registry errors

[doneganw]

Dear All,

Would this be the right place to ask questions about registry errors?

I recently downloaded a free registry error scanner that said my PC has lots
of these registry error? It won't remove them without a payment though.

 

[Camper]

Dear All,

Would this be the right place to ask questions about registry errors?

I recently downloaded a free registry error scanner that said my PC has
lots of these registry error? It won't remove them without a payment
though.

Don't waste you money or time with registry repairers. It is a case of if
it isn't broke don't fix it, as the fix can break it.

Camper

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi William,

Remove the scanner software, it's snake oil. They, meaning general registry
cleaners, are worse than useless, they are dangerous. They very often
misidentify valid entries and remove them, causing sometimes irresolvable
issues that end up with you having to reinstall your operating system.

The only time any registry cleaner should be used is when it is one supplied
by a manufacturer to remove specific components of their software.

Please tell us if there was a specific issue you were hoping that scanner
would resolve. Be also aware that dead entries in the Vista registry have no
affect on performance, so removing them is pointless if your objective is to
speed up the machine.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Dear All,

Would this be the right place to ask questions about registry errors?

I recently downloaded a free registry error scanner that said my PC has lots
of these registry error? It won't remove them without a payment though.

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

 

[doneganw]

Dear Camper, Rick Rogers and Ken Blake,

Thanks for the advice on the registry cleaners. I have uninstalled the two
that I tried and it does seem like they caused a problem after installing
them.

Right now, I can't open the AT&T Self Support Tool that I use. The tool
tells me that I have no internet connection but that's wrong, I can connect
to the internet either through Windows Mail or AT&T powered by Yahoo. I'll
call AT&T later tonight and see what they say. I began getting a "You are
not connected to the internet" notice in my notification area after
installing these registry cleaners. But always I've been able to connect.

The reason that I was suspicious of my OS was that the little spinning
circle (WHAT DO YA CALL THAT LITTLE SPINNING THING?) always seems to spin in
the task bar endlessly before I click on the internet explorer icon there. I
still can connect as said.

Your patience is appreciated as I'm an old geezer who just turned 60 and
only started PCing about a year ago. It may be time to go OOBE anyway. I've
successfully done it before and can download my hard drive to my flash
drive.

Bye,
Will

 

[doneganw]

Dear All,

AT&T tells me that the self support tool is not functioning right. That may
have been the problem. The CSR told me to uninstall it.

Bye,
Will

Dear Camper, Rick Rogers and Ken Blake,

Thanks for the advice on the registry cleaners. I have uninstalled the two
that I tried and it does seem like they caused a problem after installing
them.

Right now, I can't open the AT&T Self Support Tool that I use. The tool
tells me that I have no internet connection but that's wrong, I can
connect to the internet either through Windows Mail or AT&T powered by
Yahoo. I'll call AT&T later tonight and see what they say. I began getting
a "You are not connected to the internet" notice in my notification area
after installing these registry cleaners. But always I've been able to
connect.

The reason that I was suspicious of my OS was that the little spinning
circle (WHAT DO YA CALL THAT LITTLE SPINNING THING?) always seems to spin
in the task bar endlessly before I click on the internet explorer icon
there. I still can connect as said.

Your patience is appreciated as I'm an old geezer who just turned 60 and
only started PCing about a year ago. It may be time to go OOBE anyway.
I've successfully done it before and can download my hard drive to my
flash drive.

Bye,
Will

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Dear All,

Would this be the right place to ask questions about registry errors?

Had you actually had any real registry errors, certainly.

I recently downloaded a free registry error scanner that said my PC has
lots of these registry error? It won't remove them without a payment
though.

That's just a scam, trying to separate fools from their money.

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, 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

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Will.

Your patience is appreciated as I'm an old geezer who just turned 60 and
only started PCing about a year ago.

DO NOT use age as an excuse!

I'm 74 and Ken is not far behind. (But, to be fair, we both got into
computers more than 30 years ago.) By the time you get to be "an old
geezer" of my age, you will have about 15 years experience with computers.
You'll be 15 years older then. If you use the "old geezer" excuse now, what
will you say then? ;^}

It may be time to go OOBE anyway.

What does OOBE mean in this case? Microsoft developers use that to mean
"Out Of the Box Experience", which means what happens when the new computer
is first taken out of the box and put to use.

I agree with the others: Registry cleaners are snake oil. Of course they
found "problems", lots of them! And the demand for money for a fix ("It
won't remove them without a payment though.") reeks of extortion, doesn't
it?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi, Will.


DO NOT use age as an excuse!

I'm 74 and Ken is not far behind.

Right, I'm 72.

(But, to be fair, we both got into
computers more than 30 years ago.)

Yep, I started as a programmer in 1962, just over 47 years ago.

 

[hello kitty]

don't waste money on that registry tools, there are many useful and easy-to-use tools you can choose. Most important, they are free. Like ccleaner and wondershare registry defrag. you can download them and have a try.
http://www.ccleaner.com/
http://www.system-tools-software.com/free-registry-defrag/



doneganw wrote:

registry errors
22-Jan-10

Dear All,

Would this be the right place to ask questions about registry errors?

I recently downloaded a free registry error scanner that said my PC has lots
of these registry error? It will not remove them without a payment though.

--
Bye,
William J. Donegan

Previous Posts In This Thread:


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[Swan_Brown]

Hello all.  I just got here today...Just as well.  I was going to ask  about "good" cleaners.   Thanks to Mr. doneganw, and the helpful souls on this thread, I have my answer, and thank you.So,How 'bout a good source of info, for learning my way around the Regestry?A good tutorial, or solid referance site? I've started sorting through search clutter,  but so far, they all seem to be adds in discuise. Thanks, again.    


Post Originated from http://www.VistaForums.com Vista Support Forums

 

[doneganw]

Dear RC,

Well, I didn't get PCs in school like today's kids. I have to pick it up as
I go along. Unfortunately, I do have other personal pressing priorities
which preclude more intensive study of the PC.

Yes, OOBE means out of the box experience. My ACER desktop has a provision
to reinstall the original settings and applications. Tedious process but
I've done it before. I occasionally get this annoying pop-up in the
notification area that says I can't connect tot he internet. But I can. I
don't know where this pop-up comes from. PC seems to work ok.

What do people call the little spinning circle that indicates process
underway?

Bye,
Will