What to use for cleaning up my registry?

What programs are there that work well, I have regscrubXP and ccleaner, but neither seem to work as well as a copy of Registry Mechanic that I had. Is there a free version of Registry Mechanic available? Please post your opinions of what I should do.

 

ccleaner. free. awesome.

 

Seconded

~ Brett

 

ccleaner is not "so GOOD" in cleaning and repairing registry. I used registry mechanic. IMO, this is best!

 

There is no free version of registry mechanic. You have to pay for it.

BTW, jv16 power tools is also a powerful registry cleaner with a lot more features. but again not free....

 

ccleaner is decent, it catches the most noticable reg flaws.

but Registry Mechanic catches almost all reg flaws which happens to be alot on the first run. it also has deep scan.

I tried alot of reg apps, but Reg Mechanic is the only app that after the first use I notice a faster Bootup and Shutdown time.

 

at the moment cCleaner - with the latest version it performs perfect on both XP and Vista

another good free one is RegSeeker

cheers ...

 

CCleaner and RegCleaner. I use either or both everytime my laptop gets 'attacked' by some unruly program that just won't un-install like Real, iTunes, NeroMedia, etc.

 

There is another that is free and I've experienced good results from it. The program in question is Eusing Registry Cleaner. It can be found here http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm

 

i would go with CCleaner!

 

If you're willing to pay for software, then take a look at RegVac from Super Win software. I have been using their products for some time now (I also use A1Click PC Cleaner, which is awesome) - fantastic. They also have support forums should you need help. It is $30 but well worth it in my opinion.

For something free, also try RegScrubXP:
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048

 

Sorry for nobish question but what is the function of registy and why do you need to clean it (speed/errors conciderations?)

 

The registry, briefly, is where all your programs store information about how they are supposed to run (such as video mode, screen position, programs they depend on, etc.). If you remove a program sometimes it doesn't remove references to that stuff from the registry. Hence, one reason to use a cleaner. The Registry will always get bigger as time goes on and a lot of the stuff in it may no longer be relevant, hence another reason to clean it up.

 

A poorly looked after registry will create program hangs, long startups and shutdowns and will create noticeable performance decreases over time. Since it has so much power, you also need to be careful when dealing with the entries in it. An erroneous deletion can have major effects on the system overall. I backup the registry before using Ccleaner (it gives you the option before you run it).

~ Brett

 

I've never done anything with the registry. I am interested in trying to improve my startup, shutdown, and general performance of the computer. If I use CCleaner, is it pretty idiot proof? I'll back it up first, as suggested, and then I just run it? It does it all for me or do I need to approve changes along the way? I've never seen the program so have no clue exactly what it is. Is there any potential for damaging something? Thanks!

 

Yes, Ccleaner is fairly idiot-proof.

Steps to safely and effectively run Ccleaner:

1. Download/Install

2. Launch

3. Click "Analyze"

4. Look through the list of files - these are not part of the registry but things like the browser cache and temporary files.

5. If you're ok with deleting them all, select "Run Cleaner"

6. Select the "Issues" tab on the left

7. Click "Scan for Issues"

8. Click "Fix Selected Issues..."

9. Backup the registry somewhere you'll remember it.

10. Click Fix all selected problems.

You're done. If you notice any programs behaving improperly, try restoring the registry. Otherwise you should notice a boost in performance, especially in an older computer.

~ Brett

 

does registry mechanic just delete the faulty registry errors it reports (if it says 'set to delete')? if i just run the trial version scan, would i be able to just go into my registry and delete all the entries it finds, or would this be dangerous and unrecommended? i'd rather not pay $30, but the improved pc performance sounds so compelling.

 

Beware that regscrubXP screws up Flash player if you choose to fix everything that it finds, at least on my machine.

 

I (along with 7 others) say CCleaner. It's a fast, light and great program.

 

I use RegScrubXP...always works well, and any changes made are completely reversible.

 

CCleaner works great. Recently I was able to get System Mechanic 6 (almost for free after rebates). This program worked great with overall PC performance. ( http://www.iolo.com/sm/6/index.cfm) I would recomend this to anyone, very satisfied with the results. Another program that can help your PC is the Windows Live OneCare Scanner. Not the actual program, but the online scanner. It takes a long time to finish but I find it is a great way to keep you PC health good. (Here is the link: http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm) They also have a beta version for Vista.

Dell E1505
Intel Core Duo T2400 @ 1.83GHz, 2GB Ram, 256 MB ATI Radeon Mobility X1400 Hypermemory, 80GB Hard Drive, Creative Sound Blaster 24bit USB, Windows XP Professional & Windows Vista RC1 (Dual Boot)

 

I use CCleaner. Its quick and useful.

 

according to http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html this is stated, by the way, these aren't my opinions, just those of professionals, not necessarily mine! if you wana find more windows xp myths go to the bottom of their page.


Myth - "Registry Cleaners improve performance."

Reality - "A few hundred kilobytes of unused keys and values causes no noticeable performance impact on system operation. Even if the registry was massively bloated there would be little impact on the performance of anything other than exhaustive searches." - Source

Notes - "Registry Cleaners can fix problems associated with traces of applications left behind due to incomplete uninstalls. So it seems that Registry junk is a Windows fact of life and that Registry cleaners will continue to have a place in the anal-sysadmin's tool chest, at least until we're all running .NET applications that store their per-user settings in XML files - and then of course we'll need XML cleaners."

 

Great link cream, very informative

Dell E1505
Intel Core Duo T2400 @ 1.83GHz, 2GB Ram, 256 MB ATI Radeon Mobility X1400 Hypermemory, 80GB Hard Drive, Creative Sound Blaster 24bit USB, Windows XP Professional & Windows Vista RC1 (Dual Boot)

 

Good info cream626.

Probably the biggest impact on perceived performance loss in XP is all the garbage that gets loaded at startup. It seems that every program that I install wants to load something at system startup and this is usually totally unnecessary. I still use the last free version of JV16 powertools to get rid of unwanted startup programs such a just about any adobe product. Adobe can't write efficient and lean programs so they will automatically configure to preload portions of the program at startup.

Go to the registry tool in JV16 and take a look at the starting programs and eliminate what you don't want to start.

The last free version can be downloaded from here http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/index.html#jv16