Since the days of "regclean", the registry has gotten a lot more complex,
and unfortunatly, kind of a monster.
System changes have really almost eliminated the need to clean a registry.
That aside, ill behaved software can really screw things up. Several popular
games and utilities fall into this category, in that an uninstall or an
aborted install can prevent a successful reinstall, until the registry
entries for the package are located, and removed. The desire to prevent
"unauthorizied copies" and just plain sloppy programming is the usual cause.

"Bill Walsh" wrote in message
...

"Dave T." wrote in message
...
Bill Walsh wrote:
Thanks for all the tutorials....I used the regcleaner for years without
incident..
lest you all think I am a complete novice, I have been using computers
for longer than some of you have been alive..the original request was to
find a FREE regcleaner, nothing else...
"SC Tom" wrote in message
...

"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...
Bill Walsh wrote:
On my recently deceased computer, I had downloaded a registry cleaner
many years ago. It was simply called "Registry Cleaner" and it was
freeware. Looking around the modern internet all the newer registry
cleaners are for sale only.
The one had was terrific: cleaned the registry, uninstalled programs,
etc. Is there anything out there right now? BW


Why do you even think you'd ever need to clean your registry? What
specific *problems* are you actually experiencing (not some program's
bogus listing of imaginary problems) that you think can be fixed by
using a registry "cleaner?"

If you do have a problem that is rooted in the registry, it would
be far better to simply edit (after backing up, of course) only the
specific key(s) and/or value(s) that are causing the problem. After
all, why use a chainsaw when a scalpel will do the job? Additionally,
the manually changing of one or two registry entries is far less
likely to have the dire consequences of allowing an automated product
to make multiple changes simultaneously. The only thing needed to
safely clean your registry is knowledge and Regedit.exe.

The registry contains all of the operating system's "knowledge" of
the computer's hardware devices, installed software, the location of
the device drivers, and the computer's configuration. A misstep in
the registry can have severe consequences. One should not even
turning loose a poorly understood automated "cleaner," unless he is
fully confident that he knows *exactly* what is going to happen as a
result of each and every change.

Having repeatedly seen the results of inexperienced people using
automated registry "cleaners," I can only advise all but the most
experienced computer technicians (and/or hobbyists) to avoid them all.
Experience has shown me that such tools simply are not safe in the
hands of the inexperienced user. If you lack the knowledge and
experience to maintain your registry by yourself, then you also lack
the knowledge and experience to safely configure and use any automated
registry cleaner, no matter how safe they claim to be.

More importantly, no one has ever demonstrated that the use of an
automated registry "cleaner," particularly by an untrained,
inexperienced computer user, does any real good, whatsoever. There's
certainly been no empirical evidence offered to demonstrate that the
use of such products to "clean" WinXP's registry improves a computer's
performance or stability. Given the potential for harm, it's just not
worth the risk.

Granted, most registry "cleaners" won't cause problems each and
every time they're used, but the potential for harm is always there.
And, since no registry "cleaner" has ever been demonstrated to do any
good (think of them like treating the flu with chicken soup - there's
no real medicinal value, but it sometimes provides a warming placebo
effect), I always tell people that the risks far out-weigh the
non-existent benefits.

I will concede that a good registry *scanning* tool, in the hands
of an experienced and knowledgeable technician or hobbyist can be a
useful time-saving diagnostic tool, as long as it's not allowed to
make any changes automatically. But I really don't think that there
are any registry "cleaners" that are truly safe for the general public
to use. Experience has proven just the opposite: such tools simply are
not safe in the hands of the inexperienced user.

A little further reading on the subject:

Why I don't use registry cleaners
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643

AumHa Forums • View topic - AUMHA Discussion: Should I Use a Registry
Cleaner?
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand
Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

Hey, you can knock registry cleaners all you want, but you better do
some research before dissin' chicken soup!!

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/...ken.soup.reut/

SC Tom ;-)



And an answer to your request was the first line in my previous post. The
excellent advice that came with it was a freebie I just decided to throw
in because most real experts (of which I am not one) on use-net would
give that same advice.

I suppose that all your massive experience taught you to top-post, and
did not include how to answer your own questions? If you didn't want
advice from us you could have googled for it on bing.

Dave T.
I did try the ccleaner..looks very much the same as the old cleaner from
Win95 days...Thanks for the tip..

Or he could have binged for it on google.


"Dave T." wrote in message
...

And an answer to your request was the first line in my previous post. The
excellent advice that came with it was a freebie I just decided to throw
in because most real experts (of which I am not one) on use-net would give
that same advice.

I suppose that all your massive experience taught you to top-post, and did
not include how to answer your own questions? If you didn't want advice
from us you could have googled for it on bing.

Dave T.

Bob wrote:
Or he could have binged for it on google.


"Dave T." wrote in message
...

And an answer to your request was the first line in my previous post.
The excellent advice that came with it was a freebie I just decided to
throw in because most real experts (of which I am not one) on use-net
would give that same advice.

I suppose that all your massive experience taught you to top-post, and
did not include how to answer your own questions? If you didn't want
advice from us you could have googled for it on bing.

Dave T.


I'm gratified that at least one person got it.

"Dave T." wrote in message
...
Bob wrote:
Or he could have binged for it on google.


"Dave T." wrote in message
...

And an answer to your request was the first line in my previous post.
The excellent advice that came with it was a freebie I just decided to
throw in because most real experts (of which I am not one) on use-net
would give that same advice.

I suppose that all your massive experience taught you to top-post, and
did not include how to answer your own questions? If you didn't want
advice from us you could have googled for it on bing.

Dave T.


I'm gratified that at least one person got it.