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Topic: Good Free Registry Cleaner ? |
John P. Phillips
From:
Folkston, Ga. U.S.A., R.I.P.
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 6:46 pm |
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Wiz,
I'm having trouble with my freeware reg. cleaner.
It goes so far then locks up.
It was listed from Jouni Vuorio.
Can you recommend a good free
registry cleaner that I can use ?
Thanks loads. 
_________________
Just remember,
You don�t stop playing cause you get older,
You get older cause you stop playing ! http://www.myspace.com/johnpphillips |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 9:51 pm
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I generally recommend against using a registry cleaner, unless you know what you are doing. They tend to cause more problems that are solved. Removing supposedly (but not) orphaned entries can break the programs that may need them.
The only Registry Cleaner I have and use occasionally, is part of the CCleaner program. I always review all of the items it finds before deleting anything, plus I always have it make a backup of the registry before making any changes.
Always backup the entire registry to a file before running any registry cleaner. You'll be happy you did more often than not.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 23 Oct 2008 2:00 am
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I "like" registry cleaners. It's provided extra $$ by having to fix clients PC's.  |
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John P. Phillips
From:
Folkston, Ga. U.S.A., R.I.P.
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 8:24 am
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O.K. Wiz & Jack.
You boys have convinced me.
I'm uninstalling the reg. cleaner.
I sure can't afford to pay a tech anytime soon
due to all the medical stuff going on.
I was thinking that the registry might be a key
to my problem getting
into my steel chatroom.
I guess I'll cripple along til I can get something done.
At least I can still get on the forum.
Thanks for all the advice guys.
_________________
Just remember,
You don�t stop playing cause you get older,
You get older cause you stop playing ! http://www.myspace.com/johnpphillips |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 25 Oct 2008 4:52 pm
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It's your computer, so obviously, do whatever you think is appropriate.
I happen to be a FIRM advocate of one particular registry cleaner, and, granted, maybe "I know what I'm doing", but this particular reg cleaner, which includes numerous other valuable system utilities, has user-selectable options which allow you to use it at whatever level of aggressiveness you're comfortable with.
The software of which I speak is jv16 Power Tools 2008. It's not "free". Speaking in general terms, it's not realistic to expect to get *ANY* quality software "free" - programmers have to eat too. So let's just get that out on the table.
But I've used jv16 Power Tools for years, it's never let me down, never broken my computer, and everything you do with it allows a backup that permits you to "undo" anything you do that creates a problem, although I've never had to "undo" anything I've done - EVER.
I think jv16 Power Tools does offer a trial version so you can evaluate it for "free". If you decide you wish to purchase it, it's not all that expensive.
Download the trial executable, run it, and you'll probably discover a hundred or more registry issues you can elect to "fix", "delete", or ignore, at your discretion.
At that point, you can make your decision whether or not to purchase the product. I have no financial interest in it, I just use it. And I'm convinced it works. If you've been using the same PC for a while, you will have many registry references to old uninstalled programs which, over time, can slow down your system as it tries to run commands that lead to non-existent files.
Be careful of the "free" stuff. You get what you pay for. |
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John Cipriano
From:
San Francisco
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Posted 27 Oct 2008 12:41 am
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That does look like a nice program Dave.
The thing about the registry cleaners is not that they're really risky. It's just that for the small chance of deleting a registry entry you need (which is mitigated by having a backup, and even if you didn't, the result isn't going to be catastrophic), they don't do anything of value, really.
Programs on Unix, Linux & Mac store their settings in config files. On Windows, programs have the option of using the registry, which is like a collection of config files. But rather than being human-readable, the registry is in a packed binary format that you need regedit or something similar to read. Having a config file on your machine for a program you uninstalled isn't going to actually do anything (and most people's machines are littered with .ini files from old installs), and the hard drive space being used is minimal. This is doubly true for a registry key. They're incredibly tiny, and having a key that won't ever get read again isn't going to negatively impact anything, other than to take up hard drive space (which again is virtually none).
On the other hand, if you know enough to read the entries and know what they are, and you take appropriate precautions, running a reg cleaner is not a horrible thing and lots of people do it. But it's not something you *have* to do, or that you would even notice the results of. In contrast, I think most people would notice the result of a monthly defrag, assuming the average desktop hard drive setup.
For people with slow hard drives, something like PageDefrag is actually more useful than trying to prune inactive reg entries. (Dave, this is probably what jv16 does for "Registry Compactor". On a personal note: I've never bought a registry cleaner but I do buy plenty of software and I know the joy of having nice programs you don't have to fight with  ) |
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Ken Lang
From:
Simi Valley, Ca
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Posted 27 Oct 2008 6:51 pm
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I use a program called Uniblue Registry Booster 2.
It is not free either, but it works.
I had a problem with my computer slowing to a crawl. It was so slow I could not run McAffe scan. I ran the registry booster. It usually takes 1-2 hours. It took from 7 PM until 8 AM the next morning. It got rid of whatever the problem was and the computer now works fine. |
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Lowell Whitney
From:
Waynoka, Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 20 Nov 2008 6:30 pm
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Eusing registry cleaner (eusing.com) is a free download program. The free program has to be run manually but is very simple. I use the free program which only takes a few minutes to run, and has an automatic registry back-up feature. There is a pro program for about $30 bucks.
Lowell
_________________
Carter SD10
70's Telecaster
Nashville 400/Express 112/Artist VT Bandit |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 24 Nov 2008 4:53 pm
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| John Cipriano wrote: |
| That does look like a nice program Dave. The thing about the registry cleaners is ... that ....they don't do anything of value, really.. |
The value I perceive is in knowing that Windows isn't constantly trying to read and understand a lot of registry entries that are obsolete and serve no purpose. I think that makes the entire system more efficient. |
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Robert C. McKee
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 30 Nov 2008 2:29 pm
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| ccleaner.com free good |
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