[Body&Spirit]

Hey Blues...

I think that may be a part of my problem...I don't know enough to know what to delete or not.

So, I tend to rely on the automatic options which according to your post may not be the best way to change the register. Like some discretion must be used...if I get your drift.

But to exercise discretion, some knowledge is necessary. Do you (or anybody out there) know of a source which can explain the register and it's facets to me in layman's terms?

Once I get some familiarity with it, then maybe I can graduate and understand some of the technospeak.

[hewee]

Originally Posted by stantley

Thanks for that link hewee, not only for registry cleaners, but they have the top ten anti-virus, firewalls, anti-spyware, pc-utilities, cd-burners, etc.

All sorts of interesting info. I like how they compare the features of the software and have checkmarks for which software has what. Very useful when you're looking for certain features.

Your welcome. I better go back and look at the other top 10's too.

[warm133]

Hi Body&Spirit

Here is a link to a downloadable tutorial called demystifying the windows registry.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/tut74.html

You may find it useful.

[blues_harp28]

Hi..www.systweak.com/winreg/winreg.htm
This link works on one of my systems not the other..
As you say going the automatic option route takes away the choice that we should make..
My rule of thumb is..if Im unsure of what the entry is..it stay there until I do..if in doubt leave it there..it's doing no harm..

[Doom_Machine]

Originally Posted by hewee

Look at the reviews here.

http://registry-repair-software-revi...enreviews.com/

i wouldnt trust any site that has a big advertisement fro the #1 rated product and no ad from the least one..lol its a no brainer the reviews are heavily influenced by advertisers. i mean cripes look at that big ad from the software maker right on the review page here
and the one rated # 4 has no ad from the company....hmmmm

[warm133]

Check for spyware after visiting this review site

[hewee]

Originally Posted by Doom_Machine

i wouldnt trust any site that has a big advertisement fro the #1 rated product and no ad from the least one..lol its a no brainer the reviews are heavily influenced by advertisers. i mean cripes look at that big ad from the software maker right on the review page here
and the one rated # 4 has no ad from the company....hmmmm

I know there are the ads but it is still a good site on what each type of software does so reading the reviews can help you out. I would then also look at other sites.

[Body&Spirit]

Originally Posted by blues_harp28

Hi..www.systweak.com/winreg/winreg.htm
This link works on one of my systems not the other..
As you say going the automatic option route takes away the choice that we should make..
My rule of thumb is..if Im unsure of what the entry is..it stay there until I do..if in doubt leave it there..it's doing no harm..

Hmmm...interesting that you can access the site from one computer & not the other.

I seem to be in the same category as the "not being able to access" the site...ie I am getting the "Page cannot be found".

Thanks Warm133 for your site...it gives me a bare bones idea of the registry of what it is & what it does.

Unfortunately, I am still in the dark of what can/should be changed...

[Body&Spirit]

Originally Posted by Doom_Machine

i wouldnt trust any site that has a big advertisement fro the #1 rated product and no ad from the least one..lol its a no brainer the reviews are heavily influenced by advertisers. i mean cripes look at that big ad from the software maker right on the review page here
and the one rated # 4 has no ad from the company....hmmmm

Doom Machine.

You more or less echo my thoughts. I also note that the second rated product is almost double the cost of the first...so a consumer on a limited budget is more likely to pick the first not only on the basis of features, but on the basis of cost as well.

====================================================
Addendum:

I am not claiming that this site is "fraudulent". It may be legitimate and run by a very responsible person wishing to provide a service. I applaud and support those who do so.

But how do we distinguish one from the other in a responsible way?

[hewee]

Read reviews Body&Spirit from other sites.
Your have to google and just keep looking because to many sites had ads and if money comes from the ads they may not says thing bad that they should so read all you can find from many sites.
Then ask others too.

Here is a good site to find out what is out there but you still need to do more on your own.
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/main-nf.htm

Another site here.

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

[hewee]

Also The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best..._utilities.htm

[TOGG]

As far as I am aware the only 'safe' way to use a Registry cleaner, once you've decided to use one, is to limit the cleaning activities to entries that clearly relate to programs that you know you have already uninstalled.

Lots of poorly written programs, or their installer software, can leave orphaned entries behind to clutter up the Registry (the big question of course is whether or not this unwanted bloat actually does any harm).

Having said that, I'm afraid that I've probably become complacent, relying on the fact that the RegSupreme cleaner is based on the highly acclaimed one in jv16 Power Tools, so I routinely remove what it recommends!

Not only that, I've even been known to let the 'Issues' function in CCleaner do some registry cleaning and got away with it (so far). Please note, I am NOT suggesting that anyone else should follow my example because the use of these programs is always at the users risk.

[blues_harp28]

Originally Posted by Body&Spirit

Doom Machine.

You more or less echo my thoughts. I also note that the second rated product is almost double the cost of the first...so a consumer on a limited budget is more likely to pick the first not only on the basis of features, but on the basis of cost as well.

====================================================
Addendum:

I am not claiming that this site is "fraudulent". It may be legitimate and run by a very responsible person wishing to provide a service. I applaud and support those who do so.

But how do we distinguish one from the other in a responsible way?

Hi..The advice from Togg sums it up..if you use Registry cleaners to clean out remnants of old uninstalled programs then you know what it is that you are deleting..any other deletion (unless you know what the entry is) may be in error..trusting a cleaning program to do the job for us may be a mistake..
Check the entry..if unsure leave it there..

[hewee]

I have even used RegSeeker to search the registry for programs I have uninstalled because it will find more then just running the cleanup sometimes.

But you got to watch out on what words you use etc too on a search.
Like if I wanted to uninstall the Sun Java you do not want to clean up everything in the search that has java because you be deleting things from more then just Sun Java.