PC utilities: Poll: Registry cleaners --has it helped your PC's performance?
- 6/19/09 3:12 PM
Poll: Registry cleaners --has it helped your PC's performance?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 6/19/09 3:12 PM
If you use or have used a Registry cleaner, has it helped improve the performance of your computer?
Yes, a noticeable difference. (How so?)
Somewhat. (How so?)
No, I can't tell any difference. (Please explain.)
No, it actually made it perform worse. (How so?)
I don't use a Registry cleaner. (Any particular reason why?)
They work sometimes
by Snerticus - 6/19/09 6:17 PM In reply to: Poll: Registry cleaners --has it helped your PC's performance? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
While the registry cleaner and defrag software work sometimes, I've also noticed they delete some registry keys causing programs to stop working. Also, sometimes when I try to re-install the software, the installation process will fail because it needs certain registry keys to uninstall or re-install.
If you are unfamiliar with a Windows Registry, I would skip the registry cleaners.
It depends on the Registry Cleaner
by Zeppo - 6/19/09 8:53 PM In reply to: They work sometimes by SnerticusWe use the freeware program, Glary Utilities, on most of the computers in our house. I use the commercial program TuneUp Utilities 2009, on my personal computer, and have for 3 or 4 years now. Both of these programs do not fix anything that will mess up one's computer. CCleaner however, will. This program requires one with some knowledge of what can and cannot be removed to use. So, it really depends on which program one uses.
Many times I have been able to help friends solve computers problems just by using TuneUp Utilities. One friend could not believe how well her computer ran after correcting all the registry errors she had. These programs work and every computer user should have one on their computer. Just pick one that don't require a lot of technical knowledge.
Registry cleaners
by wheelnut53 - 6/19/09 9:16 PM In reply to: It depends on the Registry Cleaner by ZeppoYes it depends on the cleaner I trisd CCleaner and others and had problems now I use Glary and I get only good performance
Format is the best Registry Cleaner forever !
by hifly.liu - 6/19/09 6:24 PM In reply to: Poll: Registry cleaners --has it helped your PC's performance? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Format your first HDD and reinstall OS cost you 2hours max.
Registry cleaner may cost only 2 minutes, but will need you to run it many times. So I think "Format" is the best registry cleaner than any other third party software.
format cleaning??? what?
by shastanigh - 7/6/09 11:48 AM In reply to: Format is the best Registry Cleaner forever ! by hifly.liuif you reformat, don't you lose the data in your files and start with a new computer again losing everything????
are you really formating your computer to clean it? I don't understand
YES! Reformatting your harddrive will wipe out everything!
by GoodTimeCharlie - 7/6/09 5:36 PM In reply to: format cleaning??? what? by shastanighI keep seeing people recomend reformatting your hard drive & reloading everything ... pretty stupid if you ask me!
If you have a decent: firewall, anti-virus/ad/spyware, and conservitive clean-up toolset (ie: the free versions of ZoneAlarm/Vista Defender, Avast/AVG, Spybot S+D, AdAware, & CCleaner) and maintain them (ie: download their updates weekly) there should be NO reason to reformat your hard drive.
Of course, you must use caution as to which websites you visit and use cleaners, etc., conservatively ... ie: never ever delete (or let a toolset) delete registry settings, files in the windows directory, etc., unless you are very sure what is being deleted ... or you are asking for problems.
If you visit porn sites, click on/open every spam e-mail, use one user-id and/or password for all the sites you have to sign into, etc., then you are asking for trouble and may get infected anyway; but if that is the case you probably are falling for phishing attacks, etc., are have exposed your SSN, bank acount pin, etc., to identity theft anyway ... in which case problems with your pc should be the least of your concerns.
A once a month cleaning of temp files, etc., and an occasional defrag are all you generally should have to do other than letting the toolsets (firewall, anti-virus/ad/spy software) do their thing.
I can not recommend reformatting/rebuilding unless a disaster has already occured!!! I will strongly suggest creating back-ups of all your important files on a regular basis (just in case the hard drive fails which is probably the most likely major problem you will have if you have/use decent protective toolset).
cleaning computer
by shastanigh - 7/11/09 11:30 AM In reply to: YES! Reformatting your harddrive will wipe out everything! by GoodTimeCharlieI have installed cc cleaner but it asks to delete things for which I have no clue about...so I inevitably just say yes, and then when it asks to create a "registry file" for back up I say yes.........which I don't know if I should or not. About Spybot....etc...the only programs I am running at the moment are Zone Alarm and AVG both free versions. Someone said it's not good to defrag or clean all the time and I am also not sure how often I should run a virus scan, a cc cleaner scan or a registry scan....
I have automatic updates turned off on everything except avg and zone alarm...please feel free to give me all suggestions, thanks
Do not OK deletes unless you know what is being deleted!!!
by GoodTimeCharlie - 7/20/09 9:34 PM In reply to: cleaning computer by shastanighWhen running cleaners, etc., NEVER delete files or registry entries unless YOU know what is being deleted. Almost always you are better off leaving things alone rather than being too agressive and deleting things (you all to often cannot get back/reconstruct).
If you are unsure:
1. Try a 'google' (or CNet, Tech Net, etc) search of the unknown item to learn what it is.
2. If you still can't find out what it is, leave it as it is (do not delete it).
Again, when in doubt ... leave it alone!
As far as software updates/upgrades:
Keep your OS (Windows XP/Vista), your browser (IE/FireFox), your firewall and anti-virus software up-to-date. You are asking for problems if these 4 software products get out-of-date. I check for updates weekly, usually on Thursdays as Wednesdays are when Microsoft releases patches.
Note: I do not use the 'auto-update' features as I prefer to pick 'when' updates are downloaded/installed; however, for most users (ie: my in-laws) I recommed/set-up auto-updating of these 4 software products because otherwise they don't do it (or at least not often enough).
Regarding anti-spyware/adware and cleaners, etc.: These software products are not 'security' risks so they need not be updated as regularly (ie: weekly/monthly will generally do); however, it is a good idea to look for updates for them just before you run a 'scan' (and always look for updates to registry cleaners before using them). If you have anti-spy/adware software running in the background all the time (ie: Spybot Search & Destroys "Immunize", then you need to make sure to check for updates probably weekly.
Hope this helps.
Registry cleaners . . .
by brucerobinson31245 - 6/19/09 6:26 PM In reply to: Poll: Registry cleaners --has it helped your PC's performance? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
scare the bejeesus outta me. I probably need to clean up my 8 year-old registry; but I fear screwing the pooch.
reply to brooksrobison
by travis41 - 6/19/09 9:14 PM In reply to: Registry cleaners . . . by brucerobinson31245Get Glary free utility@download.com,use 1 click maintance,{check all boxes, on first use}after that,click Modules,check both boxes,{C&D}I'm sure u will luv the results.
I agree
by francisco1de9jess46 - 6/19/09 9:23 PM In reply to: reply to brooksrobison by travis41But I suggest not to use only Glary Utilities. Try CCleaner and Auslogics. It will clean what Glary did not or viceversa.
Registry Cleaners
by Bengal_Cat - 6/20/09 7:52 AM In reply to: Registry cleaners . . . by brucerobinson31245I have used RegCure, RegEdit, and Driver Update, all in the hopes of a faster computer. I find that these are too aggressive. My computer finally crashed and I had to re-install. Finally bought a new computer, but I needed one anyway. I now use System Mechanic 8
they have a total care program, that defrags the memory, hard,drive, reduces clutter, deletes junk files, and does it continually in the background every day. I got it on Christmas special $19.95, and add-a-year for $14.95. They have a Fathers Day promo on now. I got my refunds from RegCure, DriverPro, Driver Genius, and Reg Edit with no problem.
I will never use anything else - it looks for start up errors, and fixes the registry all seamlessly.
Registry cleaners do work!
by teller - 6/19/09 6:45 PM In reply to: Poll: Registry cleaners --has it helped your PC's performance? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Simply put, every time a pc follows an invalid (for several reasons) registry it loses time and a nano second processing time turns into much more when multiplied by one million, then two and finaly three million operations of that kind.
The strategy I advice is using two or more cleaners, letting the configuration detect only the "safe to delete" wrong registry items.
The same goes to the option "correct errors", if your program will allow it.
Do this and be happy!
Mine works perfectly
by Johann Bach - 6/19/09 7:26 PM In reply to: Poll: Registry cleaners --has it helped your PC's performance? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had not used a registry cleaner until recently. I was noticing that the performance of my PC was continually slowing down, so I purchased a product after it claimer that it could fix 1,755 errors. The results, after running this, were amazing ... a remarkable improvement in performance.
I think that these are useful devices. When we install various applications, commands are written to the registry, most of which remain there even after we have removed/uninstalled programs. In my line of work, I am required to download/install a good number of applications. Once my work with them is done, and I uninstall them, I'm glad to have a registry cleaner that I can rely upon to delete the now un-needed command lines.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
