Manually removing obsolete items from registry

When you delete items from the registry that are no longer installed on the PC...can you just delete the 'key' in the left hand column...or should you only delete the info in the right hand column ?

Thanks...TiminAz

I'm not a registry expert, but I think that deleting the item on the left accomplishes the same thing as deleting both items on the right.

I'd delete the item on the left if I wanted to do anything at all, but I'd certainly export what's on the left by using a right click, before I deleted it. In case you have to restore it later.

I've found that CCleaner doesn't get everything. A few days ago, I installed a trial version of a well known product. I used it for a day or so and decided I didn't want to keep it. So I used Revo Uninstaller and then CCleaner registry cleaner to get rid of it. I then searched the registry from Regedit and found more remnants of the program.

Registry keys shown on the left side of Regedit are container objects, rather like folders. Registry values shown on the right are like files. Deleting the key deletes everything it contains. Registry keys generally have greater overhead than values. Be very sure about what you delete. All actions in Regedit are immediate and there is no undo facility.

LMiller7 said:

Registry keys shown on the left side of Regedit are container objects, rather like folders. Registry values shown on the right are like files. Deleting the key deletes everything it contains. Registry keys generally have greater overhead than values. Be very sure about what you delete. All actions in Regedit are immediate and there is no undo facility.

OK guys...thanks much...to be clear...the 'keys' on the left...are they generated by software installation...or do they pre exist and are just occupied/leased/used by the object or installation that 's contained in them ?

TiminAz

Registry keys are created by the system and by applications. Without knowing the exact location of these keys I would not care to guess which it is.

Hi there

I might be an old Dinosaur here but I don't like using 3rd party Registry cleaners / un-installers etc.

IMO if you have a lot of obsolete stuff in your registry (and it's not easy to know what's really obsolete in many cases) I'd simply re-install Windows again.

Unlike W8 Windows 7 has ISO's so an install isn't really hard to do.

After installing Windows again and adding whatever applications you are currently running together with updates simpy then take an image backup and save it. This image backup can then be used as a good starting point if you ever want to restore back to a clean system without having to go through the re-install process.

Cheers
jimbo