Registry Cleaners Pos and Cons

I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website about
whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
performance.
But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias but are
simply
egging you onto the web site to use their product.

What I'm looking for is info on:
1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
system
3) Does defragging the registry help performance

Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
uninstall if I don't
want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I shouldn't
be doing this
because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
unused registry keys.

If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
appreciated.

Thanks,
James

Hi,

1) No

2) Yes

3) No

Registry cleaners in general are a sort of snake oil. They give the
impression that registry bloat (which actually was an issue in the Win9x
line) can slow a system down, and that deadend entries can inhibit system
performance. This is simply not the case. Dead entries (and some are not
actually dead but are misidentified as being so) have no effect on system
performance. Defragging and compacting is also not really an issue, as
commonly used bits are preloaded and housed in caches (prefetch), not drawn
directly from the hard drive.

What can be useful are registry cleaners designed by a software manufacturer
to specifically remove remnants of their software, like Symantec's symclean.
These are not general cleaners, but target specific strings associated with
their bits.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:...
> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
> about
> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
> performance.
> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias but
> are simply
> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>
> What I'm looking for is info on:
> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
> system
> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>
> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
> uninstall if I don't
> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
> shouldn't be doing this
> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
> unused registry keys.
>
> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> James
>

Is WIndows aware of invalid entries?

James

"Van Chocstraw" <> wrote in message
news: ...
> JamesJ wrote:
>> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
>> about
>> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
>> performance.
>> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias but
>> are simply
>> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>>
>> What I'm looking for is info on:
>> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
>> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
>> system
>> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>>
>> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
>> uninstall if I don't
>> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
>> shouldn't be doing this
>> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
>> unused registry keys.
>>
>> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> James
>>
> Apparently many programs do not clean up after themselves completely.
> Lines are left in the registry that point to nothing. In my opinion you
> would have to have a significant amount of these to slow things down.
> My other opinion on this is that Windows should clean itself out. It
> should be aware of invalid pointers and such and take care of them.

I believe I read once that cleaaning the registry with a cleaner is like
sweeping out 1 parking place in a 1 acre parking lot.
Not sure where I saw that.

James

"Rick Rogers" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
>
> 1) No
>
> 2) Yes
>
> 3) No
>
> Registry cleaners in general are a sort of snake oil. They give the
> impression that registry bloat (which actually was an issue in the Win9x
> line) can slow a system down, and that deadend entries can inhibit system
> performance. This is simply not the case. Dead entries (and some are not
> actually dead but are misidentified as being so) have no effect on system
> performance. Defragging and compacting is also not really an issue, as
> commonly used bits are preloaded and housed in caches (prefetch), not
> drawn directly from the hard drive.
>
> What can be useful are registry cleaners designed by a software
> manufacturer to specifically remove remnants of their software, like
> Symantec's symclean. These are not general cleaners, but target specific
> strings associated with their bits.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>
> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
> news:...
>> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
>> about
>> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
>> performance.
>> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias but
>> are simply
>> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>>
>> What I'm looking for is info on:
>> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
>> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
>> system
>> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>>
>> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
>> uninstall if I don't
>> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
>> shouldn't be doing this
>> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
>> unused registry keys.
>>
>> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> James
>>
>

JamesJ;1027989 Wrote:
> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
> about
> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
> performance.
> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias
> but are
> simply
> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>
> What I'm looking for is info on:
> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
> system
> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>
> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
> uninstall if I don't
> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
> shouldn't
> be doing this
> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
> unused registry keys.
>
> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> James

Hi James,

You might consider using the free 'Revo Uninstaller Freeware -
Uninstall Software, Remove Programs, Solve uninstall problems'
(http://www.revouninstaller.com) if you try out and uninstall a lot of
apps.

In my experience it does a better job than most programs own
uninstallers at clearing out the remnants.

It runs perfectly on all my 64 bit systems, although it only recognizes
and uninstalls 32 bit apps - that is pretty much all of them.

Hope it helps

SIW2


--
SIW2

"JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:...
>I believe I read once that cleaaning the registry with a cleaner is like
> sweeping out 1 parking place in a 1 acre parking lot.
> Not sure where I saw that.
>
> James
>
> "Rick Rogers" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Hi,
>>
>> 1) No
>>
>> 2) Yes
>>
>> 3) No
>>
>> Registry cleaners in general are a sort of snake oil. They give the
>> impression that registry bloat (which actually was an issue in the Win9x
>> line) can slow a system down, and that deadend entries can inhibit system
>> performance. This is simply not the case. Dead entries (and some are not
>> actually dead but are misidentified as being so) have no effect on system
>> performance. Defragging and compacting is also not really an issue, as
>> commonly used bits are preloaded and housed in caches (prefetch), not
>> drawn directly from the hard drive.
>>
>> What can be useful are registry cleaners designed by a software
>> manufacturer to specifically remove remnants of their software, like
>> Symantec's symclean. These are not general cleaners, but target specific
>> strings associated with their bits.
>>
>> --
>> Best of Luck,
>>
>> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>>
>> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
>>> about
>>> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
>>> performance.
>>> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias but
>>> are simply
>>> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>>>
>>> What I'm looking for is info on:
>>> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
>>> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
>>> system
>>> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>>>
>>> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
>>> uninstall if I don't
>>> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
>>> shouldn't be doing this
>>> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
>>> unused registry keys.
>>>
>>> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
>>> appreciated.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> James
>>>
>>
>


Computer users who run 3rd party stuff which claims to make a computer run
faster generally have more problems than those who don't, but they don't
realize what the cause is until such time as they are talked into NOT using
the cleaners

--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/

I used to have 3rd party software for just about every maintenance aspect
of my computer. I now started to use Windows utilities, Disk cleanup,
firewall...
and the like.

Thanks much,
James

"Mike Hall - MVP" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
> news:...
>>I believe I read once that cleaaning the registry with a cleaner is like
>> sweeping out 1 parking place in a 1 acre parking lot.
>> Not sure where I saw that.
>>
>> James
>>
>> "Rick Rogers" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> 1) No
>>>
>>> 2) Yes
>>>
>>> 3) No
>>>
>>> Registry cleaners in general are a sort of snake oil. They give the
>>> impression that registry bloat (which actually was an issue in the Win9x
>>> line) can slow a system down, and that deadend entries can inhibit
>>> system performance. This is simply not the case. Dead entries (and some
>>> are not actually dead but are misidentified as being so) have no effect
>>> on system performance. Defragging and compacting is also not really an
>>> issue, as commonly used bits are preloaded and housed in caches
>>> (prefetch), not drawn directly from the hard drive.
>>>
>>> What can be useful are registry cleaners designed by a software
>>> manufacturer to specifically remove remnants of their software, like
>>> Symantec's symclean. These are not general cleaners, but target specific
>>> strings associated with their bits.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Best of Luck,
>>>
>>> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>>> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>>> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>>>
>>> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
>>> news:...
>>>> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
>>>> about
>>>> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
>>>> performance.
>>>> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias
>>>> but are simply
>>>> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>>>>
>>>> What I'm looking for is info on:
>>>> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
>>>> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
>>>> system
>>>> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>>>>
>>>> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
>>>> uninstall if I don't
>>>> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
>>>> shouldn't be doing this
>>>> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
>>>> unused registry keys.
>>>>
>>>> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
>>>> appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> James
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> Computer users who run 3rd party stuff which claims to make a computer run
> faster generally have more problems than those who don't, but they don't
> realize what the cause is until such time as they are talked into NOT
> using the cleaners
>
> --
>
> Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/

Thanks
James

"SIW2" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> JamesJ;1027989 Wrote:
>> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
>> about
>> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
>> performance.
>> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias
>> but are
>> simply
>> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>>
>> What I'm looking for is info on:
>> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
>> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
>> system
>> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>>
>> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
>> uninstall if I don't
>> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
>> shouldn't
>> be doing this
>> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
>> unused registry keys.
>>
>> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> James
>
> Hi James,
>
> You might consider using the free 'Revo Uninstaller Freeware -
> Uninstall Software, Remove Programs, Solve uninstall problems'
> (http://www.revouninstaller.com) if you try out and uninstall a lot of
> apps.
>
> In my experience it does a better job than most programs own
> uninstallers at clearing out the remnants.
>
> It runs perfectly on all my 64 bit systems, although it only recognizes
> and uninstalls 32 bit apps - that is pretty much all of them.
>
> Hope it helps
>
> SIW2
>
>
> --
> SIW2

ok.
Thanks

"Dave-UK" <> wrote in message
news: ...
>
> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
> news:...
>> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
>> about
>> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
>> performance.
>> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias but
>> are simply
>> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>>
>> What I'm looking for is info on:
>> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
>> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
>> system
>> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>>
>> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
>> uninstall if I don't
>> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
>> shouldn't be doing this
>> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
>> unused registry keys.
>>
>> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> James
>>
>
> If you install/uninstall lots of software I recommend you use a proper
> install
> monitoring program and not rely on a registry cleaner. Although some
> registry cleaners say they clean out remnants from an uninstalled
> program they cannot know about all the entries.
> With a monitoring program a snapshot is taken of your file system and
> registry
> before installation and another is taken after installation.
> The two snapshots are then compared and a log file written.
> I use Ashampoo Uninstaller but there are others you can try before buying.
>
>
>
>

"JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:...
> I've googled on the internet to find a non-bias informational website
> about
> whether one needs to use a windows registry cleaner to optimize system
> performance.
> But so far I have gotten nothing but some links that appear non-bias but
> are simply
> egging you onto the web site to use their product.
>
> What I'm looking for is info on:
> 1) Can the windows registry actually cause your system to slow down.
> 2) Could malware put lines in the registry that can cause harm to your
> system
> 3) Does defragging the registry help performance
>
> Personally, I download and try allot of shareware which I then need to
> uninstall if I don't
> want it which is probably 99% of the software I download. I know I
> shouldn't be doing this
> because I'm just asking for trouble. But this probably leaves allot of
> unused registry keys.
>
> If someone can point to a web site with this information it will be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> James

1) The Windows Registry is the ultimate filing cabinet for the Windows OS.
To quote Jerry Honeycutt in his eponymously named MSFT Press book "The
Windows Registry Guide" who also has a website

http://www.honeycutt.com/

and a blog

http://www.honeycutt.com/Blog/tabid/...1/Default.aspx

and has written articles for the maker of the Windows Registry, Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...honeycutt.mspx

"the registry plays a big role in how your comptuer behaves and controls how
applications run on your computer." Microsoft calls the registry "the
central repository for configuration data."

You betcha it can slow down or even stop your computer from running. But
people who know how to use it also tweak it to make it perform many tasks.
Kelly Theriot has masterfully put together 828 or so sets of registry edits
to make Windows do many things. She did it when XP was in bloom, but has
continued to add to it throughout the current Vista run, and the vast
majority of her tweaks work on Windows 7, which has a Windows XP Mode now.

Many of Kelly's tweaks put together multiple regedits to effect the tweak.

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Windows XP Mode aka XPM Windows 7
http://community.winsupersite.com/bl...windows-7.aspx

"XPM is built on the next generation Microsoft Virtual PC 7 product line,
which requires processor-based virtualization support (Intel and AMD) to be
present and enabled on the underlying PC, much like Hyper-V, Microsoft's
server-side virtualization platform." ---Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott

But back to the registry.

You stated you hadn't found a site where anyone comments on so-called reg
cleaners who is biased and "egging you on" to use their product.

Ed Bott has no bias. Ed Bott co-authors the MSFT Press Windows Inside Out
for XP, Vista, and Windows 7 and has 3 excellent websites.

Here is Mr. Bott on registry cleaners. Mr. Bott recommends not using them.
And again, I'd like to remind you--you don't know what the hell these
so-called cleaners are doing, and precisely where if at all in the registry
they are doing it.

Ed Bott's Windows Expertise: Why I Don't Use Registry Cleaners
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643

I would say there is one registry tweaker that I have used, and I have
confidence in and that one, but it makes automatic regedits, and it's made
by a serious registry expert from Australia:

PC Tools (formerly Winguides)
http://www.pctools.com/guides/

Many regedits are available here, from the Registry Guide.

Your questions were:

1) Can the registry slow down your computer? Absolutely and it's proper
editing can allow your Windows to do thousands of things it could not do at
default.
2) Can defragging impact the reg? Indirectly. I'd advise you to defrag
often, and defrag depending upon how often you use your Windows system. You
can set the native Windows defragger to run and reach it by typing "defrag"
in the search box.

You aren't directly defragging the registry when you run a defragger.

You can gain some insight here:
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/arc...r/default.aspx

There are also a number of excellent papers on the Diskeeper site:

https://www.diskeeper.com/support/manuals.aspx

My personal preference for Defragging is Perfect Disk:
www.raxco.com

It will not yet load in a Windows 7 box, but works great in Windows Vista.

Best,

CH