Free Windows registry cleaner
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: somewhere...everywhere
Mixture said..
I have a seven year old HP laptop which isn't too fast these days. Apart from upping the RAM to 2GB from 1GB what are some of the best tweaks to enhance performance? I've already removed the clutter and uwanted programs. What else?
There are many hundreds of other tweaks, hacks and clean-ups you can/should do to Windows before you even start contemplating messing with the registry.
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2001
Aviation Qualifications: PPL
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From: Twickenham, home of rugby
I have a seven year old HP laptop which isn't too fast these days. Apart from upping the RAM to 2GB from 1GB what are some of the best tweaks to enhance performance? I've already removed the clutter and uwanted programs. What else?
I assume you are using XP - Vista or Win7 would certainly cause most 2003 laptops to run slowly!
Remove all the crap from Adobe, Sun (java), Apple (quicktime) etc. from startup.
Ensure that you have installed the latest firmware and drivers, particularly for chipset and graphics chip.
There may be some power management features you can tune for performance rather than battery life - and check they are set correctly for mains power.
You might even be able to upgrade the CPU, if you are brave.
SD
Joined: Sep 1999
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From: Deepest Dark Afrika
CCleaner
Just by way of elucidation on CCleaner: It is most often used to get rid of clutter (temporary files, cookies, histories, Recent Document list, empties the rubbish bin etc). I run it about once a week and it usually gets rid of between 100Mb and 200Mb of crap that I don't need.
It also has a (separate) tool that checks Registry Integrity - before you run this, it offers to back up the registry. I don't run this as often but it usually picks up an appreciable number of inconsistencies (it calls them "Issues") and will then fix them for you.
Thirdly, it shows you what gets cranked up during Startup and allows you to Disable them (and you can "Re-Enable" them if you have any problems).
A very useful piece of software - and it's Free
(although they don't mind if you bung them a couple of bucks as a donation!).
It also has a (separate) tool that checks Registry Integrity - before you run this, it offers to back up the registry. I don't run this as often but it usually picks up an appreciable number of inconsistencies (it calls them "Issues") and will then fix them for you.
Thirdly, it shows you what gets cranked up during Startup and allows you to Disable them (and you can "Re-Enable" them if you have any problems).
A very useful piece of software - and it's Free
(although they don't mind if you bung them a couple of bucks as a donation!).
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,443
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From: Cambridge, England, EU
The registry never needs cleaning.
In an ideal world, maybe. But in real life when you upgrade things or uninstall things the upgrade or uninstall software might be crap in which case it can leave stuff behind in the registry which can stop other things working.
Going through and finding the dangling entries and deleting them by hand is one approach, but using a tool which claims to be able to do this automatically is another. Manually it is fairly straightforward to find keys or values that point directlyto files you've uninstalled, but few people want to chase through the indirect chains of GUID references by hand, so the tools have their place.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 569
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From: London
Cleaning the registry for the first time has speeded up my 3 year old laptop - fact!
Disk cleaning, defragging etc all helped but I noticed a big jump in speed after the registry was cleaned for the first time and it is more stable now too!
Disk cleaning, defragging etc all helped but I noticed a big jump in speed after the registry was cleaned for the first time and it is more stable now too!
Official PPRuNe Chaplain
Joined: Apr 2001
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From: Witnesham, Suffolk
[Glary Utilities]
Thanks for that! It's the first one of that type that actually found broken entries and would then fix them. Usually, they ask for $30 at that point.
Even more impressive, the broken links it found were ones that I could verify were broken (for example from an updated software package where it left the links to the old version which it had deleted).
Thanks for that! It's the first one of that type that actually found broken entries and would then fix them. Usually, they ask for $30 at that point.
Even more impressive, the broken links it found were ones that I could verify were broken (for example from an updated software package where it left the links to the old version which it had deleted).
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 277
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From: Baltimore, MD
I think registry cleaning and defragging are way overused. I think it's a bit of "Everything looks like a nail because I only have a hammer."
I think I defragged my personal machine like once. It didn't help much so I got a SSD. I don't know when I defragged a server last - but I don't use toy operating systems on them either.
I think I defragged my personal machine like once. It didn't help much so I got a SSD. I don't know when I defragged a server last - but I don't use toy operating systems on them either.
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Germany
Hi,
+1
Suffice peruse tech forums .. for read how many had boot problems after a "registry cleaning"
When you have a problem with the registry base .. you will know immediately ... when you boot your PC
Usually the error message is explicit
If you want absolutely use a reg cleaner .. CCleaner is a good choice as it is not too much intrusive.
Can you give a (solid) example ?
Placebo effect
How much 1/1000 sec you gained at boot ? as it's only there you can gain some 1/100 sec if your registry base was few MB's before cleaning .. LOL.
The registry never needs cleaning. It's very small and doesn't take up much space on the system. And changes to registry entries should be limited to the programs that created those entries in the first place, otherwise bad things can happen. So using a "registry cleaner" is far more dangerous than just leaving the registry alone.
Suffice peruse tech forums .. for read how many had boot problems after a "registry cleaning"
When you have a problem with the registry base .. you will know immediately ... when you boot your PC
Usually the error message is explicit
If you want absolutely use a reg cleaner .. CCleaner is a good choice as it is not too much intrusive.
In an ideal world, maybe. But in real life when you upgrade things or uninstall things the upgrade or uninstall software might be crap in which case it can leave stuff behind in the registry which can stop other things working.
Cleaning the registry for the first time has speeded up my 3 year old laptop - fact!
How much 1/1000 sec you gained at boot ? as it's only there you can gain some 1/100 sec if your registry base was few MB's before cleaning .. LOL.
Last edited by jcjeant; 27th December 2010 at 09:09.
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Germany
Hi,
The question was not directed to you .. but ...
And wich software(s) will stop running ?? cause those traces stay behind ?
The question was not directed to you .. but ...
- Norton, Avg, AOL - how many do you want? If you have ever 'uninstalled' one of these, have a trawl through your registry and see.
which can stop other things working.
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,344
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From: Bedford, UK
bit harsh perhaps
The problem with AV suites is that they have to protect themselves (and you) against an illicit attempt to disable/uninstall them. Norton do have a custom uninstaller which needs to be used to hoover up the traces. From what I have seen, a manual trawl through the registry deleting keys doesn't get half of them.
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Germany
Hi,
You are right.
Norton do have a custom uninstaller which needs to be used to hoover up the traces. From what I have seen, a manual trawl through the registry deleting keys doesn't get half of them.
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 350
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From: Paris, France
- Norton, Avg, AOL - how many do you want? If you have ever 'uninstalled' one of these, have a trawl through your registry and see.
I've also installed Microsoft Security Essentials after removing the above products, with no problems. You have to use the official uninstall programs.
Looking through the registry doesn't tell me much, since the ways in which the registry is used are proprietary to each software product. If I didn't write the code, it can be hard to figure out what the product changed. Therefore it is best left alone. Conflicts are theoretically possible, but I don't recall having any, although sometimes one version of a product will conflict with another version of that product (but if the product can't even stay clean within itself, why would you trust a third-party registry "cleaner" to do it?).
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Passed away on Sept 6th
Maybe I'm being a bit naive here, but I use Ccleaner once every month or two in the belief that this will keep the whole machine as fast as possible. This of course isn't just about the registry, but deals with quite a bit of other crap.
I know that there are others who advocate saving all docs and reinstalling Windoze and all software every so often. Undoubtedly does the trick, and reminds one of how fast a machine could be, but boring in the extreme, and loses half a day each time.
I know that there are others who advocate saving all docs and reinstalling Windoze and all software every so often. Undoubtedly does the trick, and reminds one of how fast a machine could be, but boring in the extreme, and loses half a day each time.
