Registry cleanup – Do it pronto!
by admin on Apr.30, 2009, under registry errors
Windows Registry is the totality of the great amount of files that contain information almost about everything that happen on the computer, from Web sites visiting to installation of the programs. The System Registry can also contain the information about the drivers and other important programs like Dlls (programs that usually work with more than one application). This information is kept in the form of keys that help the programs to run. The System Registry is like the great plan or scheme for everything that takes place on the computer. Only the Windows System has the Registry, it is one of the main peculiarities of this operational system.
The System Registry contains hundreds of thousands entries and gradually some new entries appear. When the registry is full of information, then it can be the reason of the slow work of the computer. The problem is that Windows System almost never deletes the Registry entries even if the program is removed. That’s why you should clean the Registry. But remember that it is a risky action and never forget to do a backup copy before any changes in the Registry. You can clean Registry with your own hands or with the help of programs.
If you decide to clean it manually then firstly open the Windows registry editor: press Win+R, then type “regedit” and click OK.
Then Navigate the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” key, expand the “Software” key and remove all the keys that were like the name of uninstalled applications (the title can contain the name of the program or the company name). Then you should remove the unwanted start-up items.
1. Find the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Run\.
3. Find the unwanted items inside of the left pane. Highlight it and press “delete“. If you are not sure what you should delete and what not, it would be better to leave this process or to look for its functions on the Internet.
4. Repeat the removal process for the same key path inside of the HKEY_CURRENT_USER location.
But still it will be better to use special tools to clean the Registry, for example, “Security Stronghold Registry Cleaner”.
It is a handy program that will define for you what the useful Registry keys are and what are not. “Security Stronghold Registry Cleaner” purges the user history, memory dumps and “windows for reporting”. Just download it, put the necessary ticks both in Windows and Applications sections and “Run Cleanup”. Don’t panic if you will get some “are you sure” messages, just read once again what are you going to scan and if everything is right click OK in that message. Then you can clean the “Registry” section. The program itself will do the backup copy. The cleaning process can be time-consuming if you never clean the Registry before.
