Recommended Registry Cleaner for Win 7 64bit

[CapnCrunch]

You know....everyones suggestions are good.In the end we all have different ways of doing things.I found this thread because I just made the move from XP32 to Win 7 X64.My machine originally came with Vista 64 but Vista could not run any of the music apps I needed at the time so I ran XP 32 for full compatibility even though I had a 64 bit processor.I am constantly installing and uninstalling apps as well as making portables.If you use thinapp as much as I do reinstalling windows after every portable is just not practical.For someone like me I need a good reg cleaner as to clean out my reg after I make a portable as to make sure the app will run correctly and not use an existing entry in my reg.I made the mistake of thinking that my older reliable XP reg cleaners would be just as reliable with Win 7.....ummmm....NO!!! I had to reinstall Win 7 again because they wiped my system to the point that I could not even do a disk recovery!!! I tried everyones suggestions here and I personally like Comodo and Regseeker as they fit my exact needs.Thanks to all for their input here in this thread in helping me find the right tools.

 

[derekimo]

Welcome CapnCrunch,

I personally prefer CCleaner, It's Free and works Great.
CCleaner - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

 

[reghakr]

Been using it for 6 years. never broke a program:

Registry Mechanic® 9 for Windows®

Special discounted price:

[link removed]http://www.subscription.com/pctools-mechanic/?path=sof-rmcu-gls-102a1a

 

[Frostmourne]

Been using it for 6 years. never broke a program:

Registry Mechanic® 9 for Windows®

You've been throwing money away for 6 years. These programs do nothing for performance.

 

[pparks1]

I am historically not a fan of the registry cleaner utilities either. While I have used them in the past, my results have really been hit or miss. It's fixed a few problems and it's caused a few problems.

I wholeheartedly believe in simply keeping your machine clean and not installing lots of applications. I've found 2 things which work well for accomplishing this
#1). Use a software package like Acronis True Image which includes Try and Decide mode. You simply turn it on, and it records all changes to the system. If you find in a few minutes that the app you were trying wasn't "the bomb", then you simply shut off Try and Decide and it reverts your hard drive back to the way it was
#2). Do testing and playing around in a virtual machine.

 

[lordvader]

Hi there
if you need to clean your registry then the ONLY sensible solution is a Windows re-install.

After re-install just backup the OS before installing anything - only takes around 15 mins -- so if the software is no good or you want to get rid of it just restore the previous OS image.

(Keep the OS in its own partition - separate from your DATA such as music, videos etc etc).

Cheers
jimbo

+1 Jimbo.. well said. I use Acronis to image my system drive and it has never let me down...

why would we buy Acronis ?
when Image back software come FREE with Windows 7

 

[pparks1]

why would we buy Acronis ?
when Image back software come FREE with Windows 7

Because the 3rd party utilities like Acronis True Image come with more functionality and additional features. Acronis in particular comes with Try and Decide...which allows you to more or less take a snapshot of your drive (in a matter of seconds), then install software, patches, etc and evaluate how they run. At the end, you can disable Try and Decide and you have the option to commit your changes to the hard drive or revert back to the way it was. I picked up Acronis True Image Home 2010 for $23.99 from NewEgg and for the Try and Decide feature alone, it was worth $24.

 

[noyb]

why would we buy Acronis ?
when Image back software come FREE with Windows 7

If you move the Image file to another storage location for any reason ..
You just Broke it .. and this restriction bothers me.


Acronis can work with any of your computers ... Is not crippled ..
and W7 Imaging is stuck with W7

 

[whs]

None - not needed.

 

[reghakr]

Been using it for 6 years. never broke a program:

Registry Mechanic® 9 for Windows®

You've been throwing money away for 6 years. These programs do nothing for performance.

I used to work for them and they gave my a 8 year free license to all their programs

I can guarantee you it certainly does clean up your compeer, thereby increasing speed.

 

[cyberman]

Hi

I have tried many registry cleaners over the years.

As others have said, take Images regularly as a fall back should anything go wrong.
Images are also the best way to clean out newly installed software you do not want to keep.

Some cleaners have trashed my system to varying degrees, CCleaner included.
As well CCleaner cleans very few entries.

What i have used with no ill-effects are:

Wise Registry Cleaner (free)
RegCure
jv16
TuneUp
Registry Mechanic
Glary Utilities (free)
MS RegClean (a very old MicroSoft developed cleaner no longer developed-this cleans out lots of entries)
RegSeeker (free) -only the green (safe) entries
AML Free Registry Cleaner (free)
Comodo Registry Cleaner (free) - now replaced and repackaged with Comodo bloat-ware bubdle which actually trashed my system and I no longer use

None so far have caused any issues (that i am aware of as of writing this)
Each cleaner targets slightly different reg entries so using more than 1 cleans more effectively (or trashes your system better i hear some of you say)

Run a cleaner or two after deinstalling a piece of software and see how many registry entries remain for the software supposedly removed.

The more software you install and remove the more your registry loads up with crap.
I say this needs to be cleaned out now and again.

I admit cleaning the registry does not seem to make a noticable speed difference.

Occasionally however, a registry clean up has sorted some minor issues because mis-information remained.

I recently scanned the Crashes and Debugging forum on this site. Lots of BSOD issues.

I have upgraded XP to Vista and Vista to Windows 7 with no issues.
Maybe it's because my registry is regularly cleaned out.
Maybe some of these Win7 BSOD issue could be fixed, especially upgrades, with a thorough registry clean out before and after.

*Always be in a position to reinstate your system when changing your registry*

cheers

 

[whs]

The more software you install and remove the more your registry loads up with crap.
I say this needs to be cleaned out now and again.

If you uninstall your programs with the Revo Uninstaller, then this should not be necessary. And if you do not get any performance gain, why clean?

 

[Muad Dib]

The more software you install and remove the more your registry loads up with crap.
I say this needs to be cleaned out now and again.

If you uninstall your programs with the Revo Uninstaller, then this should not be necessary. And if you do not get any performance gain, why clean?

Registry cleaning had become less and less important from any performance gain "claims" viewpoint. However I have found it does come in handy when troubleshooting spyware infestations on occasion (rename the suspect spyware - see if it creates registry reference that cannot be resolved, etc, etc).

That said I use CCleaner for "simple" cleaning. It is relatively safe. JV16, Regcleaner, Regcure, Norton Utilities once had a fairly nice one and others can be very dangerous when used by the average "user" who will not image their system before a rigorous cleaning.

 

[WiNd0Ws7]

The more software you install and remove the more your registry loads up with crap.
I say this needs to be cleaned out now and again.

If you uninstall your programs with the Revo Uninstaller, then this should not be necessary. And if you do not get any performance gain, why clean?

I agree and my preferred uninstaller is Total Uninstall Pro.

 

[BillS22]

Did you know that Acronics Emergency Boot Disk does not support Wireless Mouse and Keyboard?

I too use Acronics, only to learn that I could not use my mouse and keyboard when booting to the rescue disk.
Acronics has confirmed this issue. They recommend using a USB or PS2 Mouse and keyboard.

Not good.....

 

[noyb]

I just had a problem with a USB mouse and keyboard.
The mouse was dead ... used the cursor and enter keys to get past the ATI boot screen ...
then the mouse started working.

 

[CarlTR6]

I add my vote for ccleaner. However, do as the above post says and back up your registry first.

 

[pparks1]

Did you know that Acronics Emergency Boot Disk does not support Wireless Mouse and Keyboard?

I too use Acronics, only to learn that I could not use my mouse and keyboard when booting to the rescue disk.
Acronics has confirmed this issue. They recommend using a USB or PS2 Mouse and keyboard.

Not good.....

Just keep a wired keyboard and mouse around. Seems simple enough. Of course, I only use wired keyboards and mice...so not an issue for me.

 

[cyberman]

luckily, i have no problems using both wireless keyboard and mouse when booting with Acronis Emergency Boot Disk

though, i do recall long long time ago having to use hardwired mouse/keyboard but this could have been with XP

 

[cyberman]

hey WHS

i tried Revo long time ago and never came to grips with it
the program did not seem to search all files and registry to find left over bits
maybe i will have another try and see if it does what i want

i find manually searching all files (using a great program called 'Everything' and then a manual scan/search of the registry works great, often finding software remnants that reg cleaners do not