Registry Cleaners

In the early days of personal computers, each program stored its associated user preferences and settings in the same folder or subdirectory in which the program was installed, or in some simple text files in the Windows directory. In more recent versions, most of this information from all the programs installed on your system has been consolidated in a database called the “Windows registry.” Almost every action that your Windows computer takes requires some access to the registry, which has been referred to as the “heart and soul” of Windows.

Every time you install or upgrade a program on your computer, new entries are made in the registry and, presumably, when such programs are removed the corresponding entries are deleted. Frequently, however, the uninstall program fails to remove some entries, and therefore, over time the registry accumulates more and more unneeded entries. This accumulation of registry junk can slow the operation of your computer, and in some instances even cause random crashes.

It is a good idea periodically to remove unneeded entries from the registry using a “registry cleaner” program. Although there are many such programs available, all of them should be used cautiously because any serious damage to the registry can completely disable your computer. I've had good luck with a program called “RegistryFix,” which provides for making a backup of the registry before you do any “fixes” with it. The full program costs about $30, but you can download the free version, which will scan your registry and tell you how many bad entries your registry contains, at: registryfix.com

A free program which will actually make some repairs, and automatically makes a backup, is “RegCleaner,” which can be accessed at: tweaknow.com

Use any program of this type at your own risk! Because of the central role of the registry, a full system backup before proceeding is absolutely essential.