Registry Scan - where is it?

[Schelry]

I'm troubleshooting errors in my registry -- default startup program
controls (among others) for programs that are no longer installed on
the machine.

I am not comfortable editing the registry file myself in regedit (I
took a good hard look, but it's more than I'm up for), and searched in
the Help Center, which told me to use "registry scan", however that
doesn't seem to be a program/option anywhere on my pc. Nor is it
anything that comes up on the microsoft website when I search for help
there.

Where can I find registry scan? I am not interested in purchasing
Registry Mechanic or othersuch -- I don't feel it should be necessary
for me to purchase third party software to correct incorrect
de-installations, especially when it is for major software packages
that come bundled with the pc. (e.g., aim.exe pernicious little bugger
that it is.)

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

As I recall it is scanreg.exe. It is in Win98/ME. I don't believe it is in
XP. "Registry scan" and "scanreg" come up in the Help and Support Center
because search finds knowledgebase articles on microsoft.com. You have to
scroll down to the bottom of the kb article to see which operating systems
the info applies to. Many articles for Win95, Win98, NT4, etc. will come up
on the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles tab in the left pane of Help and
Support following a search.

 

[MGGP]

Colin - It seems to me that I read recently that the
scanreg tool could be used in XP without concern. Do you
know, have you heard this ?
Thx
MGGP

-----Original Message-----
As I recall it is scanreg.exe. It is in Win98/ME. I don't believe it is in
XP. "Registry scan" and "scanreg" come up in the Help and Support Center
because search finds knowledgebase articles on microsoft.com. You have to
scroll down to the bottom of the kb article to see which operating systems
the info applies to. Many articles for Win95, Win98, NT4, etc. will come up
on the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles tab in the left pane of Help and
Support following a search.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I'm troubleshooting errors in my registry -- default startup program
controls (among others) for programs that are no longer installed on
the machine.

I am not comfortable editing the registry file myself in regedit (I
took a good hard look, but it's more than I'm up for), and searched in
the Help Center, which told me to use "registry scan", however that
doesn't seem to be a program/option anywhere on my pc. Nor is it
anything that comes up on the microsoft website when I search for help
there.

Where can I find registry scan? I am not interested in purchasing
Registry Mechanic or othersuch -- I don't feel it should be necessary
for me to purchase third party software to correct incorrect
de-installations, especially when it is for major software packages
that come bundled with the pc. (e.g., aim.exe pernicious little bugger
that it is.)

.

 

[Modem Ani]

What you read what mistaken. Scanreg is only for 9x operating systems.

Modem Ani

Colin - It seems to me that I read recently that the
scanreg tool could be used in XP without concern. Do you
know, have you heard this ?
Thx
MGGP

-----Original Message-----
As I recall it is scanreg.exe. It is in Win98/ME. I don't believe it is in
XP. "Registry scan" and "scanreg" come up in the Help and Support Center
because search finds knowledgebase articles on microsoft.com. You have to
scroll down to the bottom of the kb article to see which operating systems
the info applies to. Many articles for Win95, Win98, NT4, etc. will come up
on the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles tab in the left pane of Help and
Support following a search.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

I'm troubleshooting errors in my registry -- default startup program
controls (among others) for programs that are no longer installed on
the machine.

I am not comfortable editing the registry file myself in regedit (I
took a good hard look, but it's more than I'm up for), and searched in
the Help Center, which told me to use "registry scan", however that
doesn't seem to be a program/option anywhere on my pc. Nor is it
anything that comes up on the microsoft website when I search for help
there.

Where can I find registry scan? I am not interested in purchasing
Registry Mechanic or othersuch -- I don't feel it should be necessary
for me to purchase third party software to correct incorrect
de-installations, especially when it is for major software packages
that come bundled with the pc. (e.g., aim.exe pernicious little bugger
that it is.)

.

 

[MGGP]

Thx

-----Original Message-----
What you read what mistaken. Scanreg is only for 9x operating systems.

Modem Ani




.

 

[Schelry]

So -- the question stands. Is there a registry tool available for
Windows XP that is provided by Microsoft? Or did they discontinue any
support for the registry?

 

[Tom]

So -- the question stands. Is there a registry tool available for
Windows XP that is provided by Microsoft? Or did they discontinue any
support for the registry?

No, MS doesn't actually make a registry tool (for 2000/XP anyway).

 

[Guest]

I'm troubleshooting errors in my registry -- default startup program
controls (among others) for programs that are no longer installed on
the machine.

I am not comfortable editing the registry file myself in regedit (I
took a good hard look, but it's more than I'm up for), and searched in
the Help Center, which told me to use "registry scan", however that
doesn't seem to be a program/option anywhere on my pc. Nor is it
anything that comes up on the microsoft website when I search for help
there.

Where can I find registry scan? I am not interested in purchasing
Registry Mechanic or othersuch -- I don't feel it should be necessary
for me to purchase third party software to correct incorrect
de-installations, especially when it is for major software packages
that come bundled with the pc. (e.g., aim.exe pernicious little bugger
that it is.)

This program does not list system registry entrys only added programs,just
go down the list and when you see one that you know is uninstalled delete it.
http://majorgeeks.com/download460.html

 

[Pop]

If you'd like a free tool, there's one here that will likely fit your bill,
at least temporarily:
http://www.download.com/Advanced-System-Optimizer/3640-2086-10345949.html
And if you want to spend a buck or two, here's one that's better and more
features, but has to be bought:
Registry Mechanic feature highlights
a.. Repair invalid registry entries that are a common cause of Windows
crashes and error messages
b.. Improve system performance and stability by removing orphaned
references
c.. Scans your hard drive for invalid and incorrect program shortcuts
d.. Safely make backups of any registry change made by Registry Mechanic
e.. Unlimited free upgrades and e-mail technical support for one year
f.. Works with Windows XP, Me, 98, 95, NT and 2000

Download Registry Mechanic
Download the latest version of Registry Mechanic and try the top-rated
registry cleaner yourself! - Please note the trial version is limited to
only repairing the first 6 sections.

Released: January 12, 2005
Size: 2,611 KB
Platforms: Windows XP, Me, 98, 95, NT and 2000

Just do a Google search for "registry mechanic" (aWITH the quotes), and
you'll find lots of sources; pick from one you trust/have used before or
know about.

Pop

 

[Schelry]

Thanks for the advice, but... have you *seen* the comments for the free
tool you recommended? After looking at them, the net impression I'm
left with is that you want me to use that one so that ultimately I'll
buy your premium product. I have, by the way, tried out the free
version of Registry Mechanic, and so far all it's done is convince me
that Microsoft is must be in cahoots with them (hence, having failed to
provide even a basic registry cleaning tool for XP despite having
provided support on earlier os releases) and that it's design is almost
as bad as spyware vehicles that pretend to be a boon and instead end up
screwing you up. Registry Mechanic's free version is basically just an
advertisement for the full thing.

I still feel very strongly that I shouldn't have to pay to clean up
after following direct instructions on how to perform uninstalls,
especially when what I'm removing is not some rare software that
Microsoft encounters rarely if ever but major, ubiquitous, provided by
default with pc-purchase type software.

When I find something suitable and free, I'll post it here. (Thanks to
the poster who recommended registryclean.exe. Haven't tried it yet, but
its on the list)

Schelry

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Actually, many veteran users don't use a registry cleaner. There is no
compelling reason to do so. It does not improve the efficiency of the
system and the cleaners mostly remove orphaned entries which don't affect
anything anyway. Out of tens of thousands of entries in the registry there
are typically only a couple of hundred that the cleaners will remove.
Against that is a risk of an error that will destablize the system. The
issues with the registry and filespace etc with Win9x/ME just don't come up
in the WinNT/2000/XP systems. You can safely ignore the registry and let
the system take care of it.

 

[Schelry]

The reason I want one is that I want to "clean" the registry of defunk
startup items -- services that still run automatically at startup (due
to the registry) that support / were installed by programs that have
since been removed incompletely by add/remove programs.

e.g., if I use msconfig to limit startup options, I am able toa chieve
a much quicker machine because services supporting aol instant
messaging, realone player automatic updates, etc. etc can be told not
to start. The problem with this, is that a) aol is no longer installed
on the machine, nor is aol instant messenger. Realone player also has
been deinstalled. b) if I tell msconfig not to start these services,
every time I start the damn pc I get a little alert telling me that I'm
using a limited startup. I know I can choose not to have the dialog
come up every time, but I would like to just *fix* the damn problem of
the wrong entries in the registry instead.

I am not cleaning the registry in a misguided attempt to fix something
that isn't broken.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

The System Configuration Utility tells you if an item is being started from
the registry and gives you the key. Edit the registry to remove it. A
registry cleaner is not going to reliably do that for you, if at all.

 

[Ron]

I still feel very strongly that I shouldn't have to pay to clean up
after following direct instructions on how to perform uninstalls,
especially when what I'm removing is not some rare software that
Microsoft encounters rarely if ever but major, ubiquitous, provided by
default with pc-purchase type software.

When I find something suitable and free, I'll post it here. (Thanks to
the poster who recommended registryclean.exe. Haven't tried it yet, but
its on the list)

Schelry

Take a look here at the Registry Pruner. www.karenware.com/ Maybe it will do
what you want.

It is free and there are other useful tools on the site as well.
--

Ron P

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug

Either way it is a mess!!

newdoverman at yahoo dot ca

 

[Pop]

Yes, I've seen it, and I used it for a fair period of time. It works well
and is reliable and stable on a stable machine. If you don't like it,
that's fine, keep looking. If nothing else, you have enough material do go
a good google on it. I fail to understand why you would think your opinion
of it would matter to me?

Regards,

Pop

 

[Pop]

Hi Schelry,

I use the jv16 PowerTools, available from http://www.jv16.org/ . I also
have an older version of the programme from the same people called,
Regcleaner ver 4.3 build 780 which does an excellent job of cleaning out
"dead" items from the registry. The PowerTools programme is a more
advanced version of Regcleaner. It's free.

....
Regcleaner is also a reasonable program, and simple to use. I didn't know
there was one for XP, but if it's from the same people as before, I wouldn't
be afraid to try it out.
As always, make an effort to keep a backup of your Registry where you
know where it is, or better yet, with XP, make a System State Backup.

Regards,

Pop

 

[Pop]

The System Configuration Utility tells you if an item is being started
from the registry and gives you the key. Edit the registry to remove it.
A registry cleaner is not going to reliably do that for you, if at all.

....
I understand your opinion of registry maintenance apps, but ... that's
simply not true. Many will do so and mine does. You're certain welcome to
your opinion, but I don't agree with you. Proper maintenance can keep a
Registry size down my several megabytes, amongst many other creeping issues,
depending on what's in it and how much install/uninstall etc. one does.
It's just not the all or nothing scenario you present when it gets to the
real world.

Regards,

Pop

 

[Pop]

....

Take a look here at the Registry Pruner. www.karenware.com/ Maybe it will
do what you want.

It is free and there are other useful tools on the site as well.

....
I tried that out, just for grins, on Home and Pro both, and it actually does
a respectable job. Quite useful if you don't have a good suite of stuff to
maintain with.

Regards,

Pop

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Several K, but not MB.