Computer newbies forum: Microsoft has its own registry cleaner?...

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/System_Maintenance_and_Repair_Utilities/Microsoft_RegClean.html

It doesn't come with Windows XP, you have to download it yourself. It's from 1999, so officially it doesn't support XP, only 2000. But as it makes an undo-file it's safe to try. I used it once myself, and experienced no problems afterwards.


Kees

from this site. They are classifying it as a "red" zone.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/

This software is free and can help keep you away from problem sites.

(I am not affiliated with the McAfee company in any way other then that I use this product. I receive no compensation from them. This is not an ad nor is it spam. This is a suggestion)

I would also suggest that this site contact McAfee directly to have their status changed. I will avoid freedownloadscenter till they do.

Personal attacks, name calling, and such are against forum policy. Such posts will be removed..

Remember this is a "Help" forum, here to assist "newbies" in their computer concerns.. Let's keep it that way.

Hope this helps...

Grif

yeah nice,ill google all 3 of those,but i really hope i dont have to end up buying it when you go to "register the product"...

It sounds as if you're not fully familiar with the actual removal techniques of various registry cleaners.. First, they remove registry entries automatically.. If you don't know EXACTLY which registry entries are being removed, and since removing the wrong entry can cause lasting problems for the computer, are you sure you want to let ANY registry cleaner remove such entries until you have the knowledge to verify the removals are correct and safe?

We see quite a few threads on these forums where registry cleaners have caused problems for members. In my opinion, XP doesn't really benefit much for registry cleaning anyway, unless it's a malware related problem and if that's the case, individual entries need to be removed, not random entries from a registry cleaner.

As such, for most newbies, it's best do a lot of research and perform a lot of registry edits manually before running a registry cleaner that automatically eliminates hundreds of registry entries.

Your choice...

Hope this helps.

Grif

I posted too, I agree as far as deep reg cleaners.
BUT CCleaner and WindowsLive One Care are completely safe you won't mess anything up with those.

The answer is Very straight and simple.
Yes they do, but because it is Microsft does NOT mean it is good OR bad, they are always in the middle to Mid-High.
Just got to the Windows Live One Care and Scan it will check your registry fairly well. not a deep scan but you will mess it up if you deep scan/ reg cleaners. And not be able to start or fic it so it can start your computer.

Go get Ccleaner use that and WindowsLive One care you are good to go.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Did you see the warning at the top of this site page? If you missed it read it now.

(This program does not work like many registry repair programs that are available online. This is an "after program removal" registry cleaner. Meaning it only cleans up leftover data once a program has been removed. This is not how many online registry cleaners work. These programs remove registry content from "installed" programs. This is a big difference.)

Registry repair software appears to come in two forms, aggressive programs that remove to much data and mild registry repair software that avoids hardware and OS related entries in the registry.

The Windows registry, in large part, is a "store" of setting that are loaded during the boot process. As you change settings the registry changes. Programs usually can be simply reloaded if a registry program deletes important data from within them.

This is pretty much the problem .............. The registry also holds hardware and OS settings as well and in some cases algorithms that are used by the central processor to process data. If items in these areas of the registry are removed this can lead to serious PC problems. Leading up to and requiring an OS re-installation.

In some situations however, registries can become corrupted and registry repair software might repair this damage. In these emergencies registry repair software can be used in a final attempt, a last chance attempt to repair a damaged registry before reinstalling the OS becomes necessary. In short when you have nothing to loose registry repair might save a dieing OS.

I use registry repair software.

Please do not listen to these people who are pointing you to microsoft registry cleaner. There is no registry cleaner that is made by Microsoft and never has been. They have made utility cleaners for a specific task but have never made a full fledged registry cleaner. The one they are pointing you to is a malicious program and will damage your PC and I cannot believe anyone would recommend this piece of garbage. It may say microsoft, but it is not a piece of software from Microsoft. That is the reason McAfee Site Advisor & Web Of Trust (WOT) both flag this site as a malicious site. Go get Piriform CCleaner like a few people and myself have recommended and your search is over. It is safe for any newbie. Stay away from these other malicious programs such as the one that was recommended.

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/products/computer/safetyscanner.mspx

note the domain: MICROSOFT.COM

clay58 is at least misinformed, if not spamming for Piriform

Very good clay58. I didn't mean to offend, just wanted accurate info out there. I'm glad you've had such good results with Piriform. And don't misunderstand, I'm not vouching for Microsoft's product, just that they have one.

Just because it's Microsoft doesn't mean it's safe or identified the correct reg keys.. Although I'm not a fan of the Live OneCare scan and as such, haven't used it recently, but when I first used the tool, there was NO BACKUP utility/option to backup those registry keys that were identified for removal.. When the keys were gone, they were gone and if a mistake was made, ooopps... Yes, a system restore point is created prior to removing the items BUT ONLY IF SR is enabled on the computer and even then, a restore point is only kept as long as the allotted space and elapsed time allows.. Since registry boondoggles are frequently not noticed for days or weeks, the restore point may be gone.

I still maintain, the use of registry cleaners of any type, for general maintenance isn't a wise idea for newbies simply because we've seen enough damage on these forums to recommend avoiding such uses..PLUS their use generally shows little, to no improvement in speed or performance. Once the user has sufficient knowledge to KNOW what's being identified and removed, then that's a different story..

It's your choice so use at your own risk.

Hope this helps.

Grif

May be that's why Microsoft has not offered any such utility. They know how important the registry is and how difficult it is to scan the registry and the system to find every single entry that is no longer needed by anything installed on the system.

Mark

For computer newbies, yes, CCleaner is the safest option. That said, ALL registry cleaners ...even CCleaner... must be used with extreme care and caution because if just ONE wrong file is deleted from the registry this will irrevocably ruin the system it belongs to. Therefore, it is best for computer newbies to leave the registry alone until they learn more. That is why CCleaner is the best program for a computer newbie to use.