Good registry cleaner?

[Rhino]

Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows problems

and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.



First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate are

they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove those

good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do

they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can

I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?



What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?

And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want to start using

them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.



Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

(or worse).



--

Rhino

 

[John John - MVP]

Rhino wrote:

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

> know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows problems

> and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

> random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.

>

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

> registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate are

> they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

> keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove those

> good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do

> they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can

> I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?

> And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want to start using

> them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

> for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

> click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

> (or worse).





Here we go again...



As far as I'm concerned registry cleaners are next to utterly useless

and for most part they create more harm than good. The purposed non

existent benefits claimed by the vendors and fans of these programs are

simply not worth the risk of the real damages that these programs can

and do at times cause.



John

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

On 3/5/2010 8:58 AM, Rhino wrote:

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

> know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows problems

> and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

> random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.

>

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

> registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate are

> they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

> keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove those

> good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do

> they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can

> I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?

> And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want to start using

> them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

> for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

> click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

> (or worse).

>

> --

> Rhino

>

>

There is no need for registry "cleaning," especially in the hands of a

neophyte. There is a greater chance (even though that chance might be

small) that harm will be done than there is for anything good coming of it.

 

[Bob I]

Long discussion here

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=62...k=t&sd=a&sid=65e0dee508e44791c06ca8997dc815db



Rhino wrote:



> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

> know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows problems

> and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

> random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.

>

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

> registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate are

> they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

> keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove those

> good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do

> they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can

> I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?

> And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want to start using

> them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

> for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

> click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

> (or worse).

>

> --

> Rhino

>

>

 

[db]

short discussion here



http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/article/registry_cleaner_why.htm





--



db·´¯`·...¸>

DatabaseBen, Retired Professional

- Systems Analyst

- Database Developer

- Accountancy

- Veteran of the Armed Forces

- Microsoft Partner

- @hotmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen



>

>



"Rhino" wrote in message news:OBD#nRHvKHA.812@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I know that some people think of them as cure-alls for

> their Windows problems and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at random and hope for the best

> without knowing more about them.

>

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad registry keys but how do they determine which keys are

> bad? How accurate are they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad keys? How often do they mistake

> good keys for bad ones and then remove those good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do they have

> the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse,

> not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner? And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't

> want to start using them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit

> dodgy. I don't want to click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware (or worse).

>

> --

> Rhino

>

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Rhino wrote:

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry

> cleaners. I know that some people think of them as cure-alls for

> their Windows problems and I'm sure they have their place but I

> don't want to just grab one at random and hope for the best without

> knowing more about them.

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they

> remove bad registry keys but how do they determine which keys are

> bad? How accurate are they at determining which keys are bad? How

> often do they fail to fix bad keys? How often do they mistake good

> keys for bad ones and then remove those good keys? Do they simply

> delete all keys that they determine are bad or do they have the

> ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can I

> rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not

> better?

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry

> cleaner? And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want

> to start using them for situations where they will not help or will

> make a problem worse.

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot

> of ads for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I

> don't want to click on registry cleaner and then find that I've

> only downloaded spyware (or worse).



Instead of starting a 'flame-war'

(http://www.google.com/search?q=define:Flame-war) here...



Research it and make up your own mind based off the many discussions that

already exist on the subject.



Start with a search like this:

http://www.google.com/search?q="Registry+Cleaners"+good+or+bad



Maybe a newsgroup conversation search as simple as this one:

http://groups.google.com/groups/search?as_epq=registry+clean



You'll probably get pointed to these two links at some point:



Why I don’t use registry cleaners

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html



Should I Use a Registry Cleaner?

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099



Someone else will probably mention to you in this 'conversation' that they

use CCleaner or a Microsoft web page or tool (recently and in the past -

Windows Live OneCare safety scanner) to 'clean their registry'. They might

direct you to do the same...



http://ccleaner.com/

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-Us/article/registry_cleaner_why.htm



In the end - it's just an argument that people like to have. One that

usually gets heated and often contains the same people over and over.



I've cleaned my registry and others' registries - but I knew or researched

each item I was about to remove using whatever tool I chose to use (yes -

that can be easily in the 100s - heck - CCleaner can recommend removal of

100+ items with a fresh and clean installation of Windows XP - nothing else

installed other than CCleaner - which begs the question for me - "Really?

Already? Are you just messin' with me?") YES - I actually looked up every

item, made backups using eRUNT and imaging the system if plausible before

doing any removal of anything.



The problem that seems to be skirted over/glossed by/ignored for the sake of

argument is when someone who doesn't understand what they are doing just

trusts whatever application they get to do everything for them and then tops

it off with having no valid backups to speak of. Unwise use of any tool -

whether or not everyone agrees on the usefulness of said tool - can and does

cause problems.



Used as a true tool - not an automated cleanup wonder item you put all your

trust into - there can be some benefits in some cases to going through your

registry and removing stale/unneeded or harmful items. I've had to do it

cleaning up malware, I've had to do it cleaning up legitimate applications

so they could be re-installed and I have had to do it just to fix issues

with a given application or two.



There lies the rub - as I see it. There seems to be one side or the other

in the arguments that get started in the newsgroups over this topic - and

anyone speaking middle ground is ignored. It seems that most either use the

words 'snake-oil' and/or 'useless' or call the side that uses those words

'ignorant' and/or 'close-minded'.



Instead of propogating that sort of unnecessary (IMHO) banter - just look

over the reading material out there (I have pointed you to the most common)

and make up your own mind about what you are willing/not willing to do with

your machine.



My only advice is that whatever you do - do it wisely. Backups are a

computer users best friend - there are no 'rules' more heavily touted, no

idea more readily true when it comes to computing than, "Backups can save

your @$$".



--

Shenan Stanley

MS-MVP

--

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 

[HeyBub]

Rhino wrote:

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry

> cleaners. I know that some people think of them as cure-alls for

> their Windows problems and I'm sure they have their place but I don't

> want to just grab one at random and hope for the best without knowing

> more about them.



Just who are these "some people"?



Name just ONE person or company or group who can substantiate that ANY

registry cleaner is a cure-all for anything.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

If you ever think your Registry needs to be cleaned, repaired, boosted,

tuned-up, cured, tweaked, or optimized (it doesn't), read

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.

--

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002





Rhino wrote:

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

> know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows

> problems

> and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

> random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.

>

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

> registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate

> are

> they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

> keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove

> those

> good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or

> do

> they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs?

> Can

> I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?

> And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want to start using

> them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

> for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

> click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

> (or worse).

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Fri, 5 Mar 2010 09:58:53 -0500, "Rhino"

wrote:



> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

> know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows problems

> and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

> random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.





Yes, they have their place. It's the garbage can! -)



See below.





> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

> registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate are

> they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

> keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove those

> good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do

> they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can

> I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?





None.





> And, conversely, when should you NOT use one?





You should *never* use one.





> I don't want to start using

> them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

> for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

> click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

> (or worse).





None of them are any good. Here's my standard message on the subject:



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



--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

 

[Rhino]

I should have realized that this would be one of those "religious arguments"

that had been argued ad infinitum in the past.....



Thanks to all for pointing me to the past arguments and not hammering me too

hard for raising this issue yet again.



I'll steer clear of them and just remove any bad keys manually, based on

Microsoft Knowledgebase articles or the equivalent.



Cheers!



--

Rhino

 

[Nil]

On 05 Mar 2010, "Rhino"

wrote in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:



> I'll steer clear of them and just remove any bad keys manually,

> based on Microsoft Knowledgebase articles or the equivalent.



I sometimes use CCleaner to point out (what it considers) to be

anomalies in the register. I then sometimes consider its findings and

lets it correct them, or I correct them by hand. If I don't know what

the registry issue does, I leave it alone. I NEVER let it just fix

things automatically.



Unless I'm dealing with some specific issue beforehand, I haven't found

that any registry "cleaner" fixes makes any performance difference at

all. The only think it helps is to assuage my slightly neurotic need to

keep my computer orderly. The benefit is only psychological.



If you don't know why you would need a registry "cleaner", you

certainly don't need one.

 

[EN59CVH]

Ignore all the muppets who have replied. Quick fix is here:







Although it is a not the cure for all evils on this planet, it does

clear most of the clutter known to mankind. Pigs are completely

ignorant muppets but you would do yourself justice to reformat the HD

and start all over again if and only if you have a very serious problem

with your system.



Meddling with Windows registry entries WILL NOT cure your system. That

is a guarantee from me!







Rhino wrote:

>

> I should have realized that this would be one of those "religious arguments"

> that had been argued ad infinitum in the past.....

>

> Thanks to all for pointing me to the past arguments and not hammering me too

> hard for raising this issue yet again.

>

> I'll steer clear of them and just remove any bad keys manually, based on

> Microsoft Knowledgebase articles or the equivalent.

>

> Cheers!

>

> --

> Rhino

 

[EN59CVH]

Nil wrote:



>I sometimes use CCleaner to point out (what it considers) to be

>anomalies in the register.

>



You are more intelligent than the average PIG you get on these

newsgroups with the title MVP after their name. CCleaner is a fantastic

tool and I am surprised it hasn't become commercial yet.



Keep up the good work Nil.

 

[Jose]

On Mar 5, 9:58 am, "Rhino"

wrote:

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

> know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows problems

> and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

> random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.

>

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

> registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate are

> they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

> keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove those

> good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do

> they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can

> I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?

> And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want to start using

> them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse..

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

> for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

> click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

> (or worse).

>

> --

> Rhino



Can you describe would be the results on your system if you used a

good registry cleaner?



What would you expect to be different or better?



Do you think it will help resolve some issue you are having and what

is the issue?



I like a clean registry too, but different tools (and I have tried a

lot of them) will find/report/miss different things when you run them

against the exact the same registry. I did not use the word fix on

purpose.



What do you hope to accomplish with this hygiene?



There are plenty of horror stories, but those seem to be frequently

from lack of knowledge, lack of understanding, self inflicted

carelessness or misuse of the product(s). That is just my opinion

from having to fix systems afterwards.



You need to have an undo plan before you start if you are not sure

about these things.

 

[HeyBub]

Rhino wrote:

> I should have realized that this would be one of those "religious

> arguments" that had been argued ad infinitum in the past.....

>

> Thanks to all for pointing me to the past arguments and not hammering

> me too hard for raising this issue yet again.

>

> I'll steer clear of them and just remove any bad keys manually, based

> on Microsoft Knowledgebase articles or the equivalent.

>



Okay, I'll play:



WHY do you want to remove the "bad" keys. They have nothing to do with

performance and take up, almost always, zero room on the disk (because the

registry file rounds up to the next segment boundary), and they do not

interfere with anything.

 

[Dan]

hi rhino.. tuff night? ..



try: Glary Utilities, download . com

(free, does not hold back on repairs)



I only have novice experience, so just opinion: some applications seem to

stick you with miles & miles of what might call directories in the registry,

and do not delete them when you uninstall the application, aol etc.. some

utilities, security apps.. fall under using registry cleaning to remove

(security problems, right?), I don't want reinstall my pc every couple

minutes either, but:



have just tried something called: Glary Utilities from download . com

appears free version will fix all registry problems / not just a portion..

but not a security app, does seem to be set up well for a utility.



off hand: will speed up boot / start of system, running apps.. if

understand correct registry is like a batch file that is accessed every time

you want to run / start a new program, pc has to read the whole registry

every time you want to do something.

comparing to a super-large directory tree: is delicate / should not mess

with manually / can get corrupted easy, - and - seems like some apps want

to add everything they can to it, to take over your system.. unquote



hope helps, luck





"Rhino" wrote:



> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners. I

> know that some people think of them as cure-alls for their Windows problems

> and I'm sure they have their place but I don't want to just grab one at

> random and hope for the best without knowing more about them.

>

> First of all, what exactly do they do? I understand that they remove bad

> registry keys but how do they determine which keys are bad? How accurate are

> they at determining which keys are bad? How often do they fail to fix bad

> keys? How often do they mistake good keys for bad ones and then remove those

> good keys? Do they simply delete all keys that they determine are bad or do

> they have the ability to repair bad keys? How accurate are the repairs? Can

> I rely on them or do the repairs often make the problem worse, not better?

>

> What are the symptoms that should encourage you to use a registry cleaner?

> And, conversely, when should you NOT use one? I don't want to start using

> them for situations where they will not help or will make a problem worse.

>

> Also, can anyone recommend a good registry cleaner? I've seen a lot of ads

> for registry cleaners but some of them felt a bit dodgy. I don't want to

> click on registry cleaner and then find that I've only downloaded spyware

> (or worse).

>

> --

> Rhino

>

>

> .

>

 

[Dan]

ps, probably not said yet, try:

- search for: box above, and

- download . com search utilities, glary utilities does not sort with the

rest of the registry cleaners, may be why hadn't tried before this.. you can

guage apps there by reviews, "number of downloads" is a good down-dirty

quick guage that does not lie... (glary: 8M, free version does complete

clean... ...)

 

[Leythos]

In article ,

no.offline.contact.please@example.com says...

> Can someone knowledgeable please tell me more about registry cleaners.

>



With more than 30 years of computer programming, hardware design, and

support of customers system, I would never run a registry cleaner on my

own computers or any customers computers.



--

You can't trust your best friends, your five senses, only the little

voice inside you that most civilians don't even hear -- Listen to that.

Trust yourself.

spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

 

[Unknown]

But, your 'guarantees' aren't worth the powder to blow them to bits.

"EN59CVH" wrote in message

news:4B918C76.1785A9FD@discussions.microsoft.com...

> Ignore all the muppets who have replied. Quick fix is here:

>

>

>

> Although it is a not the cure for all evils on this planet, it does

> clear most of the clutter known to mankind. Pigs are completely

> ignorant muppets but you would do yourself justice to reformat the HD

> and start all over again if and only if you have a very serious problem

> with your system.

>

> Meddling with Windows registry entries WILL NOT cure your system. That

> is a guarantee from me!

>

>

>

> Rhino wrote:

>>

>> I should have realized that this would be one of those "religious

>> arguments"

>> that had been argued ad infinitum in the past.....

>>

>> Thanks to all for pointing me to the past arguments and not hammering me

>> too

>> hard for raising this issue yet again.

>>

>> I'll steer clear of them and just remove any bad keys manually, based on

>> Microsoft Knowledgebase articles or the equivalent.

>>

>> Cheers!

>>

>> --

>> Rhino

 

[apistomaster(nospam)]

Before anyone jumps me for mentioning Windows 7 on the XP forum let me

say I realize that..

I merely wanted to point out that on the Window 7 support forum, they

have 2 identical adds at the top and bottom of every page from UniBlue

stating that the first thing one should do is download and run their

registry cleaner. I am not taking any sides in this issue but

Microsoft seems to be pushing user to get and use this registry

cleaner. And it is not free.

Why would Microsoft be so willingly support the use of this product?

I know that the consensus here is that registry cleaners are next to

or worse than useless.

I happened to use one once, the UniBlue product to be exact, on my

Inspiron E1505 laptop and it fixed the problem I was having, a missing

or corrupted .dll file but I never ran it again.

This message was produced on a Sony Vaio laptop running Windows 7 Home

Premium Edition.

My Inspiron is in the shop and my small hooby business of selling fish

makes it absolutely necessary that I have a working computer. I

ordered a $1000 build of a Dell Studio 17 but it was going to take up

to 3 weeks for it to arrive so I bought the Vaio to be able to stay in

touch with my customers. Raising tropical fish is my hobby/business

not computers but once the Inspiron is out of the shop and the new

Studio 17 arrives I will own 3 working laptops so I will never be

caught without at least one working machine again.