Free Windows registry cleaner

[Crosswind Limits]

Is there freeware out there to clean both Windows Vista and XP registry? I've found a couple but all they allow is a free scan and you then have to pay to repair/clean.

If there isn't a free one, can someone suggest a good shareware product?

Thanks.

[Juliet Sierra Papa]

Hi there Crosswind, I use "Wise Registry Cleaner" its freeware and has a "1 click" function. It sorted out my problems.
Hope it helps

JSP

[green granite]

CCcleaner, cleans up unwanted crap files and also has a built in registry cleaner all for free.: CCleaner Download | C Cleaner Review, Testimonials | Free CCleaner

[vulcanised]

Not that I use it often, but I have Tweaknow Registry Cleaner which seems to do a good job.

[obgraham]

CCleaner. Does the job.

[ZH875]

Yep. another vote for CCleaner.

[Crosswind Limits]

Thank you people - appreciate the input!

[AnthonyGA]

The registry doesn't need to be cleaned. It takes up hardly any space on the system and one normally never looks at it, anyway.

[mixture]

The registry doesn't need to be cleaned. It takes up hardly any space on the system and one normally never looks at it, anyway.

I second that opinion.

If you :
- Don't know what the registry is or does.
- Don't know where the registry stores its data.
- Don't know how much space the registry takes up.
- Despite a multitude of other quicker, easier and faster means to find one, still find the need to ask on PPRuNe where to find a "free Windows registry cleaner"

You'll probably end up doing more harm than good tinkering with the registry.

Leave it alone.

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.

[Loose rivets]

But...but...isn't this where us dopey bu@@ers can find things out from the intellectual elite?

[stuckgear]

another big vote for ccleaner.. keeping the accumulated junk down is a plus for housekeeping.

[Mr Optimistic]

Ccleaner

Yep, I agree Ccleaner does the job, however as pointed out there is no need to do it, won't speed up anything (but if it feeds the tidy bug within you fair enough).

[green granite]

I agree Ccleaner does the job, however as pointed out there is no need to do it

are you saying you don't think it necessary to get rid of temp files, cookies etc? I did my monthly clean up yesterday and got rid of 1.5 gigs of crap.

[AnthonyGA]

are you saying you don't think it necessary to get rid of temp files, cookies etc? I did my monthly clean up yesterday and got rid of 1.5 gigs of crap.

Temp files, cookies, and the like are not stored in the registry, so "cleaning" the registry will not remove them. Conversely, cleaning up temp files and cookies typically requires no changes to the registry. The only time the two are correlated are when files or other objects that are taking up too much space are pointed to by registry entries for active applications, and that's actually pretty rare—and can be fixed by simply deinstalling the applications in question.

[Mornington Crescent]

I hesitate to put my toe in this water....... But it is not unknown for entries to be left in the registry after a programme is uninstalled that interfere with remaining programmes. I had this problem after removing Google Chrome from my win7 computer. The registry needed a little titivating to enable my browser to work properly.

[green granite]

AnthonyGA nowhere in my reply did I even infer that that stuff was in the registry, the question was asked of Mr Optimistic because of his rather ambiguous post not making it clear what he was talking about. Especially following stuckgear's post

[Gertrude the Wombat]

The registry doesn't need to be cleaned.

How can you know whether or not the OP's registry needs cleaning?

Mine did this afternoon. MySQL 5.0 installer doesn't seem to understand how to upgrade a previous version, and the 4.1 uninstaller left some registry entries behind. Regclean didn't get all of them, disappointingly, so I had to delete the rest by hand before 5.0 would run properly.

(It would be soooo much more straightforward if people who didn't understand how to write Windows installers and uninstallers would simply refrain from providing half-arsed versions, so that you would know from the outset that you were in for a tedious manual process.)

[Mr Optimistic]

ambiguous, moi ?

Sorry about that. Over the years I have used a few utility suites (system suite 10 for one). Sometimes they broke a few links but mostly were OK. Have got out of the habit now as I have read a number of articles debunking the advantages. Latest issue of UK computer magazine (Computer Buyer or Shopper, whichever still exists) has an article on this and other 'tuning' ploys, general view is don't bother. I have Ccleaner on my machine but don't use it now. It does what it says and seems safe, but as I say the benefit is more satisfaction at tidying up than benefit to machine efficiency.

On another point, yes I clean out all the temporary files under documents and settings and the Windows folder, but manually. I also check out all the registry entries in the run and runonce keys.

Haven't lost all unnecessary habits though, still can't resist messing about with TCPoptimiser.

[AnthonyGA]

How can you know whether or not the OP's registry needs cleaning?

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.

These days, I find that standalone software often works better if it doesn't use the registry at all. Putting the software in its own folder with its own configuration or .INI file can work very well, despite the alleged obsolescence of the technique.

[Loose rivets]

Will Recovery fully restore the registry from a specific poor install?