The problem
Does your PC run more slowly than it used to? Does it often crash or produce
mysterious error messages?
If it does one or both of these, welcome to the wonderful world of Windows! The chances are that your
Windows registry has become clogged up or even corrupted as a result of all the software etc that you have
installed then later de-installed. This happens because de-installing software more often than not leaves
behind numerous files and registry entries which together result in a bloated system which cannot run at the
full speed it was designed for.
The Windows registry is an exeedingly complex entity. It contains all sorts of information about your
computer’s settings and software installations. This complexity, however, makes it hard to keep it free of
errors. It is possible to edit the registry manually, but this is not a job for the inexperienced or
faint-hearted, due to the vastness of its structure and the danger of wrecking your PC’s system completely if
you get it wrong. Even very experienced and technically-minded computer users approach editing the registry
with apprehension.
In addition to installation information, changes you make to software settings are usually stored in your
computer’s registry. Imperfectly-written software (most software, if substantial, is imperfect - a look at
bug fixes described in software history documents will confirm this) will leave behind redundant registry
entries when you make these changes. And if you’ve ever had to clean out a virus or spyware, it’s always
possible that the registry is still affected to some extent by the settings they changed without your
permission.
On that topic, of course, it’s important to recognize that not all PC system problems are caused only by an
unhealthy registry. If you have a virus or a spyware infection, you would do well to be clear of that before
applying any registry cures.
The solution
Formatting your hard drive and reinstalling Windows and all of your
software is one way to get back to a reliable system working at full speed, and in cases of extreme corruption
you may have no alternative but to carry out this rather huge and daunting task with all of its associated
pitfalls and possible data loss. However, if your system still works reasonably well most of the time, but just
not as well as you know it can, then it is possible that a registry cleaner could rejuvenate your system for
you. This would allow you to avoid any such drastic action as wiping everything and starting again.
Another advantage of using a good registry cleaner over the wipe-everything-and-start-again strategy is that
the software can keep the system in good shape if used regularly. And even with a new clean system a
registry cleaner can help once you start changing settings and software installations.
Over the last few years a great deal of development work has gone into producing several examples of this
breed of software. Some of these have become extremely popular and respected. They typically examine the
structure and content of all registry entries, looking for inconsistencies and redundancies. The producers
usually also allow you to download their software and carry out a free scan of your computer’s registry, the
results of which you can peruse at your leisure before deciding whether or not to purchase. Payment would
usually be required before the software would be able to carry out any cleaning up, of course.
Our pages about some popular registry cleaners:
RegCure >
Registry Easy >