Is a registry cleaner needed for win 7 64-bit

Do I need a registry cleaner with win 7 -64 bit and if so please suggest one that will not screw up windows 7-64 bit. I dont know enough to go into registry and make manual changes.

I always used latest version of regvac (registry cleaner) for win xp. I am now using cc cleaner and registry mechanic with windows 7 64 bit. The regvac site it says that iregvac s compatible with win 7-32 bit and does not mention win 64 bit. Author or regvac emailed me that it wont restore 64 bit registry in restore option.

I know there will be many opinions on this but do not use a registry cleaner on Windows 7 they can do more harm than good.
Jerry

Almost all Registry Cleaners are sales scams with no genius behind them. They will almost always mess up your system.

The exception is the Registry tab on CCleaner, perhaps the most respected single app in the tech world.

You should never use a registry cleaner, of any sort (even CCleaner), on any version of Windows. They do nothing to improve your system, and at the same time introduce a rather significant potential for harm.

You can find many articles along these lines, this is just one example:
Why I don’t use registry cleaners | Ed Bott's Windows Expertise

Please do not smear the single-most respected little app in the tech world, CCleaner, by associating it with the Reg Cleaners which are pop-up sales scams.

I've installed CCleaner on hundreds of installs representing thousands of uses without a single issue. Any issues reported here have been traced to other causes. It simply doesn't make mistakes after 15 years of being perfected to a T.

Besides you can back up your registry keys cleaned and set a restore point if you don't have enough experience to trust it yet.

I don't recommend the use of any registry cleaners.

With respect to ccleaner, I resort to using it's reg cleaner as an absolute last resort. If I'm willing to format the machine and start from scratch, I will give this a try. I've had good and bad experiences with boxes that are messed up using ccleaner. Sometimes it works, and other times it doesn't.

I think that to say CCleaner is the most respected little app in the industry might be stretching it just a bit.

I don't mean to smere it (I would concede that it's definitely not malicious), I do question it's usefulness though (e.g. emptying the recycle bin, clearing temp files, etc. is a fairly trivial task to accomplish without the aid of CCleaner and the like)... At any rate, more to the point, consider this:

I use roaming profiles (either because I have more than one computer at home and want to maintain settings from one to the other, or I'm using a computer at work). I install SomeApplication on Computer A; SomeApplication creates and depends on registry keys uner HKCU. I log into Computer B and run CCleaner (now at this point I'm using the same user hive I had on Computer A, but SomeApplication has never been installed on Computer B). CCleaner sees registry entries pointing to files that don't exist and so deletes them. Now, when I go back to Computer A SomeApplication no longer works.

The fact of the matter is that registry cleaners can't reliably know whether a given value in the registry is obsolete or invalid (i.e. it's not possible). The Wikipedia page on registry cleaners does a more eloquent job of describing some issues with registry cleaners (Registry cleaner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):

When you see CCleaner on nearly everyone's desktop - from programmers to students to tech support - then I ask what app is more respected? Keep in mind it isn't preinstalled on any computer. These users go and get it - by the millions - for a reason.

We go through these threads every week here. I wish I could just ignore the misinformation about CCleaner, but I have been using it since it's debut and watched true genius at work winnowing out every bug until it is perfect. I feel the slams against it are as wrong and reckless as those against Win7 which we also watched being perfected to a T.

I respect true genius. There would be more of it in the world if others did, too.

Because there are 7 billion people in the world, and if 1% them are savvy like us that leaves 6.9 billion people who have no idea what they're doing and will download and install anything. We don't use it - nor have I ever seen it on the personal computer of anyone I assist.

But that's neither here nor there, and off-topic (we all have our little utilities we love and no one will ever convince us to let them go - I'm sure you'd find some of the things I use regularly appauling too).

What did you make of my theoretical scenario where CCleaner (or any registry cleaner) might easily cause problems in the event of a roaming profile?

Here's another document to consider (Are registry cleaners necessary?):

MS have published very little on this that I can find.

Ther was a Mark Russinovich about why he thought it was useful - but that was som time ago.

There was also a small MS piece on similar lines as they had included one in OneCare.

I have never seen them say never use one.

In fact from the very article you linked:

If you do decide to install a registry cleaner, be sure to research the product and only download and install programs from software publishers that you trust.

Click to expand...

That is not saying do not use one.

With so little to go on - I am surprised so many people have taken strong sides on this matter.

CCleaner is respected because it contains many useful functions besides a registry cleaner.

Many use the registry function to look at what is apparently unused registry entries and to decide if they want to do anything with them.

Marks comment came before Vista and Windows 7 and OneCare went away since Vista and Windows 7.

Yes, I know the blog post is old.

Onecare was around with Vista - they only discontinued it because it was a commercial flop.

The Safety Scanner also has a MS Approved Registry Cleaner in it and you can still use it as a download that expires 10 days after downloading.

Microsoft Safety Scanner - Remove Spyware, Malware, Viruses Free

With that said, Even CCleaners Registry Tool should be used with Caution.
But, if you are going to use one, that is the only one I recommend besides the one in the Safety Scanner (if it is still in there, I am not sure), which is not configurable and gives no real information, so there is no telling what it really does.

What are the known negative consequences of an "unclean" registry on a modern PC?

I'm not referring to speculation and generalities, but to measurable effects supported by research and testing. Are there any studies of the consequences?

If registry cleaners were suddenly unavailable, what would be the real-world result?

Slower this or slower that? How much and in what circumstances?

Loss of functionality of some type? Can't boot? Can't run certain apps? Can't...........what??

SIW2 said:

In fact from the very article you linked:

If you do decide to install a registry cleaner, be sure to research the product and only download and install programs from software publishers that you trust.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I know, but I was trying to only cite pieces of the article that supported my position.

SIW2 said:

With so little to go on - I am surprised so many people have taken strong sides on this matter.

Click to expand...

Fascinating from a sociological standpoint, isn't it?

I'd never recommend a registry cleaner to another person though I use the CCleaner one regularly. It's never let me down, though I've cocked up with it once-upon-a-time because I took a chance guess.

Lesson learned - don't edit your registry in any capacity unless you are 100% certain of what you are doing.

Windows 7 doesn't need any registry cleaning/tweaks