Best/worse registry cleaning software?

[hardrocker]

I've got 4 (!) of these programs installed; CCleaner, Magix PC Check, Vaio Care and Auslogics registry cleaner. A bit overkill, I know, and I'm gonna uninstall 2 or 3 of them. Which one should I keep?

Someone of these programs have ****ed up my computer by deleting important registry files. That program I do not wanna keep.
Anyone got experiences with these programs and know which one is good and which one is bad?

 

[Airbot]

CCleaner is probably the most praised one of the majority. Never had much problem with it myself. Mostly just use the cleaner part of it.

 

[nitroman84]

To be honest with you any registry cleaning software can be bad news. I would re-consider using them as Windows does a decent job of controlling the registry and you may do more harm than good.

 

[Maguscreed]

ccleaner has recently been causing problems for my clients with nvidia graphics packages. Apparently nvidia adds intentionally blank registry entries and things can go a little screwy with them when they are removed.

I personally have abandoned automated cleaners and prefer to use them to narrow things down for me when searching for a problem entry. Not actually using them to do the cleaning though.

Under windows xp I have seen no problems with any of the major ones. However, in vista and win 7 I have seen them cause some problems. As to whether how rare or common such problems are in the grand scheme of things, I can not comment though.

 

[Taliseian]

I don't use and registry modifying software. I haven't seen the need to since I started using Revo Uninstaller to remove all traces of software.

Some software packages do not completely remove files or registry entries in the thought that you may want to reinstall. Revo does a deep scan to find leftover bits and removes them.

Other than that, I don't see the need to mess with the registry.


T

 

[chrysalis]

I never run registry cleaners, to me seems pointless and is a risk.

 

[JMH]

IMHO none!

Generic advice -
If you do not have knowledge of the registry, then you would probably be better off leaving it alone, and definitely not placing blind trust in a program to do the job for you.

To advise anyone that a "Registry Cleaner" works, and that it will fix or speed up their machine {or all the nonsense that is often propagated about these things} can mislead people.

Should you decide to go ahead -
Make sure you have
1.a current System Restore point created.
2.a recent "Back up" of your computer- preferably to an external HD.

 

[marsmimar]

One more opinion. As Airbot said earlier, CCleaner probably has the best reputation of the cleaners you have listed. I have a Vaio VPCEB47GM and the Vaio Care module provided by Sony is (supposedly) optimized for the Vaio line of computers to keep your machine running at peak performance.

I'd use CCleaner for removing temp files, etc and use the registry portion just to monitor what registry items, if any, it suggests removing. If the Vaio Care hoses your machine you should be able to get free assistance from Sony since it's their product. But as JMH said, a current restore point, and preferably a current system image, is the safest way to go before using either product.

One final thought. Windows 7 is not like XP where everything had to be tweaked for optimum performance. This latest OS seems to be able to take care of itself just fine without all those tweaks. If someone really thinks their machine has bogged down and needs tweaking, I'd suggest using a system image from when the machine was first customized by the user ... providing the user made a system image back then. If not, use the Vaio recovery partition to return your machine to factory condition, customize it, then make a "clean install" system image for future use.

 

[Maxxwire]

Revo does a deep scan to find leftover bits and removes them.

+1