Community Newsletter: Q&A: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help?
- 2/22/08 12:08 PM
Misery likes company
by trackerbill - 2/9/08 1:53 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My computer has been running quite slow for some time now. I have bought AVG 7.5, which did “catch” a virus and supposedly remove it. But it does not clear out many of the cookies. However Ad-Ware SE ( free ) will always catch 30 or 40 more. Now as for the registry , I bought Advanced Registry Optimizer 5.1 by SAMMsoft. When the trial indicated I has over 500 registry errors.”. After buying and running the program, in which it stated “Fixed errors , Compacts Optimize “ I could not notice any improvement. Oh another point. The last step in running AVG 7.5 is the “scanning of registry.” I’ve been using AVG 7.5 for over a year, but it never once indicated my registry was in trouble. So you see I am no help at all, but I just like you to know “misery likes company “.
My Opinion
by iogt007 - 2/9/08 2:02 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Registry cleaners are for the informed web developer and savy IT professional, not for consumers. As a consumer you can acomplish your goal safely with the tools windows has to offer. I have known many who have used registry cleaners only to find that they have removed necessary files and ended up having to reformat their disk. The first thing you should do is go to internet options and delete your internet cashe and history. This will clean up a lot of disk space and improve your system performance. The next thing to do is run CHKDSK and then defrag. click START,RUN, and type in CHKDSK. After completion, go to START,all programs,system tools, Disk Defragmenter.
You can place the Disk Defragmenter in your start-up menu by right clicking on the Disk Defragmenter, and click on Pin to Start Menu. This method will bring your permormance back to what it used to be safely and for free.
Reload - it's cruel, but it keeps you in control.
by TreknologyNet - 2/9/08 2:21 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I put Registry "Cleaners" in the same rubbish skip as domestic tape "backup" drives--I have yet to encounter one that works.
Do your fresh instal of XP into a 20GB partition, and create your own "program files" and data directories on the balance of the hard disc.
That way when things get clogged up in the future, you only have to reinstall to the C:\ partition, and all your data remains intact. Of course, you will still have to reinstall all your other software (purely because it has recreate its entries in the registry), but anything you have saved outside of the c:\ partition will still be intact.
After a completely fresh install, it is also a good idea to make a manual backup of the registry. Providing you haven't knowingly installed other software you can always use the shiny clean new one as a Master Restore Point.
Glary Untilities
by mediawork - 2/9/08 2:21 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Excellent freeware, easy to use, cleans gunk out of the PC, also allows usage track erasing.
Yes, Glary Utilities is also a good program
by Pcfreakske2000 - 2/9/08 2:57 PM In reply to: Glary Untilities by mediaworkYes, Glary Utilities is also a great program to keep your system in a top condition.
I use Glary Utilities ( http://www.glarysoft.com/gu.html as well.
A few words from a complete amateur
by JoMilton - 2/9/08 2:30 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My BIL always shakes his head disapprovingly when I mention cleaning my registry and says I should leave it alone since I don't understand what I'm doing.
I did once download a recommended free registry cleaner program after reading reassuring comments from others. It claimed to find and fix hundreds of registry errors - looked as if I really needed that clean up. However after a couple of weeks I discovered that my favourite windows font Futura, was missing from Word. Odd. On impulse I reversed the registry repairs. Back came my Futura. I cleaned the registry again. Away went Futura. So I uninstalled that registry cleaner, but nowadays I cannot update my Direct X because a cabinet file has mysteriously gone missing. And it used to be there.
I use CCleaner, a program that has a registry cleaning facility. I've never noticed any problems resulting from it. And about every two months I run a free on line registry scan from Windows One Care that always finds some items needing attention.
Both the uninstalled registry cleaner and CCleaner have an undo facility so if the deleted items cause your pc to go wrong you can roll back to the original settings. So clearly there is some risk involved or why would they have this facility.
But as I say - my BIL, who works in IT is not at all keen on me, a filing clerk, messing with my registry. I've seen help forums actually recommend backing up your entire registry before tinkering. It's clearly that serious an issue.
Registry cleaners are not the complete cure
by mjd420nova - 2/9/08 2:33 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Registry cleaners can help a lot in speeding up some machines but are not the complete cure. Defragmentation can go a long way in helping speed program loading and execution. Along with Adware scans, spybot scans and virus checkers, diskcleanup and defragmentation must be part of a complete routine completed on a regular schedule. Especially after doing a Windows update, defrag helps to put all the parts together in the beginning sectors of the drive for seamless loading without having to search all over the drive for update pieces and updated drivers must be included too. Registry cleaners abound and most will help but care must be taken as one single keystroke can send any machine off to never-neverland.There are no hard and fast rules for all machines as each is unique with different drivers and combinations of programs to support your hardware. Sometimes all that is needed is a little tweaking in loading order. It can become very complex and again there are no hard and fast rules to apply to all systems. Keeping your machine backed up will help to aleveiate any apprehension you may have about making these adjustments to see whar helps.
Cleaning the registry
by JohnMinn - 2/9/08 3:07 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Any registry cleaner worth having will ask you before you “have at” the registry: “Have you backed up the registry recently”. If it doesn’t ask a similar question or insist that you do a backup first, don’t use that registry editor.
I have never found a registry editor which will “scrub the daylights” out of the registry. If some tech knows of one, let me know. I have the “major brands”.
Might I suggest that you read my reply on “Moving a partition” (near the end posted 10 minutes ago - post # 121. I was down with the flu and just got “back on my feet’ today, so my reply was a bit late).
I’ll give you a brief summary: There is a lot of trash on your computer you need to get rid of and you can’t even view it much less use MS’s format routine to get rid of it.
That HD is 5 years old. Thought about replacing it? I surely would unless that computer is just a web browser. I don’t allow my critical computer to even go on line for any reason and I use this one for that purpose and therefore that “curious” question about it being a web browser.
jv16 Power Tools... Great registry cleaner.. and much more!
by DCar - 2/9/08 3:12 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've been easily cleaning my Window Rigistry for years with a great suite of tools called jv16 Power Tools by Macecraft Software. I really can't say enough good about this application which about really 21 applications in a single package... registry cleaning being only one thing it does well. Before it cleans your registry it asks you if you want to make a backup..something that always should be done before registry tinkering is done. You can chose two modes of cleaning: Normal and Aggressive. I usually only use the normal mode since it seems to do the job I need to keep my machine reasonable clean of disconnected registry entries. You can also choose what registry items you want scanned and then, afte the scan, decide on which items you would like the registry tool try to "fix". It will try to reconnect the registry items if possible.. and remove them if they are truely useless. The tool is quite versatile giving you many items and very safe. I've never ran into problems cleaning my PC with this tool.
Like I said, jv16 Powertools is a suite of very powerful tools such as a startup manager, software manager, registry manager and finder, registry monitor and a compactor. It also is a file finder, file cleaner and organiser, as well as having directory tools, Disk wiper and One Click Cleaner to help you clean all sorts of files such as your temp folder..ect. It is difficult to tell you here the total scope of this application.. but, again, I've used it for years and can't say enough about it. It also has a generous liscense deal where as you can install the tools on up to 5 of your own personal PCs and you get upgrades for life once you purchase the product. I've upgraded this application for several years now.. and it just gets better.
Good luck.. and I hope you find out that the job of cleaning your registry is really not so daunting if you have the right tools.
Dan
registry cleaner
by fignut - 2/9/08 3:39 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
tom ,Hope this helps, running XP pro, AMD ATHLON x2, 1.5 GB DDR ram, 128MB RADEON Video card, I had huge problems with crashing and the blue screen. As well as this I also suffered as you do with a snail speed comp., P C Tools Registry Cleaner 6, while not solving all my problems at least cured a large majority of them and persistance with my drivers finally --I hope-- has cured the last one. 2 weeks and not one crash, hope the comp. gremlins aren't listening.
XP clean install
by Elaiva47 - 2/9/08 3:53 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Tom:
What is happening to your system is a natural process called OS decay/corrupcion. All those utilities we all use only slow the process down, that's all. The same thing happened to my Dell Dimension XPSt, I bought on 6/2000. That is the nature of the beast (Windows). I learned and started doing clean installs on my systems oncde or twice a year. You will allways endup with a PC like when it was new!!. Next time around you wll decide what software is installed, not all that useless software it comes with. I learned also to create partitions, how many, how big, etc.
I actually learned lots here at Cnet about partitioning.
I leave you with one advice; backup, backup and backup.
Good Luck:
elaiva
registry cleaners or snake oil?
by Comray - 2/9/08 4:14 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My advice it “Do not use registry cleaners” They are SNAKE OIL..But if you feel you must do a backup of the entire registry first. Also backup all important information first too. I have had many computers brought to me after the owner ran a registry cleaner and the computer didn’t boot or didn’t boot well enough to even be able to restore the registry.
All computers have errors in the registry- most bother nothing. If you a have major problem in the registry that does cause a problem it will more than likely be a obvious one that causes some sort of a message window telling you about it.
I think your problem with a slow computer is simply caused by the fact that it is 5 years old and it is time to do a new install of the operating system. But if you are going to go through this I would recommend that you put in a new hard drive at the same time and keep your old drive for backup. Your problem may well be that after 5 years the hard drive is just getting tired and slow. If you brought your computer to me to check out and we found nothing wrong what I would first recommend is that we image your current drive over to a new one and see how much difference just doing that makes. I can pretty well tell during the imaging process if a new drive is going to help simply by the amount of time it takes to complete the process. I often get drives that take 1 ½ hour to image from the old one to the new. That same amount of information imaged from a good drive to a good drive can be done in 40 minutes. Hard drive test may well show the drive to be satisfactory. Any time you do not find a reason for a slow computer – suspect the hard drive itself.
slow xp sp-2 get regestry fix or optimizer
by fisherperson - 2/9/08 4:39 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Your regestry must be in order, ie application paths, invalid shortcuts, etc. must be resolved. Then after you have everything in order. clean the cache - then go to windows hard drive defrag( hit analize ) to see if the hard drive needs to be defraged... it will prompt you yes or no. this sure helped me im running so fast i cant keep up with the computer. I upgraded to the new sp-3(beta) for xp
slow down due to a bloated registry
by shadzovgrae - 2/9/08 7:02 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
i have been using xp on an old machine for a long time and have found that if you take care of your start up options in msconfig.exe
you will make windows start faster, but as for a system slowdown i would take a peak at what services that are running. things like indexing service, system restore etc can be quite safely turned off and going to the control panel/system/advanced/performance to turn off most of the available options might help. if you have to use a reg cleaner the only one that has ever worked 100% for me over the years and is pretty cheap is 'regcure'. you might also try one of the free reg compression programs available as a final stage of cleaning up of what sounds to be a bloated registry. the worst result i have ever had when using a reg cleaner is maybe having to reinstal a program or two, but even then that was using a very early cleaning program.
system slowdown
by shadzovgrae - 2/9/08 7:26 PM In reply to: Slow computer: Will a registry cleaner help? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
look in the prefetch folder - C:\windows\prefetch. i would imagine that after five years of use, without running a format your prefetch folder will be pretty full. everything in there can safely be deleted. i do this on a weekly basis as part of my os upkeep.
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