Registry cleanup tools?

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

Gordon wrote:
I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

Short answer: don't use registry cleaners. For more details, see this
thread on AumHa.net about the subject:

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Don't do it, if you clean your registry, then you may really have problems.

JS

"Gordon" wrote in message
...
I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

Why do you say 'needs to be cleaned from time to time'?
"Gordon" wrote in message
...
I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

Gordon wrote:

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

You may only become (acutely) aware of problems AFTER you use a
registry cleanup tool...

John

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:33:49 -0600, Gordon
Eingereicht:

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

Okay, I'm convinced! I had my mindset dating back to Win 98 and
those earlier versions which did need to have the registry
cleaned up from time to time. I'll leave this one alone and quit
worrying about it. I'll admit, I am aware of no problems that
lead me to think the registry may be in need of a hosing down,
but just thought it was standard practice.

Gordon

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:33:49 -0600, Gordon
Eingereicht:

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

I do have one more question, if I may. I like to keep the tool
bar hidden at the bottom of the screen, but I would like it to
remain hidden unless I specifically call for it. Is there any way
to set this such that the tool bar will pop up only if I move the
mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen, then click one of the
mouse buttons?

Thanks, Gordon

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:33:49 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up.


Good. Consider yourself lucky.


I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.


Glad to hear that.


I am sure the registry is full of left-overs


Probably, but they hardly ever represent any kind of a problem.


and needs to be
cleaned from time to time


Absolutely not!


but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?


They all entail risk, and the level of risk is unacceptably high. All
registry cleaners are scams at best. At worst, they can completely
hose your system.

I strongly suggest you avoid using any registry cleaning program. They
are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of the registry isn't needed and is
dangerous. Leave the registry alone and don't use any registry
cleaner. Despite what many people think, and what vendors of registry
cleaning software try to convince you of, having unused registry
entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:01:46 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:33:49 -0600, Gordon
Eingereicht:

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

Okay, I'm convinced! I had my mindset dating back to Win 98 and
those earlier versions which did need to have the registry
cleaned up from time to time.


Nope. It was the same back then. Registry cleaners have always been
unneeded and dangerous.



I'll leave this one alone and quit
worrying about it. I'll admit, I am aware of no problems that
lead me to think the registry may be in need of a hosing down,
but just thought it was standard practice.

Gordon

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Gordon wrote:
I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon


A registry cleaner - even a safe one, should such ever be developed
- is an exercise in, at best, futility. There is no real need for
registry cleaners, other than to provide a profit to their
manufacturers. On rare occasions, registry cleaners can be, in the
hands of a skilled technician, useful, time-saving diagnostic tools.
Otherwise, they're nothing but snake oil.

Why do you even 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.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:01:46 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:33:49 -0600, Gordon
Eingereicht:

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

Okay, I'm convinced! I had my mindset dating back to Win 98 and
those earlier versions which did need to have the registry
cleaned up from time to time.


Nope. It was the same back then. Registry cleaners have always been
unneeded and dangerous.


Correct, this particular user very likely has no need for a registry
cleaner and shouldn't run one. But your pompous, egocentric remark and
that of your cohorts is pure BS and you know it.

You've been asked over and over to cite something specific and have
never done it. You were asked as recently as yesterday or the day
before. OTOH you asked me to cite the opposite instances which, when
presented to you, were me with astounding ignorance in your "analysis".

This kind of mis-information should be beneath you dummies who aspire to
appear so "smart" but do nothing but display egos.

I concur with the other post the best thing to do is to stay away from using
registry cleaners however I understand with any windows NT OS it can be
helpful from time to time, If you are looking for a general maintenance to
enhance you're systems stability stick with defrags and scan disks not reg
cleaners. If you are having a particular issue that you believe is related
to the Windows registry check the MS knowledge base to try and find a
resolution other than using a tool to pull random entry from the Windows
reg. If you are sure after research that a cleaner of some sort needs to be
used make sure you back up your entire registry before hand. A lot of
available tools such as ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) will prompt you
to do so before removing any entries. Thanks for reading my two cents on
this subject.

Tim DeBarbora

Hi Gordon,

What you've been told is correct - XP is very good at using a registry full
of baggage, it doesn't affect it at all.

Re the taskbar - right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and tick
"Auto-hide the Taskbar".

HTH Tony.

"Gordon" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:33:49 -0600, Gordon
Eingereicht:

I have been running Windows XP Pro since it was released but have
never done a registry clean-up. I now have Version 2002 SP 2 and
am not aware of any problems.

I am sure the registry is full of left-overs and needs to be
cleaned from time to time but I don't know what is the best
approach. Can someone recommend a specific reg-clean software
that would do the job with the least risk?

Thanks Gordon

I do have one more question, if I may. I like to keep the tool
bar hidden at the bottom of the screen, but I would like it to
remain hidden unless I specifically call for it. Is there any way
to set this such that the tool bar will pop up only if I move the
mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen, then click one of the
mouse buttons?

Thanks, Gordon

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:55:38 -0000, "Tony Luxton"
Eingereicht:

Hi Gordon,

What you've been told is correct - XP is very good at using a registry full
of baggage, it doesn't affect it at all.

Re the taskbar - right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and tick
"Auto-hide the Taskbar".

HTH Tony.

Tony, I've done this but the taskbar jumps up in the way every
time I move the mouse pointer down to the bottom of the screen. I
sometimes need to move the mouse pointer to or near the bottom of
the screen to select other things, but I often have the toolbar
jump up and block my access to the desired selection.

I would like the taskbar to NOT pop up unless I move the mouse
pointer down there then double click, or some such. Is there any
way to accomplish this?

Gordon

Umm...no, I don't think so. The only thing I can think of is to drag the
taskbar to the side or top of the screen if it's a nuisance.

HTH Tony.


"Gordon" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:55:38 -0000, "Tony Luxton"
Eingereicht:

Hi Gordon,

What you've been told is correct - XP is very good at using a registry
full
of baggage, it doesn't affect it at all.

Re the taskbar - right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and tick
"Auto-hide the Taskbar".

HTH Tony.

Tony, I've done this but the taskbar jumps up in the way every
time I move the mouse pointer down to the bottom of the screen. I
sometimes need to move the mouse pointer to or near the bottom of
the screen to select other things, but I often have the toolbar
jump up and block my access to the desired selection.

I would like the taskbar to NOT pop up unless I move the mouse
pointer down there then double click, or some such. Is there any
way to accomplish this?

Gordon