[NijimaSan]

I am told on this site that registry cleaners do more harm than good. Occasionally, I have to uninstall programs and what not.

I do not have the technical knowledge to go into the registry and fix it myself.

In that case, what should I do for the future? In there an acceptable program?

[flavallee]

There is no acceptable registry cleaner. Avoid them all like the plague. They're too aggressive and will detect valid registry entries as "invalid". The end result is having some programs that no longer work or work right, and even worse, damage to the operating system.

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If and when you have to uninstall a program, do it correctly - via the Add Or Remove Programs list or via its "Uninstall" or "Remove" option in its menu in the Start menu.

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[NijimaSan]

won't all those registry entries from uninstalled programs slow down the computer and cause it harm anyway?

[WhitPhil]

Originally Posted by NijimaSan

won't all those registry entries from uninstalled programs slow down the computer and cause it harm anyway?

No! That is the fallacy that proponents of Registry Cleaners keep pushing.

There are no performance gains to be made by running a Reg Cleaner. BUT, you will run the risk of having a PC that no longer boots, or an application that no longer runs correctly!

[NijimaSan]

So.....NO registry cleaners from now on? No registry defragmenters as well?

[WhitPhil]

Reg Defrag apps are ok to run, but stay away from reg cleaners.

[Mr. Newton]

Here is what I use,it removes the program I want removed and it digs down into the files to get rid of unwanted files related to the program in question.
http://www.revouninstaller.com/

[NijimaSan]

I use the same program, but what setting do you have it set for? Do you ever have registry problems?

[Mr. Newton]

I use the advanced setting but I only check the highlighted entries,the ones in bold and I have never had a problem.You can see the name of the entry you are deleting so you know you are not deleting anything except that which you select.I think it is an excellent uninstaller.Too bad for me that I didn't have it when I first started using my machine.It does a great job of uninstalling all useless files.Helps keep my registry clean.It gets all those leftover files.I know I like it and will continue to use it.Works for me.

[NijimaSan]

Good to know. At least I am going something right. :-)

[Mr. Newton]

I know the feeling

[Alkison]

Yeah, I use to use Reg Cure and it worked all right for a while with no problems, then one day when I booted up, my computer was in windows classic and I could hardly use it. I kept getting an error that in system32/systemprofile/config/desktop location was unavailable. System restore in windows was inaccessible so I could only do a restore from the repair cd. Once that was finished I booted again and all was fine, then I would do my normal cleaners (reg cure) and once I would boot again, same problem. It's funny it took me so long to know it was my Registry Cleaner. No more and good bye haha!

[displacedbeachbu]

There is one registry cleaner that I have found that does work. In the beginning it would always uninstall essential components of an HP product but they have seemed to work the bugs out of it. The XP and Vista mangers both are working fine. There is a fully functional 15 day trial. Besides the registry cleaner that are multiple components to the software that allows you to tweak the hell out of XP and Vista. I purchased it almost two years ago and it runs fine on both my 32 bit Vista Ultimate and 64 bit Vista Home. In the past I the XP version and the same applies. When installed it has a "one click cleaner" I use it about one a week to clean all trash off of my systems. but like anything else always backup your registry first!

http://www.yamicsoft.com/

[WhitPhil]

Originally Posted by displacedbeachbu

There is one registry cleaner that I have found that does work. ... but like anything else always backup your registry first!

The key that you are missing, is that this app works "in your environment" (whatever "working" means). There is no guarantee that in another config, it will leave the PC in a non bootable state.

As for backups, these are absolutely useless in the case of a non bootable PC, or an app that is infrequently run, and all of a sudden no longer works.

Since there are no performance or otherwise gains to be made by running a cleaner, why would anyone want to run the risk?

[Alkison]

Originally Posted by WhitPhil

The key that you are missing, is that this app works "in your environment" (whatever "working" means). There is no guarantee that in another config, it will leave the PC in a non bootable state.

As for backups, these are absolutely useless in the case of a non bootable PC, or an app that is infrequently run, and all of a sudden no longer works.

Since there are no performance or otherwise gains to be made by running a cleaner, why would anyone want to run the risk?

Exactly, Regcure worked on my dell like a charm and messed up my custom built constantly.