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-   -   Registry Cleaning (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=22796)

Raistlin 18-01-2005 13:01
Registry Cleaning
 
Hi guys,

I used to have a piece of software that scanned through my registry and then deleted any entries for which there wasn't a program installed.

Unfortunately this was some time ago and I can't remember what it was called, anybody got any idea what I'm talking about (or can anybody supply a link to something suitable?), obviously this is playing with the registry so it needs to be reliable.

Cheers.

Dave Stones 18-01-2005 13:05
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
i use a freeware program called RegSeeker, seems to do the job for me :)

Quote:
RegSeeker is a handy tool for managing several popular registry items and searching the registry by keyword. It offers quick access to Startup Entries, Uninstall Information, Color Schemes, History items (URLs, Recent Documents etc) and IE Favorites. The program also includes a registry cleaning feature that finds invalid and unused registry entries, allowing you to delete them. RegSeeker can automatically create a backup before deleting any registry entries. The program comes with an attractive, easy to use interface. Nevertheless it is not intended for complete beginners and you should feel comfortable working with the Windows registry before using it.


http://www.snapfiles.com/get/regseeker.html

MetaWraith 18-01-2005 13:14
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
You could also try http://www.registryfix.com/
It's free.

A caveat should always be applied to any registry modification. MAKE A BACKUP FIRST. No matter how good the program is, the potential to screw up your pc is there, dont give murphy a chance.

Russ 18-01-2005 13:17
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Ashampoo Winoptimizer?

Bifta 18-01-2005 13:25
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin
Hi guys,

I used to have a piece of software that scanned through my registry and then deleted any entries for which there wasn't a program installed.

Unfortunately this was some time ago and I can't remember what it was called, anybody got any idea what I'm talking about (or can anybody supply a link to something suitable?), obviously this is playing with the registry so it needs to be reliable.

Cheers.
Regcleaner?

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download460.html

Raistlin 18-01-2005 13:35
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Thanks for the help guys, none of those programs seem to have solved my problem though. I think that I may need to sort this out some other way.....

cookie_365 18-01-2005 17:48
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
ccleaner ?

registry mechanic ?

Paul K 18-01-2005 19:01
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin
Thanks for the help guys, none of those programs seem to have solved my problem though. I think that I may need to sort this out some other way.....
What problem are you trying to solve? Might help us pinpoint the right programme for you ;)

Raistlin 18-01-2005 20:11
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Well.....It's a bit delicate and (I suppose) not technically legit.

I'm trying to re-install the trial version of some software that I installed a year or so back. The original trial was for 30 days and it's now been about 11 months since I last used it.

I want to re-install the trial 'cause I can't remember if it did the job I wanted it to or not but I think there's something in the registry that's telling it that the trial has already expired once.

Paul K 18-01-2005 20:25
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Have you tried searching the registry manually for the name of the software or software publisher?

Raistlin 18-01-2005 20:42
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul
Have you tried searching the registry manually for the name of the software or software publisher?
Yeah. there's a load of entries in there. Was tempted to just delete every entry that I found - didn't want to bork it all up though!!

I suppose I could just back the registry up, delete all the named references, and then try it from there..... Couldn't I????

rick 18-01-2005 20:46
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
google for regseeker its fairly good ;)

Paul K 18-01-2005 21:05
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul
Have you tried searching the registry manually for the name of the software or software publisher?
Yeah. there's a load of entries in there. Was tempted to just delete every entry that I found - didn't want to bork it all up though!!

I suppose I could just back the registry up, delete all the named references, and then try it from there..... Couldn't I????
Yep that's what I did to remove a nuisance from someones registry. F3 comes in handy LOL If the software isn't installed you can hardly stop it working by removing the wrong registry entry ;)

Raistlin 19-01-2005 10:24
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul
<Snippety>If the software isn't installed you can hardly stop it working by removing the wrong registry entry ;)
Good point, well made :D

TheBlueRaja 19-01-2005 10:59
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
True, but you can stop something else working.

What i have found in the past is that companies use stange keys in hidden places where you will not normally expect them in order to handle time limits.

The best way round this is to use a registry TRACKER program which shows changes to the registry before and after a certain program has been installed.

This allows you to show what key the program has created or changed upon installation. The best bet is to run the tracker to get a registry snapshot - then install the program AND run it for the first time so that the date key is set - then run the tracker software agian and do another snapshot - this can then show you the differences and the keys that were created.

There a quite a few programs which do this if you have a look around - one of them is Regspy which you can find here -

http://www.utils32.com/regspy.asp

Good luck

Raistlin 19-01-2005 12:08
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBlueRaja
True, but you can stop something else working.

What i have found in the past is that companies use stange keys in hidden places where you will not normally expect them in order to handle time limits.

The best way round this is to use a registry TRACKER program which shows changes to the registry before and after a certain program has been installed.

This allows you to show what key the program has created or changed upon installation. The best bet is to run the tracker to get a registry snapshot - then install the program AND run it for the first time so that the date key is set - then run the tracker software agian and do another snapshot - this can then show you the differences and the keys that were created.

There a quite a few programs which do this if you have a look around - one of them is Regspy which you can find here -

http://www.utils32.com/regspy.asp

Good luck
Sounds like a good plan except the program in question has already been installed once so the changes to the key have already been made. I would guess that on the second installation it will simply check to see if the key exists and then refuse to run if it did.
____________

Just tried removing all references to the program from the registry and then re-installing, didn't work at all.

There's obviously something that I'm missing!

TheBlueRaja 19-01-2005 12:28
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin
Sounds like a good plan except the program in question has already been installed once so the changes to the key have already been made. I would guess that on the second installation it will simply check to see if the key exists and then refuse to run if it did.
____________

Just tried removing all references to the program from the registry and then re-installing, didn't work at all.

There's obviously something that I'm missing!
Like i said in my post - they hide the keys and call them something obscure that you will not recognise.

So unless you know what the key is your screwed im afraid.

EDIT: do you have another machine you can test on?

Raistlin 19-01-2005 12:46
Re: Registry Cleaning
 
Unfortunately not :(


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