's an absolutely
false claim.

Why do you think you 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 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 very, very rare occasions when the registry does need
attention, 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
 
JS said:
Generally a waist of time using an automated reg cleaning tool, may cause
more problems than it cures.
If you try to manually analyze and selectively fix reg issues it take a
lot of skill and time to make it worth the risk.
Still if you want to try a reg cleaner I would invest in a backup tool
like Ghost or True Image (where the money is better spent) and do an image
backup before you start.

I doubt boot times will decrease.

Also take a look at CCleaner as a tool to remove temp files and other junk
as well as a reg scanner and it's free.
http://www.ccleaner.com/
Click to expand...


CCleaner's registry scanner seems relatively benign, as long as you step
through each detected "issue" 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.

CCleaner's main 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 better or worse than any other
snake oil product of the same type.


--
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
 
"db" <databaseben.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
you can be assured that the
microsoft engineers have spent
a great deal of time and money
to help it's microsoft customers



Are you lips chapped? Just because Microsoft sees another opportunity
to make money (One Care isn't free, is it?), that doesn't mean the "service"
offered has any value.




--
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
 
microsoft has been making
registry cleaners since win95.

so their crediability and expertise
far far outweighs yours.

i will give you credit
when you develop your own
operating system.

the you can encrypt the
registry you designe and make
absolutely perfect and off limits
to your customers. only then i will
consider you the "expert" in
with your o.s.....

otherwise, microsoft has the
last word and they are not in
the business to sabotage their
own software.




"db" <databaseben.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
you can be assured that the
microsoft engineers have spent
a great deal of time and money
to help it's microsoft customers



Are you lips chapped? Just because Microsoft sees another opportunity
to make money (One Care isn't free, is it?), that doesn't mean the "service"
offered has any value.




--
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
 
"db" <databaseben.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
microsoft has been making
registry cleaners since win95.


None that have been safe or successful.




--
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

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
 
Microsoft made one registry cleaner and then removed it from their
download site because it was causing problems. As for your much beloved
"One Care" and your claims of all the effort and time that Microsoft put
into it you should google on "giant software" and find out what it's all
about. I wouldn't have that junk on any of my computers even if you
paid me to have it!

John
 
You hit the nail on the head Bruce and I've done a lot of manual registry
work and only once can I remember that a reg change that made a real
difference, I'm sure there may have been other occasions but they were few
and far between, the rest of the time it was more of a hobby than anything
else.

JS
 
One thing I will say is why Microsoft doesn't come up with a better
approach, after all it's been more than 10 years since using a registry
instead of .INI files became mainstream. It may be time for the registry
approach to go!

JS
 
Microsoft invented registry cleaning.

Obviously you haven't used windows since
its inception and the inception of the first reg
cleaner....


Microsoft made one registry cleaner and then removed it from their
download site because it was causing problems. As for your much beloved
"One Care" and your claims of all the effort and time that Microsoft put
into it you should google on "giant software" and find out what it's all
about. I wouldn't have that junk on any of my computers even if you
paid me to have it!

John
 
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