hi
I have installed quite lot of programs and deinstalled again, if I don't need on my notebook with WIN 7 prof. 64-bit.
Sometimes an uninstallation process not really 100%, some entries still remain in the registry.
Is it a good idea to clean WIN7 time to time with CCleaner?
Upiter of course it is perfectly safe to use just remembering that any cookies you use for sites that you have a password for you keep. If you don't know how to do that post back but generally speaking CCleaner is very good at cleaning the unneeded stuff out.
If you use the reg check in it whatever is thrown up just make sure you save the results to Documents - it will give you that option before fixing them. if things go ape when you tidy the registry you can go back and replace the items from that back up.
Now for the stuff in the registry if you are not sure of doing stuff in there don't go there and in future when uninstalling programs use the Revo uninstaller it delves into the reg entries and will do a much more thorough job of uninstalling any programs by searching out the reg entires.
Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download - Uninstall software, remove programs, solve uninstall problems < the left hand list has the free version.
I've had problems with Revo with ruined installs due to its Registry cleaner not being as advanced and ingenious as CCleaners, so I would not use it but instead use CCleaner's Disk and Registry tabs periodically.
You can follow that with Puran boot time defrag with full Disk Check which gets at System files that can't be defragged when Win7 is running.
This is about the only maintenance that Win7 needs, and some think it doesn't even need that.
If you just must "clean" the registry via one of these programs, consider finding/using some performance benchmarking software (perhaps PassMark PerformanceTest - PC benchmark software). Run this a few times to get an average. Then "clean" your registry if you must. Repeat the benchmark tests. I would be interested in your findings. My crystal ball tells me that you will not see any measurable performance gain from "cleaning" the registry.
You can also check your ReBoot Time [2] before and after "cleaning" the registry. You need to let all of the services start after each reboot (e.g. wait 5 or 10 minutes), then you can test the restart time a few times in a row to get an average. Again, you will probably not see much faster (say 3 or 4 seconds) reboot times from cleaning the registry.
I would not mind being proven wrong. If you happen to see a drastic improvement after "cleaning" the registry, please upload the file that details the registry changes that were changed/removed so that they may be studied.
The OP is a perfect candidate for such before and after benchmark testing as no special registry "cleaning" has been performed after multiple programs have been installed/uninstalled via the normal process.
The caveat to the above is as follows:
There are several antivirus apps and security suites that do not properly uninstall. Those usually require specific software to clean up that mess. General purpose registry "cleaners" like CCleaner and Revo do not do the same things as these specific cleanup tools.
Granted, CCleaner only cleans up empty shells in Registry. Revo goes deeper but can mess up your System by deleting other live keys.
The Uninstallers (removal tools) for common antivirus software - ESET Knowledgebase
actually target the AV's known registry keys and files for cleaning.
There are plenty of people that think "cleaning" the registry is a must and they not had any problems using CCleaner or Revo to do so. I'm not saying your position/advice is unreasonable. Sorry if I came across that way.
There are plenty of people that admit that they see no performance gain from "cleaning" the registry, but they "clean" it anyway. They like to see the kinds of entries left behind after uninstalling an app. It can tell you something about the author(s) of the app. I fall into this category. I take it a bit further and look around in the registry for left over entries that CCleaner did not mention/remove. But I have the luxury of a virtual machine to study such things. This is not something that I would suggest people play with just for some perceived performance gain.
Again, plenty of people feel it best to "clean" the registry. I'm not on a campaign to change that. But this OP presented me with a good chance to learn. This OP might very well have enough left over registry entries that CCleaner can remove and the OP might see a measurable performance gain. Hence my sticking my nose into this thread. Sorry if I came across as saying that your advice was in error. That was not my intent.
CCleaner works. in addition, you can use IObit Uninstaller to uninstall software. both of them are good choices. I mostly use them at the same time to assure nothing remains in my computer.
Regarding the supposed performance improvements brought about by registry cleaners:
Years ago I read of an experiment that began with measurements of registry access performance. The registry was then deliberately bloated to an extent far beyond what would occur under normal conditions. Registry access times were measured again. The differences were minimal. In most applications registry access time is of little importance to it's performance.
There is little to no objective evidence that regular registry cleaning will significantly improve performance. Subjective tests such as "it feels faster" are subject to the placebo effect and cannot be trusted.
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