Registry cleaners

[Waldo Pepper]

My once fast Samsung RV520 is getting a bit slow. I have over 500G of free disk space and 8G of RAM.

Can anyone recommend a registry cleaner that can remove 2 years of rubbish, mostly uninstalled.

I have read good reviews of RegZooka and am prepared to pay for it if it works and won't trash my laptop.

Any recommendations appreciated.

TIA
WP

[MovedGoalPosts]

CCleaner works fine for me : http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner and it doesn't cost you for the registry bit

you do not need one

[Waldo Pepper]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

you do not need one

Alternate suggestions appreciated then. But why don't I need one?

[Matthew]

I would recommend running a defrag too, download Defraggler from the same people who make CCleaner too.

Originally Posted by Waldo Pepper

Alternate suggestions appreciated then. But why don't I need one?

The registry is just a database text entries read almost instantly plus when called they know where they are anyway.

---------- Post added at 19:06 ---------- Previous post was at 19:05 ----------

"Do I need to run a registry cleaner on a regular basis?"

No.

In case you missed that, the answer again is: No.

Contrary to the online advertising pitches, the bad information from your neighbor, and perhaps your own belief prior to this moment, registry cleaning is NOT a computer maintenance task. I can not be more clear on this topic.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/regist...leaner-faq.htm

Do I need a Windows Registry cleaner?

Answer

Registry cleaners are designed to help remove invalid references made in the Windows Registry pointing to a DLL, program, font, uninstalled program, or other system information that no longer exists on the computer. These references can be left behind when a program is not uninstalled properly, the uninstaller is poorly written, or the system has crashed in the past causing these invalid entries.

Although these utilities can make the Windows Registry clean, the overall potential benefits are greatly outweighed by the potential harm a they could cause. We suggest users do not install or use Windows Registry cleaners on their Windows computers.
]

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001077.htm

[alanbjames]

i use registry mechanic and works a treat.

[Taf]

CCleaner and Auslogics registry cleaner. Auslogics registry defragger is not free AFAIK now, but you might find an older free version on the net. The Registry can become a bit full of invalid references, and that can slow access a bit, but we're probably talking microseconds and not whole seconds.

[Qtx]

Personally I agree with Tizme, although CCcleaner can help some, I never fully trust any of these apps.

Cleaning out your temp folders, browser cache (and various databases), deleting and re-making swap file and possibly defragging usually are enough to speed things up for a start. Usually suggest more RAM but you have plenty.

For temp folders, type this into the run bar: %temp%

Order the files/folders by date and select everything except files with todays date, as they could be locked and cause the deleting to fail.

Browser cache is dependent of your browser but its worth deleting everything if you can (in chrome make sure you choose the Forever option) although don't delete cookies if you can't remember your website logins.

Deleting and recreating the swap file can be done by turning it off, rebooting and turning it back on again. Personally I like to set it to a small size before disabling it and then making it back to near its original value after the reboot. Right click My computer>Properties>Advanced System Settings>Advanced Tab (performance)>Settings>Advanced>Virtual Memory>Change

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

you do not need one

No your right,YOU DONT..

But it makes it EASIER FOR YOUR COMPUTER if un-needed stuff is cleaned out.... Let me address this a different way for you..

You clean out the cabinets in your kitchen right? -- WHY?????


Exactly,to make it CLEANER and EASIER for you to obtain stuff from them!

Originally Posted by Dude111

No your right,YOU DONT..

But it makes it EASIER FOR YOUR COMPUTER if un-needed stuff is cleaned out.... Let me address this a different way for you..

You clean out the cabinets in your kitchen right? -- WHY?????


Exactly,to make it CLEANER and EASIER for you to obtain stuff from them!

dude with all due respect your kitchen is not a text database. I have offered evidence from experts backing up my side also in the past I have provided evidence from a M$ code writer himself backing up my point of view. You then come and post a stupid irrelevant analogy that is totally meaningless,also has cleaning your kitchen ever stopped your kitchen from working?,.

---------- Post added at 07:51 ---------- Previous post was at 07:37 ----------

Hi Mark, do you really think that Registry junk left by uninstalled programs could severely slow down the computer? I would like to ‘hear’ your opinion.

No, even if the registry was massively bloated there would be little impact on the performance of anything other than exhaustive searches (ed. of the registry itself).
On Win2K Terminal Server systems, however, there is a limit on the total amount of Registry data that can be loaded and so large profile hives can limit the number of users that can be logged on simultaneously.
I haven’t and never will implement a Registry cleaner since it’s of little practical use on anything other than Win2K terminal servers and developing one that’s both safe and effective requires a huge amount of application-specific knowledge.

The above is a quote from Mark Russinovich . If you do not know who he is and why we should listen to him Google his name. In short no one has needed a reg editor since win2k...

[Dude111]

I know who he is mate but that doesnt mean he is right!!


I have seen improvements EVERYTIME i clear a bunch of stuff thats not needed from my reg!!

[techguyone]

I suspect your millage will vary depending on how much you stuff you put on your PC & what OS you use. I agree that with anything post XP that it's not so important per se... as it used to be, to defragment, reg clean up etc. But I wouldn't go so far to entirely discount the use of them either. I still use various utilities that do (for me) show a measurable benefit, but like I said, your mileage will vary by user.

Even faced with documented evidence from someone very highly respected in the field people will still choose to fail to see the wood for the trees. As of course is your prerogative. One day the reg cleaner will screw your machine and I will laugh out loud

(Mark E. Russinovich is a Technical Fellow in the Platform and Services Division at Microsoft. He was a cofounder of software producers Winternals before it was acquired by Microsoft in 2006)

[Qtx]

Originally Posted by Dude111

I have seen improvements EVERYTIME i clear a bunch of stuff thats not needed from my reg!!

I would expect that 98% of the times a registry cleaning app is run and gives improvements, it is down to the non-registry tasks the app also does, like cleaning temp files and caches.