Any thoughts on Registry cleaners?

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  1. Posts : 7,781
    Win 7 32 Home Premium, Win 7 64 Pro, Win 8.1, Win 10
       #1

    Any thoughts on Registry cleaners?


    Just curious as to the general consensus on what people use for Free Registry cleaners.

    I know CCleaner comes recommended and I have it in my arsenal, as well as Glary Utilities and Wise Registry cleaner.

    I do notice that Wise Registry cleaner catches some of the entries the others miss.

    Also, has anyone had any experience/problems with AML Free Registry cleaner?

    I'm curious because I can't find a lot of reviews on it, it seems to find a lot of things that need cleaned out, however I have not run it yet as some of the reg keys it point to seem to be a vital part of the OS.
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  2. Posts : 11,840
    64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro
       #2

    As a rule, I stay away from registry cleaners ... IMO they end up doing more harm than good... If my system performance starts to suffer, I would rather do a restore from a backup image then start messing around with the registry ....
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  3. Posts : 7,781
    Win 7 32 Home Premium, Win 7 64 Pro, Win 8.1, Win 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Yeah that is good advice Tews, but I just can't believe the colossal amount of junk that gets left behind. My last PC was 6 yrs old & when I did a search though the reg, I found keys from stuff I had deleted 5 yrs ago. Just amazing....
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  4. Posts : 11,990
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit
       #4

    Windows is a closed source system. Developers of registry cleaners do not have the core code of Win 7 and are not working on definitive information, but rather they are going on past knowledge and experience. Automatic cleaners will usually have to do some guesswork.
    Modifying registry keys incorrectly can cause Windows instability, or make Windows unbootable. No registry cleaner is completely safe and the potential is ever present to cause more problems than they claim to fix.

    My advice for the average computer user is DO NOT use a registry cleaner. If you do not have knowledge of the registry, then you are far better off leaving it alone, and definitely not placing blind trust in a program to do the job for you.
    Registry cleaners cannot distinguish between good and bad. If you run a registry cleaner, it will delete all those keys which are obsolete and sitting idle; but in reality, those keys may well be needed by some programs or windows at a later time.

    Registry defragger programs are a myth, too. They might trim the registry size by 8-12MB; but will not improve operating system performance. In fact, your programs’ performance will decrease.
    Win 7 does not need a registry cleaner. Forget all the "wisdom" you learned about XP. Win 7 is not XP and does not manage the registry the same as XP.

    Win 7 is much more efficient at managing the registry than previous Windows versions. If you are very knowledgeable of the registry, you can use Ccleaner to delete keys left over when uninstalling programs. However, these few keys will not make 1 millisecond's difference in performance. If you run Ccleaner or any other registry cleaner and do not know precisely what you are doing, you will have problems down the road. There are no gains to be had from using a registry cleaner and the risk is great.
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  5. Posts : 1,747
    window's 7
       #5

    well said Carl . The question about does registry cleaner useful?
    The answers probably.. NOT
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  6. Posts : 11,840
    64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro
       #6

    Well said Carl!
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  8. Posts : 7,781
    Win 7 32 Home Premium, Win 7 64 Pro, Win 8.1, Win 10
    Thread Starter
       #8

    CarlTR6, Is there a website where I can see how Win 7 handles the registry?

    But yes, I do agree with you all, blindly deleting/editing a key can cause untold problems. Any "suspicious" key that shows up, I do some thorough research on before editing/deleting it. I've had my share of having to restore other peoples PC's due to reg errors caused by user error. (Being advised by a program to "get rid of this key")

    I have been editing/playing with registry keys since Win 95 and had to have a knowledge of some of it's workings to pass a couple of the CompTIA cert tests. But I definitely do not blindly trust when a program tells me to "dump this".

    Does MS make it's own version of a reg cleaner?
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  9. Posts : 7,781
    Win 7 32 Home Premium, Win 7 64 Pro, Win 8.1, Win 10
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Thanks Grimmjow, I will check those out

    Wow, this place is just chock full of info
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  10. Posts : 258
    Windows Home Premium (64)
       #10

    I don't want a Registry Cleaner.

    But I would like a Registry Analyser which will tell me what debris there is. I can then decide what, if anything, to do about it.

    I've wondered a few times why Microsoft does not come up with something. Perhaps MS consider it unnecessary.
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