Windows XP registry

Hi, I've had a HP Pavilion zd8000 for almost 2 years now and I have never performed a reformat of the hard drive. For the past oh, 10 months is been acting up a lot and doing strange things. I do not believe it is a virus as I have protection software for that. So I thin the problem lies within the registry. Now here is my big question: Is there any way to fix or clean the registry that is short of a fully blown reformat and reinstall of windows that will destroy all my files?

 

There are a couple of options you can try before doing a format/clean install. I'm assuming you are familiar with the registry and understand that changes to the registry can really mess things up. I recommend doing a backup of documents and files before doing anything.

Regclean: Free App/Download With Instructions. It automatically creates a backup of the registry before making any changes.

JV16 PowerTools: Macecraft Software. My favorite. Free to try, $29.95 to buy. Very powerful, very useful. You have options in registry cleanup ("normal" or "aggressive", can search for certain terms, etc.), option to compact registry, option to find/delete unused files/folders, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

Eh...having antivirus software does not necessarily prevent you from being infected. Many malwares or adwares are also not screened. Your best bet would be to do a backup of your personal files and reformat the computer.