Windows 7: Windows Registry Errors

I used a utility today to clean out/check my my Windows Registry for errors. The utility found over 400 errors but because it was a free trial, it only removed 30, I think. Anyways, on PCWorld's website, I found a download for DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke). You burn it to a blank CD and then start your computer up from the burnt disk to clean out your entire hard drive and start from scratch. Not sure if anyone has heard of this or not.

Anyways, I have a family member who goes to a university. They use Symantec Endpoint Protection there. I got it installed once before, a while back but the LiveUpdate portion of it got corrupted and I was unable to use it. With that being said, when I try to install it now, it rolls back during installation. If I wipe my drive, and reinstall a fresh Windows 7 OS on it and try SEP again, does anyone think that would solve the problem?



Thank you.

Was your computer running OK? Were you getting error messages or BSOD's? If not, I strongly urge you not to use a registry cleaner unless you are well versed in the registry and know exactly what you are doing.

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.

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.

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.

Forget all the "wisdom" you learned about XP. Win 7 is not XP and does not manage the registry the same as XP.

Are registry cleaners necessary?

Back up the registry

Yes it most likely would. I suggest using Symantec's uninstaller first and try to remove all of the program that way; then reinstall it.

I was kind of leery to mess with the registry cleaner so I backed up my system before I ran the utility. Perhaps I should go back and restore the system to the point where the registries were not touched.

Thanks for the info.

You are welcome. After you uninstall a program, you can run a registry cleaner; but don't let it delete anything until you tell it to. Look for the keys that relate to the software you just uninstalled. It is generally safe to delete these.

The first time you run a registry program, it's not uncommon to find 1,000's of errors, but very few, and perhaps none of them are anything but leftover bits. Fixing them would unlikely fix any issues, but rather remove a few thousand k and nothing of major importance. As Carl said, if you aren't otherwise having issues, just leave it be. A reinstall will always give you a fresh start, but only if you deem that neccessary. A Guy

I completely agree with CarlTR6 on this one; unless you're really familiar with what's being removed and not needed, I'd leave well enough alone. You're not going to clear up a whole lot of disk space deleting those files, and you most likely will not see any significant, if any, improvements in speed/performance.

If anything you could almost always do more harm than good by having the program remove a file(s) you "actually" do need. A lot of people find this out the hard way when later down the road they suddenly discover a program doesn't work like it used to or they get error messages saying files are missing or corrupt.

Yes there are those that swear by registry cleaners, and they do have a place, you just need to have an understanding of how they work, and what they're removing.

My two cents

Thanks for the responses!

As stated above, Microsoft is the only one who really knows your registry. Microsoft provides a free registry cleaning service. Check out Windows Live OneCare.

rif,

Windows Live OneCare is no longer available for sale.

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