What are recommended programs for cleaning your registry? I tried to use Registry Mechanic, but for some reason it gave me the error message that it could not locate the file map.dat, even though I verified that the file was there in the correct location. Are there any other programs I could try? Thanks.
They are all safe, as long as you know with certainty what you are removing.
Once you know that you then realise that they are rather useless as a recreational tool, apart from removing troublesome issues from poorly written software.
Since using Windows (every version) I have used a registry cleaner twice. With knowledge of exactly what I had to do.
I have however had to repair countless systems for others that used them unwisely ...
Good for you...I have trashed innumerable systems with crap cleaner and easy cleaner..."bon voyage" with those and make sure you have current Windows disks ready after use!
The Registry is nothing more than a large database. Unless you have a very specific problem, "Cleaning" the registry is about as useful as doing a Spell Check on every income tax form you've ever filed. You might find and correct a handful of errors, but they have absolutely no bearing or influence on the "Here and Now".
And if you do have a very specific problem, it is best dealt with by editing the registry manually after creating a registry backup.
Actually, if you take all the defaults with CCleaner, it'll disable help files for MSC Office 2003, and totally cripple Visual Studio 2003, and remove many file associations that are not defective. It's NOT "pretty safe".
Umm, I consider myself to be "advanced". However one time at work I wanted to format a floppy on a Windows 3.11 system. So I inserted the floppy in the drive and typed "format c:" and hit "Y" when prompted.
To my horror, all of my AutoCad files for 3-4 years (and everything else) were gone. Luckily I found the "unformat c:" command really does work.
Umm, I consider myself to be "advanced". However one time at work I wanted to format a floppy on a Windows 3.11 system. So I inserted the floppy in the drive and typed "format c:" and hit "Y" when prompted.
To my horror, all of my AutoCad files for 3-4 years (and everything else) were gone. Luckily I found the "unformat c:" command really does work.
Hey it took me years to learn when installing XP clean, to unplug all the other hard drives so I would stop occasionally formatting a backup drive by mistake, and wiping out years worth of important files...of course this also forces XP to call the one drive I show it "C" too.
Yessir I work in the industry for a living and have trashed 3 systems requiring full restoration of an Acronis image file using crap cleaner. Twice because I failed to notice the registry "cleansers" and once even when I disabled all of that. I also trashed a system using easy clean and never knew why because that was enough for me to delete the download "into history"!
You know the whole idea of registry cleaning makes no sense anyway. You can use a product like Power Tools (www.jv16.org) to be certain that the "danglers" are removed from uninstalls and I do, but to turn a "cleaner" loose in your registry, is like using a podiatrist to do open heart surgery as far as I am concerned. When we had 5 gb hard drives and space was at a premium, I was always cleaning junk...now I have an 80 Gb drive I use 20 of and a 300 gb backup drive that holds image files and who cares. Actually there is a theory that with a big drive, the more that is on it, makes it like a rock rolling down a hill gathering momentum because of it's weight, and makes the drive spin faster because of that.
Actually there is a theory that with a big drive, the more that is on it, makes it like a rock rolling down a hill gathering momentum because of it's weight, and makes the drive spin faster because of that.
now c'mon thats crap
i've used ccleaner on 100's of systems and never had a problem and any changes can be saved so you can merge back into reg if it causes a problem which it never has ever!
But it still comes back to the fact that the registry is nothing more than a database.
Unless there is a specific issue, there is no need or reason to "Clean" the registry. It has the equivalent effect of correcting spelling mistakes in your old tax returns, including the government-printed forms.
Unless there is a specific issue, there is no performance to be gained, no significant disk space to be saved, no measurable improvement.
If there is a specific issue, editing the registry manually after making a backup is much safer and more efficient.
now c'mon thats crap
i've used ccleaner on 100's of systems and never had a problem and any changes can be saved so you can merge back into reg if it causes a problem which it never has ever!
Guitar what is your purpose behind using it? What does it do for you anyway.
And the fact that it crashed a number of systems for me and others here, is hardly crap.
Sorry cleaning your hard drive of cookies you use every day that represent no problem, and the risks to the registry make the program "crap" cleaner, aptly named in my opinion!
now c'mon thats crap
i've used ccleaner on 100's of systems and never had a problem and any changes can be saved so you can merge back into reg if it causes a problem which it never has ever!
exactly john will i work refurbishing computers and teaching music
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