CCleaner was used on my recently rebuilt hard drive and disassociatd all file
extensions on my computer. No programs worked anymore because exe did not
work any more so another complete rebuild had to be done. I will not use it
again.

"D. Spencer Hines" wrote:

Nonsense...

CCleaner is safe as a Registry Cleaner....

And improves performance.

DSH

"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...

Why do you think you'd ever need to clean your registry? What specific
*problems* are you actually experiencing (not some program's bogus listing
of imaginary problems) that you think can be fixed by using a registry
cleaner?

If you do have a problem that is rooted in the registry, it would be
far better to simply edit (after backing up, of course) only the specific
key(s) and/or value(s) that are causing the problem. After all, why use a
chainsaw when a scalpel will do the job? Additionally, the manually
changing of one or two registry entries is far less likely to have the
dire consequences of allowing an automated product to make multiple
changes simultaneously. The only thing needed to safely clean your
registry is knowledge and Regedit.exe.

The registry contains all of the operating system's "knowledge" of the
computer's hardware devices, installed software, the location of the
device drivers, and the computer's configuration. A misstep in the
registry can have severe consequences. One should not even turning loose
a poorly understood automated "cleaner," unless he is fully confident that
he knows *exactly* what is going to happen as a result of each and every
change.

Having repeatedly seen the results of inexperienced people using
automated registry "cleaners," I can only advise all but the most
experienced computer technicians (and/or hobbyists) to avoid them all.
Experience has shown me that such tools simply are not safe in the hands
of the inexperienced user. If you lack the knowledge and experience to
maintain your registry by yourself, then you also lack the knowledge and
experience to safely configure and use any automated registry cleaner, no
matter how safe they claim to be.

More importantly, no one has ever demonstrated that the use of an
automated registry cleaner, particularly by an untrained, inexperienced
computer user, does any real good, whatsoever. There's certainly been no
empirical evidence offered to demonstrate that the use of such products to
"clean" WinXP's registry improves a computer's performance or stability.
Given the potential for harm, it's just not worth the risk.

Granted, most registry "cleaners" won't cause problems each and every
time they're used, but the potential for harm is always there. And, since
no registry "cleaner" has ever been demonstrated to do any good (think of
them like treating the flu with chicken soup - there's no real medicinal
value, but it sometimes provides a warming placebo effect), I always tell
people that the risks far out-weigh the non-existent benefits.

I will concede that a good registry *scanning* tool, in the hands of
an experienced and knowledgeable technician or hobbyist can be a useful
time-saving diagnostic tool, as long as it's not allowed to make any
changes automatically. But I really don't think that there are any
registry cleaners that are truly safe for the general public to use.
Experience has proven just the opposite: such tools simply are not safe in
the hands of the inexperienced user.