R_W_B said:
Hello I searched the xp forums and found some 2 yr old dated stuff and wanted
to get a more recent update of opinions and information about registry
cleaning software. From the search I found this was a highly emotional
subject back when. Anyhow, all I want it your honest opinions and experience
with these things. And bottom line, are there any dependable ones that
actually do any good.
No, there's simply no such thing as a "good" registry cleaner, unless
you limit the meaning of the word "good" to "using it didn't tank my
system this time."
To start with I will give you my story. In 2006 I bought my first registry
product called Regcure, it crashed my machine and had to do a restore. I got
a refund and then tried MaxRegistry cleaner (yea I'm a sucker for punishment)
it seemed to run ok (i.e. no machine crashes) and I kept it (and used it)
until the year's subscription ran out and then tried RegistryFix, it broke
one of my old Cad apps but I did not find out until it was too late to get a
refund. A friend of mine used RegistryEasy and it broke his XP
start->help&support, but he found a vbs script that fixed that.
None of that is at all surprising. Quite typical, in fact.
So at present I am thinking of just giving up on Registry apps and
excluding myself from the "sucker born every minute" group that P.T. Barnum
spoke of. But I just wanted an outside opinion just to make sure of the
current status of these things. They seem to be selling faster than Win7.
Appreciate any input.
Why would you even think you'd ever need to clean your registry?
What specific *problems* were 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.
A little further reading on the subject:
Why I don't use registry cleaners
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643
AumHa Forums • View topic - AUMHA Discussion: Should I Use a Registry
Cleaner?
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
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Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell
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killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
