Keeping the Registry "clean"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tranz
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Tranz

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Version: 5.00.2195 Service Pack 4
----------------------------------
I am rather obsessive about keeping the Registry "clean"
and regularly use jv16, and save any deleted entries in
case I make a mistake.
I notice some posts here indicate that there is no need
to do this and that a registry with many obsolete entries
will not cause any reduction in overall performance.

How true is this ?

Any help or advice appreciated.
TranZ
 
In said:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Version: 5.00.2195 Service Pack 4
----------------------------------
I am rather obsessive about keeping the Registry "clean"
and regularly use jv16, and save any deleted entries in
case I make a mistake.
I notice some posts here indicate that there is no need
to do this and that a registry with many obsolete entries
will not cause any reduction in overall performance.

How true is this ?
Click to expand...

YMMV, but the differences between W9x and NTx are the usual point.
Users moving from W9x seem to think all the same rules apply to NTx
systems.

In fact, "deadwood" (unused or orphaned entries) in the registry for
un-installed software applications have little impact on performance
in newer OSs. That is not to say it isn't nice to clear out the
deadwood <G>, just that it is very easy to do damage (often
unrecoverable) by using "registry cleaners" (which are powerfull
tools). In the hands of a user with little or no knowledge of the
registry, these tools are potentially far more harmful than just
leaving things as they are. The "click to fix" syndrom. <S>

I have no references to actual performance figures though. OTOH how
many posts are made like "I ran so-and-so and now my < > doesn't
work." Or "I had to re-install the OS". Or "I didn't backup my
registry before I..."

QED
 
In said:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Version: 5.00.2195 Service Pack 4
----------------------------------
I am rather obsessive about keeping the Registry "clean"
and regularly use jv16, and save any deleted entries in
case I make a mistake.
I notice some posts here indicate that there is no need
to do this and that a registry with many obsolete entries
will not cause any reduction in overall performance.

How true is this ?
Click to expand...

YMMV, but the differences between W9x and NTx are the usual point.
Users moving from W9x seem to think all the same rules apply to NTx
systems.

In fact, "deadwood" (unused or orphaned entries) in the registry for
un-installed software applications have little impact on performance
in newer OSs. That is not to say it isn't nice to clear out the
deadwood <G>, just that it is very easy to do damage (often
unrecoverable) by using "registry cleaners" (which are powerfull
tools). In the hands of a user with little or no knowledge of the
registry, these tools are potentially far more harmful than just
leaving things as they are. The "click to fix" syndrom. <S>

I have no references to actual performance figures though. OTOH how
many posts are made like "I ran so-and-so and now my < > doesn't
work." Or "I had to re-install the OS". Or "I didn't backup my
registry before I..."

QED
 
<snip>
"YMMV, but the differences between W9x and NTx are the usual point.
Users moving from W9x seem to think all the same rules apply to NTx
systems......"
 
<snip>
"YMMV, but the differences between W9x and NTx are the usual point.
Users moving from W9x seem to think all the same rules apply to NTx
systems......"
 
Hi Tranz - There's very little impact with NT based OSs. However, FWIW
here's my 2 cents:

In my experience all of these Reg cleaners, even the best, are fraught with
danger. I advise against using them except in one specific instance, that
is when you have one that is capable of doing specific Reg searches, and
you NEED (not just WANT) to remove the remaining traces of something that
didn't get uninstalled correctly. (and you didn't have foresight enough to
install it using Total Uninstall,
http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/projects/projects.html, in the first
place.)

Lastly, if you must screw around with your Registry, then at least get
Erunt/Erdnt, and run it before you do the Reg clean. You'll then have a
true restore available to you. Read below to see why you might not just
using the Reg cleaner's restore:

Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/index.htm I've set it up to
take a scheduled backup each night at 12:01AM on a weekly round-robin basis,
and a Monthly on the 1st of each month. See here for how to set that up:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some
useful information about this subject.

This program is one of the best things around - saved my butt on many
occasions, and will also run very nicely from a DOS prompt (in case you've
done something that won't let you boot any more and need to revert to a
previous Registry) IF you're FAT32 OR have a DOS startup disk with NTFS
write drivers in an NTFS system. (There is also a way using the Recovery
Console to get back to being "bootable" even without separate DOS write NTFS
drivers, after which you can do a "normal" Erdnt restore.) (BTW, it also
includes a Registry defragger program). Free, and very, very highly
recommended.

FYI, quoting from the above document:

Note: The "Export registry" function in Regedit is USELESS (!) to make a
complete backup of the registry. Neither does it export the whole registry
(for example, no information from the "SECURITY" hive is saved), nor can the
exported file be used later to replace the current registry with the old
one. Instead, if you re-import the file, it is
merged with the current registry, leaving you with an absolute mess of old
and new registry keys.


--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In
 
Hi Tranz - There's very little impact with NT based OSs. However, FWIW
here's my 2 cents:

In my experience all of these Reg cleaners, even the best, are fraught with
danger. I advise against using them except in one specific instance, that
is when you have one that is capable of doing specific Reg searches, and
you NEED (not just WANT) to remove the remaining traces of something that
didn't get uninstalled correctly. (and you didn't have foresight enough to
install it using Total Uninstall,
http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/projects/projects.html, in the first
place.)

Lastly, if you must screw around with your Registry, then at least get
Erunt/Erdnt, and run it before you do the Reg clean. You'll then have a
true restore available to you. Read below to see why you might not just
using the Reg cleaner's restore:

Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/index.htm I've set it up to
take a scheduled backup each night at 12:01AM on a weekly round-robin basis,
and a Monthly on the 1st of each month. See here for how to set that up:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some
useful information about this subject.

This program is one of the best things around - saved my butt on many
occasions, and will also run very nicely from a DOS prompt (in case you've
done something that won't let you boot any more and need to revert to a
previous Registry) IF you're FAT32 OR have a DOS startup disk with NTFS
write drivers in an NTFS system. (There is also a way using the Recovery
Console to get back to being "bootable" even without separate DOS write NTFS
drivers, after which you can do a "normal" Erdnt restore.) (BTW, it also
includes a Registry defragger program). Free, and very, very highly
recommended.

FYI, quoting from the above document:

Note: The "Export registry" function in Regedit is USELESS (!) to make a
complete backup of the registry. Neither does it export the whole registry
(for example, no information from the "SECURITY" hive is saved), nor can the
exported file be used later to replace the current registry with the old
one. Instead, if you re-import the file, it is
merged with the current registry, leaving you with an absolute mess of old
and new registry keys.


--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In
 
Jim Byrd" <[email protected]>
wrote in message
<snip>
Tranz - There's very little impact with NT based OSs. However, FWIW
here's my 2 cents:
In my experience all of these Reg cleaners, even the best, are fraught with
danger.....
------------------------
Thanks Jim, much appreciated.
I will read the links you posted.
I do have ERUNT.

TranZ
 
Jim Byrd" <[email protected]>
wrote in message
<snip>
Tranz - There's very little impact with NT based OSs. However, FWIW
here's my 2 cents:
In my experience all of these Reg cleaners, even the best, are fraught with
danger.....
------------------------
Thanks Jim, much appreciated.
I will read the links you posted.
I do have ERUNT.

TranZ
 
YW, TranZ - I'm glad you found it useful.

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In
 
YW, TranZ - I'm glad you found it useful.

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In
 
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