Windows 7 - How safe are 'tune-up' utilities?

Hi.

I have been using a 'tune-up' utility program for some time on previous PC's and OP's and have often wondered how safe such programs are, especially in regard to automatically altering the contents of the registry. Should such packages be used under advisement?

Thanks.

Depends what u wish to achieve I suppose -- I'd be reluctant to mess about with the default settings of Windows 7. Take a look at this thread also:

10 Windows speed tips that DON'T work.

You forgot the link.

^Didn't forget BFK -- was searching for

OK!

Having said that, there probably are useful add-ons but maybe few and far between - ccleaner is always very handy .

Thanks manhunter, it seems these utilities are just not required then. But what about registry problems? How can you know there are problems in the registry and how to deal with them without using a utility?

I think we need more specifics here -- is there a particular problem you are experiencing? I'd rather tackle it individually as opposed to a 'brute force' method that many/some of the tune-up utilities employ.

Well, no, I have no problems that I am aware of at the moment but when I have used my tune-up utility in the past it often informed me that certain registry keys were empty, for example, and deleted them. I'm not using such a utility on my PC right now so how will I know if I have any problems to solve? Presumably there will be symptoms won't there?

That's one of the main reasons I refuse use these 'tune-up' utilities (so called) -- they purport to 'fix' and tidy your registry but do they really? Everything is done blind without your acknowledgment; i think they cause more problems than they claim to fix. I still am adamant - sounding like a broken record here Lol - that Windows 7 needs very little tampering with from its default settings. IMHO