Author Topic: What's the best registry cleaner? Ask Leo says: none (Read 92860 times)

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #75 on:** September 15, 2009, 03:38 AM »

If you religiously monitor each installation with tools like Ashampoo Uninstaller or Total Uninstaller, you can easily wipe out everything that gets installed, including registry entries. I use Ashampoo and try to monitor each new installation.
-edbro (July 07, 2009, 08:06 AM)

Not a panacea in my experience - often applications build dependencies based upon the order in which things were installed (which is why sometime trying to uninstall an MS hotfix will wran you that it could break a specific list of applications that were installed after the Hotfix). The trouble with AU and TU is that they are blunt tools - they both remove everything that changed during the installation of the program irrespective of whether later applications rely on some of those components. In an ideal world the installation process and uninstallation process should keep track and avoid these problems but with the plethora of installer developers that are used this is very unlikely to happen in Windows. As far as I can see it would simply things enormously if the installation/unintsalltion/component registration and tracking were all standardised by MS so that proper monitoring of dependencies could be performed. The trouble is too many people would scream anti-trust these days but I would argue that managing installation and uninstallation of software should be a core function of an operating system - not the developer.

I think what we need is an automated gizmo to clone a mini-OS from the system partition, to a blank partition in like 10 minutes.
-MilesAhead (July 11, 2009, 04:45 PM)

You can sort of do that - just use standard Partition Management software to clone a partition to spare disk space and then edit Boot.ini in XP or use BCDEdit in Vista/7 to create a new boot time entry which will make a bootable partition from it. Reboot your system and you can start up the second partition (your Windows may not be activated though - you'fd have to try it and see - I'd guess it might remain activated on the same drive but may not be on another physical drive, especially if it is a different manufacturer or drive type, eg PATA vs SATA).

An alternative is to use VMWare which can build a virtual machine based on a physical installation. You just tell it which partition to clone to build the VM. I'm not too sure what happens if you clone the currently running partiton though

. I have to confess I haven't tried this and didn't really know about it until recently when I rebuilt a VM from VMWare version 4 to gain access to some features only available in 6.5 (multiple monitor support).

f0dder · « **Reply #76 on:** September 15, 2009, 03:42 AM »

An alternative is to use VMWare which can build a virtual machine based on a physical installation.
-Carol Haynes (September 15, 2009, 03:38 AM)

It's a damn shame it's so hard (aka almost impossible) to go the other way, though - would be an extremely useful feature.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #77 on:** September 15, 2009, 03:45 AM »

How about Universal restore in Acronis True Image ? You should be able to restore a VM to physical hardware using that. Just use TI (with UR) in the VM and write the image to DVD or a spare partition and then use the recovery media to restore it to a physical drive.

registercleaner · « **Reply #78 on:** November 17, 2009, 07:53 AM »

I think the best register cleaner is registry easy. They are very user friendly.

registercleaner · « **Reply #79 on:** November 17, 2009, 07:54 AM »

Is PowetTools 2006 a good program? I never used it before.

Curt · « **Reply #80 on:** December 30, 2009, 05:52 AM »

Curiosity killed the blacksmith's cat, and registry cleaners killed both my Win 2000 and my XP! Or maybe I should be fair and admit that I me myself did it using reg' cleaners. And now I have been given a full life time license for Glary Utilities Pro. Hmm... I am not sure that I dare to even install it. What do 'you' think of Glary Utilities Pro, please?

cmpm · « **Reply #81 on:** December 30, 2009, 03:24 PM »

Glary has a decent startup manager and junk file cleaner.
It will do a backup for any function to undo changes.
Don't let it autostart, it will want to.

J-Mac · « **Reply #82 on:** December 30, 2009, 10:44 PM »

@registercleaner:

jv16 Powertools is a very good all-around file maintenance utility. I use the 2009 version; I believe that the 2006 version was the last free one - I used it back when it was free and have continued to use it since it went commercial. The developer spent a good number of years developing Powertools and providing a fair amount of support and I felt it was only fair to compensate him when he decided to make it his full-time job.

jv16 Powertools 2006 was mature by then and a very good utility. The only thing I don't know is up to what version of Windows it supports. I don't think I would even attempt to try it on Vista or Windows 7. jv16 Powertools is IMO one of the safest such tools available; its default settings have it make a full, restorable backup of your registry each time you run the registry cleaner. Also it does not automatically delete any registry keys unless you very specifically configure it to do so, and the settings dialog shows a strong warning NOT to set it that way. I cannot remember offhand whether or not Powertools creates a restore point each time; however I always create a restore point manually prior to performing any kind of registry cleaning or editing.

Now let me say that I don't believe that Windows needs to have the registry cleaned up on a regular basis, or even just because you think it might need one for the heck of it. I only use it when I install a program that for some reason turned out to be not compatible with my particular system and writes/changes a lot of registry settings. Many - most - programs do not remove or restore registry keys when they are uninstalled, and very occasionally that can cause some problems. If they are big problems I usually try to clean up after the program myself using the registry cleaner. If that doesn't help and there are no other widely suggested repairs, then I just reinstall the operating system. Of course I keep very extensive and frequent backups of all my data files and program settings.

Hope this helps!

Jim

f0dder · « **Reply #83 on:** December 31, 2009, 05:59 AM »

Now let me say that I don't believe that Windows needs to have the registry cleaned up on a regular basis, or even just because you think it might need one for the heck of it.
-J-Mac (December 30, 2009, 10:44 PM)

mrainey · « **Reply #84 on:** December 31, 2009, 09:44 AM »

I use JV16 quite a bit for much the same reason J-Mac described. It also has some nice functions related to file and disk management. I don't worry too much about trashing the registry because:

I've found it's very unlikely that JV16 will cause any damage if the "Fix" option is selected instead of the "Delete" option.

JV16 will optionally backup all changes it makes.

I use ERUNT to back up the registry every day, first thing in the morning. Takes thirty seconds.

I create a backup image weekly using BootIt NG. Takes twenty minutes.

No worries.

J-Mac · « **Reply #85 on:** December 31, 2009, 01:48 PM »

I use JV16 quite a bit for much the same reason J-Mac described. It also has some nice functions related to file and disk management. I don't worry too much about trashing the registry because:

I've found it's very unlikely that JV16 will cause any damage if the "Fix" option is selected instead of the "Delete" option.

JV16 will optionally backup all changes it makes.
-mrainey (December 31, 2009, 09:44 AM)

And the backup is on by default - you would have to go into settings and turn it off manually. And believe it or not I have seen forum posts by users who have done exactly that and then did an "Oops"! Hard to believe... What did they think they were saving?

I use ERUNT to back up the registry every day, first thing in the morning. Takes thirty seconds.
-mrainey (December 31, 2009, 09:44 AM)

I have always used ERUNT also - Department of Redundancy Department!! - but I haven't yet checked to see if it is compatible with Windows 7. Do you know, mrainey?

I create a backup image weekly using BootIt NG. Takes twenty minutes.
-mrainey (December 31, 2009, 09:44 AM)

I do the same but with Acronis 2009.

Thanks!

Jim

mrainey · « **Reply #86 on:** December 31, 2009, 03:18 PM »

I have always used ERUNT also - Department of Redundancy Department!! - but I haven't yet checked to see if it is compatible with Windows 7. Do you know, mrainey?

Per the developer:

"ERUNT and NTREGOPT in their current versions 1.1j are still compatible with Windows 7, but as in Vista, they will only work correctly if you turn off User Account Control in Windows' Control Panel (move the slider to the lowest position).

Also, a problem has been discovered which on many systems causes ERDNT and NTREGOPT to display a "RegSaveKey: 3" error when optimizing / restoring the BCD00000000 hive. The cause is that after a clean install of Windows 7, the BCD part of the registry which contains Windows' boot configuration data resides on a hidden system partition with no drive letter assigned in Explorer. You can simply ignore this error and continue, or as a workaround, open Disk Managemant in Control Panel and right-click on the partition displayed as "System Reserved" to assign a drive letter.

Future versions of ERUNT and NTREGOPT will of course have these issues fixed. Keep an eye on my homepage for updates."

http://www.larsheder...ine.de/erunt/faq.htm

f0dder · « **Reply #87 on:** December 31, 2009, 03:29 PM »

Turn off UAC? How lame :-s

Won't work if you run them with admin privs?

Bamse · « **Reply #88 on:** January 16, 2010, 12:37 AM »

Must suck to be a spammer and then not be able to insert a link properly.

TucknDar · « **Reply #89 on:** January 16, 2010, 12:52 AM »

Must suck to be a spammer and then not be able to insert a link properly.
-Bamse (January 16, 2010, 12:37 AM)

PhilB66 · « **Reply #90 on:** January 16, 2010, 01:30 AM »

Eric P. Martinez is a registry cleaner expert.

Wuz · « **Reply #91 on:** January 31, 2010, 08:58 AM »

Just wanted to add to the discussion regarding registry cleaners. If your someone who is technically proficient then you won't need to use them in most cases.
You will manually resolve any issues or just redo the machine. But nowadays you have a massive amount of users who have not idea about the technical side of
issues. You would definitely not want them messing around with the registry. Also for them to redo the machine could be something they could not do.
I think registry cleaners today can help resolve issues regarding errors & performance.
Most of them will back up the registry before they make any changes and include registry and disk defrag features and memory optimising
software as well.
its definitely something that can save a lot of time.

Darwin · « **Reply #92 on:** January 31, 2010, 09:40 AM »

Wuz, respectfully, I disagree. Registry Cleaners cause more problems than they are worth, in my experience. For this reason, the vast majority of computer users today that you identify as being computer illiterate are the last group of people that should go anywhere near a registry cleaner.

cmpm · « **Reply #93 on:** January 31, 2010, 10:19 AM »

There is a massive amount of registry cleaner software that will destroy a computer.

There are very few that would actually remove what it should and leave the rest alone.
No more then 3 regcleaners I would even consider using, if at all.

I don't run them anymore, but I used to.
And would argue for some for their usefulness.
Cleaning the temp files would be, and is better anyway.

http://www.geekstogo...ldTimer-file187.html

http://www.geekstogo...-Cleaner-file21.html

And run SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes occasionally.

http://www.filehippo...ad_superantispyware/

http://www.filehippo...ebytes_anti_malware/

Other then that consult a pro with any problems.
Plenty of sites to help you for free with slow computers or other problems.

Bamse · « **Reply #94 on:** January 31, 2010, 10:21 AM »

Damn, Wuz also has a problem with links! Here is what he and his site recommends http://www.mywot.com...ard/registryeasy.com

Never ends...

Darwin · « **Reply #95 on:** January 31, 2010, 10:27 AM »

Just to add, I agree with cmpm. Technically savvy individuals may benefit from using a registry cleaner, but only if they have the time, patience, and knowledge to wade through all of the "fixes" that a registry cleaner recommends. For myself, the kind of problems that I want to solve that involve the regisry can be solved by editing the registry myself or by using an application like Nirsoft's ShellEx or ShellMenu View. Under Vista and Windows 7 (and problably XP, for that matter, but I no longer remember), I've yet to see a problem that I can trace to registry BEYOND shell menu entries getting left behind after uninstalling an application (and hence the Nirsoft software's utility to me). Beyond that, the registry "just works".

YMMV

Heh, heh - nice catch, Bamse. I took the troll's bait!

Darwin · « **Reply #96 on:** January 31, 2010, 10:59 AM »

If you religiously monitor each installation with tools like Ashampoo Uninstaller or Total Uninstaller, you can easily wipe out everything that gets installed, including registry entries. I use Ashampoo and try to monitor each new installation.
-edbro (July 07, 2009, 08:06 AM)

Not a panacea in my experience - often applications build dependencies based upon the order in which things were installed (which is why sometime trying to uninstall an MS hotfix will wran you that it could break a specific list of applications that were installed after the Hotfix). The trouble with AU and TU is that they are blunt tools...
-Carol Haynes (September 15, 2009, 03:38 AM)

I'm about five months late responding to this, but what the heck: I actually use Ashampoo Uninstaller to monitor the installation of software which I'm not sure that I am going to keep. I uninstall applications using Windows built-in removal feature or by going to the program's folder and directly running its "uninstall.exe" file. Usually, this is all I need to do. If I have subsequent problems - recalcitrant shell menu entries, for example - I can then view the Ashampoo Uninstaller file. This will list all of the changes made to the registry, and serves to guide me to entries specific to that application. This makes it easy to identify keys associated with whatever problem I am trying to sovle, almost invariably either orphaned context/shell menu entries or file extension assignments, so that I don't have search through my entire registry. Beyond this, I tend to ignore orphaned registry entries. I don't much care if there are keys left behind if they don't impair the operation of Windows or other software that is still on the computer.

I totally agree with Carol, though: I no longer use Ashampoo Uninstaller to uninstall anything, for all of the reasons Carol detailed. I did want to point out the utility of being able to track changes that a software installation makes to your system, though. Ashampoo Uinstaller allows me to target specific changes and make corrections. I don't, however, advocate using it as intended, which can lead to serious problems. Of course, there are free alternatives out there, I *think*, that provide similar functionality.

EDITED for clarity... (success?!).

Tuxman · « **Reply #97 on:** January 31, 2010, 11:18 AM »

The best way to clean the registry is to avoid polluting it.

Darwin · « **Reply #98 on:** January 31, 2010, 11:26 AM »

The best way to clean the registry is to avoid polluting it.
-Tuxman (January 31, 2010, 11:18 AM)

Well, yes, obviously. But this is a bit like saying that the best way to avoid getting hit by a car is never to leave the house! I would modify your advice and say that the best way to clean the registry is to be careful about what you install on your system.

Tuxman · « **Reply #99 on:** January 31, 2010, 11:30 AM »

You can perfectly go through the city without being hit by a car. Leaving the house doesn't imply death.