I use two different registry cleaners monthly to clean up old, useless and non-existent registry entries. The programs are Registry First Aid and jv16 Power Tools.

Just yesterday both programs indicated a registry key that was *probably* useless and could be safely deleted if one knew what they were doing. I usually know, but this time, I haven't a clue.

I always backup my registry before I make any changes, but I still don't want to make any serious errors, backups notwithstanding.

The key found by both programs is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\InternetShortcut\CLSID

Could anyone possibly tell me if it is safe to remove this key or not? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading this post.

Jo

[Jack Hackett]

What is the CLSID string?

(Default) REG_SZ {FBF23B40-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}


Jo

[Phantom010]

Cleaning the registry is useless. Using registry cleaners will only render your programs and possibly Windows inoperable. You should stay away from this crapware. Believe me, a lot of users seeking help with weird issues here on TSG have used registry cleaner before...

Thank you for your input.

I have been using jv16 Power Tools since 1998, and I have never had any problems with it. It has reduced the number of left-over entries from poorly-written programs that never uninstall properly and leave hundreds of worthless tracks/entries behind.

I do appreciate your opinion, and thank you for reading my post.

Jo

[Phantom010]

And what good do you get from cleaning your registry? Do you feel a difference in performance? How much space have you actually cleared?

[Blackmirror]

Try Revo uninstaller to uninstall any programs
http://www.revouninstaller.com/

moderate setting will wipe all those reg entries

For: Phantom010

I have used jv16 Power Tools for almost 11 years and Registry First Aid for 4 years on two different PCs. I do not know how many megabytes of useless entries I have removed in that time from either PC. As to performance, I do see a difference in performance combining registry editing/cleaning, disk cleaning (complete cleaning through a registry tweak), keeping my startup programs to a bare minimum (3) and defragging. It's not a big difference; it's a small one, but it suits me and keeps my PC in good shape. It's just a personal choice.


For: Blackmirror

I have been using Revo since version 1.60. It's great, and I wouldn't be without it. I use "Advanced Mode". However, occasionally even Revo does not remove everything. I was quite surprised last year when I first noticed it. It rarely happens though, and when it does it's only an entry or two. It's still the best uninstaller in my opinion.

[redoak]

"j--": I am sure what I include below will not change your mind, which is obviously "made up," but it may add another perspective.

{redoak}

Advice and Info re Registry 'cleaners'- excerpts from TSG:

The main reason they are apt to cause problems is because the cleaners do NOT just clean up stuff left over from uninstalls. They also "guess" that other items need to be deleted, many times incorrectly. They also attempt to "fix" references to files that no longer exist.

As a result, you can end up with programs that no longer work, functions that no longer work, and, in some cases, a PC that will no longer boot.

There are no performance gains to be had by running these things. Windows does not read the entire registry when it is looking for something. It uses the keys which allow them to go straight to the item that they are looking for.

References:
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643
http://www.computerhope.com/registry.htm


If you really want to see how active the registry is in your normal running environment, download and run Regmon.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/s.../bb896652.aspx

As you will see, the registry is constantly being accessed. If, for each of these, the entire file was being searched, your PC would be amazingly slow and not responsive.

And, to repeat this again, they make no difference in the machine's performance because they are based on a false premise about how the registry is accessed. Unused entries do not slow it down.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry I am unable to cite and give credit to the authors.

{redoak}

Another reference: http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099

[redoak]

You are recommending using what is not considered wise nor helpful by the key people here at TSG!

The one manipulation of the Registry that is recommended and will prove helpful is to "defrag" it with a Registry "defragger." I use the one from "Auslogics."

{redoak}

To: redoak

You are mistaken. I never recommended anything to anyone. I've simply stated what I am doing and asked one simple question. With the exception of one poster (Jack Hackett) asking for a clarification point, no one has attempted to answer my question.

However, I have received several responses telling me what (in their opinion) I am doing wrong and the things I should stop doing.

I didn't recommend anyone do what I do. I stated clearly what I do is a "personal choice".

Thank you for your interest, but don't make untrue accusations about what I didn't write, please.

I will get my question answered elsewhere.

Thanks anyway.

Jo

[Rockn]

From Microsoft:
A CLSID is a globally unique identifier that identifies a COM class object. If your server or container allows linking to its embedded objects, you need to register a CLSID for each supported class of objects.

Personally I have to agree with the others regarding registry cleaners and "defragmenters" and I would never use them. I have seen people who have used them in the past and have rendered their computers unusable. If you do not know what the registry entry is for and the Registry cleaner cannot tell you what program it belongs to I would leave it alone. Do a search of your registry for that string and you will see how many things it is hooked into. If you don;t really understand the registry and what it does why on earth would you allow a program that you have no idea what it is deleting have control over editing it.....INSANITY!!

[stantley]

Originally Posted by joishome

To: redoak

You are mistaken. I never recommended anything to anyone.

You're right you didn't.

There was a post between redoak's two posts that was from a spammer recommending a paid registry cleaner. That post has since been deleted and redoak was referring to the author of that post, not yours.

[Cookiegal]

Originally Posted by Rockn

From Microsoft:
A CLSID is a globally unique identifier that identifies a COM class object. If your server or container allows linking to its embedded objects, you need to register a CLSID for each supported class of objects.

Personally I have to agree with the others regarding registry cleaners and "defragmenters" and I would never use them. I have seen people who have used them in the past and have rendered their computers unusable. If you do not know what the registry entry is for and the Registry cleaner cannot tell you what program it belongs to I would leave it alone. Do a search of your registry for that string and you will see how many things it is hooked into. If you don;t really understand the registry and what it does why on earth would you allow a program that you have no idea what it is deleting have control over editing it.....INSANITY!!

Hi Rockn,

While you're here, would you please take a minute to bring your signature inline with the new guidelines? The maximum now is three lines. We didn't remove them all and are just asking for them to be modified when we notice them. Thanks.

[Jbirk]

Think about this... there are generally between 200,000 and 500,000 entries in the typical registry mainly depending upon what version of Windows you have.

If you think deleteing 100 or even 1,000 keys will make a difference in performance you are wrong, but even one wrong key corrected can cause a problem.

The only registry cleaner I use is "Regedit," for specific purposes only. For instance, if the settings of a particular application are messed up, I might delete HKCU\Software\Application Name. More often than not, many applications will re-create the needed registry configureation entries when you run the application, but this is not a hard and fast rule. Sometimes, you will need to re-install an application to get the configureation settings working again.

That said the only registry cleanup I do is manually removing a specific, problamatic registry key as needed. Regedit, however, is not something I recommend you just play with. It is for accomplishing specific registry editing goals.