Any thoughts on Registry cleaners?

[Borg 386]

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.

 

[Tews]

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 ....

 

[Borg 386]

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....

 

[CarlTR6]

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.

 

[kucing13]

well said Carl . The question about does registry cleaner useful?
The answers probably.. NOT

 

[Tews]

Well said Carl!

 

[Grimmjow]

Read:
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/88444-registry-cleaners-optimizers-uninstallers.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...gistry-cleaner-suites-windows-7-ultimate.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/86202-what-good-reliable-registry-cleaner.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/21388-win7-registry-cleaner.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...recommended-registry-cleaner-win-7-64bit.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/19947-do-registry-cleaners-really-work.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/40566-free-registry-cleaner.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/68260-need-registry-cleaner-defragger.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/34031-registry-cleaner-fixed-few-things.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/88012-registry-mechanic.html
more
Hope you'll find your answer,
cheers

 

[Borg 386]

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?

 

[Borg 386]

Thanks Grimmjow, I will check those out

Wow, this place is just chock full of info

 

[DarkStar GT]

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.

 

[CarlTR6]

Thanks, Rafe and Tom.

 

[pparks1]

I don't recommend nor use registry cleaners. With the tens of thousands of keys and entries in the registry, a few hundred old left behind entries are not going to negatively impact the system any more than installing another piece of software (registry cleaner) which will certainly add additional stuff to the registry during the install.

I'm in the camp: They do more harm than good and are unncessary.

 

[Borg 386]

According to the links I've been checking (Thank you Grimmjow), MS does make a scanner, OneCare Live. It says it will scan your registry and remove items safely.

Clean Up Center - Windows Live OneCare safety scanner

Has anyone had any experience with this, or is this still not a wise move?

 

[Dzomlija]

Well said, Carl.

Precisely inline with what I tell everyone who asks:

User: "I want to use [insert Registry Cleaner name here]"

Me: "Ok, but are you familiar enough with the registry and it's contents to be able to do the cleanup manually, without the aid of a 3rd-party utility?"

User: "No, why?"

Me: "Because if you're not, how can you be sure that [insert Registry Cleaner name here] isn't deleting something important?"

User: "Ok scratch that idea!"

 

[Dzomlija]

According to the links I've been checking (Thank you Grimmjow), MS does make a scanner, OneCare Live. It says it will scan your registry and remove items safely.

Clean Up Center - Windows Live OneCare safety scanner

Has anyone had any experience with this, or is this still not a wise move?

Even if it doess come from Microsoft, can you be sure that the person who wrote said utility was involved with the development of Windows itself, and knows enough about the registry to be able to translate and automate such knowledge into the said utility?

In a nutshell: ANY registry cleaner, no matter how reputable the source, is a no-go.

 

[CarlTR6]

I don't recommend nor use registry cleaners. With the tens of thousands of keys and entries in the registry, a few hundred old left behind entries are not going to negatively impact the system any more than installing another piece of software (registry cleaner) which will certainly add additional stuff to the registry during the install.

I'm in the camp: They do more harm than good and are unncessary.

Well stated.

According to the links I've been checking (Thank you Grimmjow), MS does make a scanner, OneCare Live. It says it will scan your registry and remove items safely.

Clean Up Center - Windows Live OneCare safety scanner

Has anyone had any experience with this, or is this still not a wise move?

I have used it with the XP machine. I did try it with 7 right after I installed. I have not used it since.

Well said, Carl.

Precisely inline with what I tell everyone who asks:

User: "I want to use [insert Registry Cleaner name here]"

Me: "Ok, but are you familiar enough with the registry and it's contents to be able to do the cleanup manually, without the aid of a 3rd-party utility?"

User: "No, why?"

Me: "Because if you're not, how can you be sure that [insert Registry Cleaner name here] isn't deleting something important?"

User: "Ok scratch that idea!"

I like your approach!

According to the links I've been checking (Thank you Grimmjow), MS does make a scanner, OneCare Live. It says it will scan your registry and remove items safely.

Clean Up Center - Windows Live OneCare safety scanner

Has anyone had any experience with this, or is this still not a wise move?

Even if it doess come from Microsoft, can you be sure that the person who wrote said utility was involved with the development of Windows itself, and knows enough about the registry to be able to translate and automate such knowledge into the said utility?

In a nutshell: ANY registry cleaner, no matter how reputable the source, is a no-go.

Basically, I agree. But I would not be afraid to use the MS one - if I needed a registry cleaner.

 

[CarlTR6]

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

Not that I am aware of. There are several very good books on Win 7. That is where you will find you best, in depth information.

 

[drugo]

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.

i uninstalled photoshop cs4 and it left lots of key linked to photoshop cs4
association too

what should i do?

 

[Vertex]

I disagree with some of you. I think you definitely should clean the registry if and only if, you have experience, you are an expert and when you really know what you are doing.

Even if I do all those other tweaks besides the registry cleaning part, my computer is still undeniably slower by a few percent than before and I find no other explanations for that except there are registry bugs. The only downside of registry cleaning is that its the most risky.

If your RAM is 2GB or higher like you guys, I've seen your system specs, you probably won't notice this anyway especially if you are too busy with other things but if you have 1GB or lower, I swear, changes in system responsiveness are more noticeable and doing all the tweaks besides registry cleaning does not completely resolve that. If you do not have the Windows installation CD, this is even a bigger problem.

 

[Vertex]

i uninstalled photoshop cs4 and it left lots of key linked to photoshop cs4
association too

what should i do?

I think the leftover keys that are linked to Photoshop are safe to delete unless you have installed another version of Photoshop.