Registry Mechanic with Windows XP

[GLH]

What is the downside of using Registry Mechanic 3.0 to scan and repair a
Windows XP Registry?

Should problems occur once Registry Mechanic makes repairs to an Windows XP
registry is Windows XP System Restore still operable to restore to a point
previous to changes made with Registry Mechanic?

 

[Yves Leclerc]

NO! Registry Mechanice will not trigger a restore point automatically. You
will have to create one yourself and you should export the registry also.

 

[Jeffrey Struyk - MVP]

What is the downside of using Registry Mechanic 3.0 to scan and repair a
Windows XP Registry?

Should problems occur once Registry Mechanic makes repairs to an Windows XP
registry is Windows XP System Restore still operable to restore to a point
previous to changes made with Registry Mechanic?

You're playing with fire if you go messing around in the Registry
without first backing it up.

Click Start | Run

Type REGEDIT and hit enter.

Click File | Export

Under Export Range, check All.

Pick a location to store the exported Registry and save it there.

Now you have a backup just in case Registry Mechanic gets a little
overzealous.

 

[richard]

Use the backup option of RegMech.

 

[kimmy]

You're playing with fire if you go messing around in the Registry
without first backing it up.

Click Start | Run

Type REGEDIT and hit enter.

Click File | Export

Under Export Range, check All.

Pick a location to store the exported Registry and save it there.

A more reliable option to back up the registry is to use the freeware ERUNT.
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/

 

[Steve Nielsen]

You're playing with fire if you go messing around in the Registry
without first backing it up.

Click Start | Run

Type REGEDIT and hit enter.

Click File | Export

Under Export Range, check All.

Pick a location to store the exported Registry and save it there.

Now you have a backup just in case Registry Mechanic gets a little
overzealous.


--
Jeffrey Struyk
Microsoft MVP
http://support.microsoft.com
Please direct all replies to the newsgroup.

Using regedit to "backup" the registry will not work reliably. Merging
the resulting reg file back into the registry will not have any effect
on keys and data that were added after the export; it's a merge, not a
complete replacement or a complete restore of the entire registry.

Steve

 

[CS]

You're playing with fire if you go messing around in the Registry
without first backing it up.

Click Start | Run

Type REGEDIT and hit enter.

Click File | Export

Under Export Range, check All.

Pick a location to store the exported Registry and save it there.

Now you have a backup just in case Registry Mechanic gets a little
overzealous.

Exporting a complete copy of the registry is practically worthless and
almost impossible to restore in its entirety. A better solution is to
use the free ERUNT registry backup program first. Also, Registry
Mechanic does have an undo function if something should go wrong.

ERUNT is free and can be downloaded from here:

http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/

 

[Steve Nielsen]

Exporting a complete copy of the registry is practically worthless and
almost impossible to restore in its entirety. A better solution is to
use the free ERUNT registry backup program first. Also, Registry
Mechanic does have an undo function if something should go wrong.

ERUNT is free and can be downloaded from here:

http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/

RegCleaner 4.3 is freeware and will also backup the registry:

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail.php3?fid=963771680

Steve

 

[Alex Nichol]

Type REGEDIT and hit enter.

Click File | Export

Under Export Range, check All.

Pick a location to store the exported Registry and save it there.

Now you have a backup just in case Registry Mechanic gets a little
overzealous.

This is not a good way to back up the registry, because a re-import is
a Merge - not a replacement - and will not delete erroneous additions
that have been made. In XP the registry is included in restore points,
and the course should be to ensure that you have a recent restore point
available to revert to if needed. (Check at Start - All Programs -
Accessories - System Tools - System Restore, by starting on Restore. . .
and seeing what is available; if necessary use the Create button to make
one.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Having seen the results of inexperienced people using automated
registry "cleaners," I can only advise to you to avoid them all.

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.

I always use Regedit.exe. I trust my own experience and judgment
far more than I would any automated registry cleaner.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Unknown]

That is really poor advice and doesn't teach anything but fear. JV16
Powertools is a very safe registry cleaner and even has an 'undo' or restore
feature. First time it runs it'll find about 300 useless items which can be
deleted. (Even if you are thoroughly proficient with regedit, you can't do
that). JV16 power tools used to be free but you have to pay for it now.
Considering all it's functions and capabilities it is well worth the price.
I've been using it for over two years, recommended it to all my friends who
now use it and we all swear by it.

 

[Malke]

That is really poor advice and doesn't teach anything but fear. JV16
Powertools is a very safe registry cleaner and even has an 'undo' or
restore feature. First time it runs it'll find about 300 useless items
which can be deleted. (Even if you are thoroughly proficient with
regedit, you can't do
that). JV16 power tools used to be free but you have to pay for it
now. Considering all it's functions and capabilities it is well worth
the price. I've been using it for over two years, recommended it to
all my friends who now use it and we all swear by it.

I totally disagree with "Unknown". Like Bruce, my experience has shown
that registry cleaners do more harm than good, particular with XP. If
an XP system is healthy; i.e., has up-to-the-minute antivirus running,
has its temporary files and tif cleared out regularly, has spyware
removed regularly, has only necessary programs and processes running at
startup, doesn't get all sorts of cr*p programs installed, is on good
hardware, and very occasionally gets defragged, there is no need for
registry cleaning. Non-professional tinkering will just get end users
into trouble, for which I suppose I should be grateful - the ones using
registry cleaners and the like help pay the bills.

Malke

 

[kimmy]

I totally disagree with "Unknown". Like Bruce, my experience has shown
that registry cleaners do more harm than good, ...

This has been argued for ages. Some like it, some don't. Decent cleaners
have an undo function, or better yet make a backup with ERUNT first. Then
there is no risk.

 

[Edward W. Thompson]

Clearly peoples experiences vary on the issue of Registry Cleaners. I've
used a variety of "Cleaners" and have never had a problem over the past ten
years or so (perhaps longer now I think about it). It is certainly good
advice to ensure you have a Registry Backup available if you do use a
"Cleaner". I run "WinRescue" each day, automatically at first boot, which
creates a Registry backup but I have never had to do a restore yet.

The "Cleaners" that I use are "System Mechanic", "Registry Healer", and
"RegSupreme" (a stripped down version of JVtools). All these "Cleaners"
make a backup of the items removed so they can be restored.