Registry Cleaners

[rigz]

do CCleaner actually sometimes ruin the windows 7 systems??? :sarc: or any other registry cleaner?? give me some opinion..
because i have the following softwares and what do u prefer??
*CCleaner
*Perfect Optimizer
*RegCure
*MZ Registry Optimizer
*PC Registry Mechanic
*Paretologic PC health

 

[zigzag3143]

do CCleaner actually sometimes ruin the windows 7 systems??? :sarc: or any other registry cleaner?? give me some opinion..
because i have the following softwares and what do u prefer??
*CCleaner
*Perfect Optimizer
*RegCure
*MZ Registry Optimizer
*PC Registry Mechanic
*Paretologic PC health

Win 7 doesnt really need them and all of them top to bottom can do more damage than they fix.

If I was forced on pain of death it would be CCleaner. But not automatically

 

[JMH]

Are you a highly skilled computer user? ...

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.

IMO - there is no reliable way for a third party program to know whether any particular key is invalid, redundant or neither. Some registry cleaners may not know for sure whether a key is still being used by Windows or what detrimental effects removing it may have. This has led to examples of registry cleaners causing loss of functionality and/or system instability.

 

[Maguscreed]

Agreed: My more recent experience with them is more using them as a filter, that I then have to go over and look at every entry for. It's not something I would recommend to someone without a prior knowledge of the registry as well as their own hardware/software.

 

[electrotune1200]

Although far from proven, and I have no scientific data to back up my claim.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of these registry cleaners are causing this SP1 debacle. I'm not saying any names, but there's some on this list that are widely used and trusted.

 

[rigz]

Thanks but im just average user.. .was there any windows program that would help speed up and clean system clutters??im using perfect optimizer 5..on my netbook..it speed up my netbook than before.
do you suggest that i stop using it??
and how about the left overs from uninstalled programs in registry..
any software that is much more safe?? Thanks for the response.

 

[MWRed]

Unless you're a highly skilled and knowledgeable user, it's really risky using any registry cleaners or optimizers of any kind.

Extra leftover registry entries don't hurt anything, and unless you are digging around in the registry, you would never notice them anyway. Best bet is to not worry about it. It can cause more problems than it fixes. I know for most people it's just the idea of the registry being as "clean" as possible, and it makes them feel better about their pc, but it really doesn't make a difference.

 

[Sardonicus]

There's a reason why CCleaner and other registry cleaner have a backup option......because yes, they can screw things up.

I too, if I had to choose....it would be CCleaner.

 

[electrotune1200]

Thanks but im just average user.. .was there any windows program that would help speed up and clean system clutters??

Yep.

Disk Cleanup Utility - Built into Windows.

Disk Defrag - Run this once a month.

Keep your startup items under control. No need for anything other than your security suite.

Do this and Windows will be just fine.

 

[JMH]

Thanks but im just average user.. .was there any windows program that would help speed up and clean system clutters??im using perfect optimizer 5..on my netbook..it speed up my netbook than before.
do you suggest that i stop using it??
and how about the left overs from uninstalled programs in registry..
any software that is much more safe?? Thanks for the response.

If you follow what is listed below your system should run well...

*Do you do your computer housework on a regular basis?

Eg
Check Disk.
Defragment
Disk Clean Up
Error Checking
Temporary Files Removal

* IE.8 - Safety - Delete Browsing History. -
Check for unwanted plug ins.
* Open IE8
* tools
* internet options
* advanced
* reset

*Make sure your windows Update is running.

*Have you checked in Task Manager/ Processes/ All Users to see what is running there?

*Do you check in Event Viewer for errors frequently?
Note any with a red mark in Application & System.

* Monitor regularly >Perfmon - {Task manager - resource monitor - CPU, Memory etc}

*Remove any software you have evaluated and decided you don't want to keep.

Run: SFC /scannow (from a command prompt) - and let it check/repair/verify your system files

*Some people optimize and compact the registry. This makes me VERY nervous and consequently I don't.

 

[Zardoc]

I've used CCleaner for many years without issues and yes, a backup before using it is a wise decision.

Best decision is to use a drive backup. I use True Image.
Beta testers best friend

Also, don't defrag the C drive if it's an SolidStateDrive.

 

[zigzag3143]

Im with Zardoc


Backup, backup, backup. You will regret it if you dont

 

[rigz]

woaw!

.. .after the blue screen i had. and the only choice i had was to reinstall my system and install new drivers.for my desktop.
Thanks for advice.i will not use anymore 3rd party optimizers and registry.
"Maybe" it was the root of my bluescreen because i tried updating my drivers and yet problem still occurs.
Thanks for those who tried to help esp. DeanP . .

 

[Zirro]

I have tried various registry cleaners over the years and every time they have caused more trouble than they fixed, even CCleaner.

I do use CCleaner to clean up internet history, cookies etc but I UNtick the boxes in the Registry Cleaner section.

I use Revo Uninstaller when uninstalling programs. It cleans up registry items and files related to the specific unistalled program.

I refuse point blank use a general registry cleaner.

 

[Maguscreed]

ccleaner in particular likes to delete a certain set of nvidia registry entries that can cause problems when removed. I know this from personal experience.

 

[rigz]

ccleaner in particular likes to delete a certain set of NVIDIA registry entries that can cause problems when removed. I know this from personal experience.

ryt! i tried it. i cant uninstall my nvidia drivers because of this resulting to system crash! BSOD... .

 

[dsperber]

I'd much rather do a brand new fresh install of Win7 from scratch once a year or so. I've only tried a "cleaner" once, in WinXP, and the resulting problems were insurmountable. Ended up just reinstalling WinXP from scratch and then all application software, as my way of "cleaning house".

Of course you take a selectable recoverable backup of everything first, so you can restore your various program settings, documents, and data, which usually go in \Users or \ProgramData or maybe in \Program Files.

Almost always if you pre-restore the contents of a program's \Users or \ProgramData folder before you install the program, it will discover what's there and almost always pretty much put you back where you were with your previously installed version of the program. If not... well, at least you can probably restore the program's data after it gets installed, usually.


Anyway, I've not used any such cleaner product since that one ill-fated experiment.

WinXP typically began to show signs of "aging" after about 6 months. Win7 is much more durable, and my initial install went over 1 year before I voluntarily chose to reinstall from scratch (because of new and significant hardware upgrades).

I'll always go with a fresh OS reinstall as the best solution to any serious performance degradation problems.