If mark was so assured
about the reliability of a self
sustaining registry and windows
to manage it, then why did he
create PageDefrag,
(the freeware that is available
from Microsoft.com which
defrags the page file and the
registry hive)?
Though I do not know mark first
hand, I know of his handy work
and I also have a good idea of the
logic behind it; because I too use
to be quite handy in this field and
perhaps while he was in still in
high school.
Firstly lets establish an understanding
which is: the larger a file is (any file)
the more fragmented it becomes.
On the other hand: the smaller a
file is the less fragmented it is.
While a single file is of no great
concern, the thousands of files on
a disk affected by the above phenomena
will undermine system performance
and the file system.
Based on my usage of marks utility
called PageDefrag, it was designed
to defrag specific system files, like the
registry files (hive/database); files that
can not be defragged via the standard
method provided by windows.
However, marks tool is specifically
engineered to reduce the
fragmentation as much as possible.
As we understand a bloated registry
to be, it will be large so it
will be heavily fragmented. It will
also contain current and vital registry
keys/data and also have keys that are
no longer vital, i.e. outdated,
corrupted and orphaned because such
invalid data is not removed from
the registry for a number of valid
reasons.
So we can now establish the fact
that marks utility not only defrags
chunks of the registry having valid
data but also defrags chunks of the
registry containing invalid keys
(trash) as well.
Which is fair enough for the handy
little utility to do, because some
defragging of the registry hive is
better than not defragging it at all?
Now lets consider what a registry
cleaner is engineered to do, which
is to remove invalid and corrupted
keys from the registry - keys and
data which cannot be used by
windows.
By removing unnecessary data
from the registry, the file size
will become smaller and less
bloated. Thus by virtue of
being a smaller file it will also
be less fragmented than if it
were a large file.
However, because the invalid
entries can amount to thousands,
a program like a registry cleaner
can evaluate thousands of keys
in a matter of minutes.
Also, if we apply the rule of thumb
for defragging the disk to defragging
the registry, it would be as appropriate
to clean up the registry from the trash
it contains as it would be to clean a
risk from the trash files it contains.
Optimally marks utility could greatly
reduce the amount of fragmentation
if the registry was less bloated
and smaller which can only be done
be removing the unneeded data.
Based on the above I will not waver
in my position about registry cleaning
and the value it has for the system
and the user because it is crucial
that the registry is clean and accurate
as much as possible.
Conversely it would be wrong not
to maintain the registry.
For those who may not know or
remember, Microsoft invented windows
and the registry; this was a break
through during those times.
Microsoft also invented the registry
cleaner for a purpose that is as
valid today as it was 20 years ago.
Http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/article/registry_cleaner_why.htm
-----
Ken, I honestly don't see your
unwavering stance on this issue.
Further, it is concerning that
you have referred to the importance
of registry cleaning as snake oil
or a great plague and to me it is
irresponsible for anyone to utilize
the MVP status for fear mongering
Such statements give the
unknowledgeable user a false
sense of security that "will"
ultimately lead to a corrupted
registry and a system crash.
There is no logical or reasonable
explanation to have anyone give
up a few minutes of their time
to tune up their registry and to
prevent an utter crash that will
require hours or days to recover.
In my opinion any MVP that does
not promote system maintenance,
which includes the registry is
irresponsible.
