How to: Clean your registry

What is the Windows Registry?

Put in simple words, the registry is a centralized database in which your Windows operating system stores all its configuration information. Some of the important information that is stored in the registry includes:

• - Hardware configuration information that controls the way various hardware devices work on your system.
• - Software settings and configuration to enable programs to operate, understand user inputs, and execute commands sent to them.
• - User preferences that basically enable you to save a customized system for each user profile created on the computer.
• - System setup information that is basically controlled by different options in the Control Panel.

The tree-like structure of the registry is basically comprised of keys, subkeys, and their values. To view the Registry tree, you need to run the “regedit” command at Start > Run. In the Registry Editor window that opens, you will see the five topmost registry keys, commonly referred to as root keys displayed in the left pane of the window. These are HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY-CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG.

When you expand each of these keys, you will see its subtree comprising of many subkeys and their sub-subkeys. When you click on one of these keys, its value(s) will be displayed in the right pane. These are the keys and values where all the configuration data of your computer is stored.

Why you Should Clean the Registry

The registry is dynamic in nature. As you start working on your computer, information is continuously accessed, added and removed from it. Due to several reasons—some of which are listed below—over time the registry gets filled up with unwanted information that causes it to grow to a very large size, making it unstable. An unstable and damaged registry adversely affects your computer by generating several computer errors and causing frequent system failures. The following are some of the activities that contribute to increasing the size of the registry:

• Outdated keys that are not removed after programs are updated or removed from the system.
• Empty and orphan registry keys left behind when programs are uninstalled, especially when the programs are not removed by using a legitimate program removal process.
• Duplicate or redundant entries when programs are updated or reinstalled.
• Malicious keys added by malware programs, such as virus, Trojans, spyware, and adware.

How To Clean Your Registry

Periodic registry repair and clean up is very important to maintain a healthy, high-performance, error-free computer. This is the reason why several experienced computer technicians and experts recommend using a good registry cleaner tool for the purpose. These tools are easy to use and even new computer users can easily utilize their features to maintain a healthy registry.

Discussed are some handy registry tips that will help you select and use a good registry cleaner tool on your system.

1. Select a Reliable Registry Cleaner:

1. The tool you select should:
   
   • - Be compatible with your Windows operating system.
   • - Have good user reviews.
   • - Be easy-to-use.
   • - Comprise the features you need.

We recommend RegCleaner, it's open source and it just works.

RegCleaner is an easy to use program. With RegCleaner you can easily get rid of those old and obsolete registry entries created by software that you have destroyed ages ago. And by easily, I mean easily. You don´t have to be any expert to use this program.

We also recommend Security & Privacy Complete a more complete solution also open source and easy to use.

Security & Privacy Complete is mainly a security tool for Windows. It can disable all services which might be a security-risk, harden registry settings... Also included privacy features for Internet Explorer, Media Player, and of course: Mozilla Firefox.

If your choosing a commercial application, it is a good practice to use the trial version of the tool you want to buy for a while, and then buy it only if you are satisfied with the results.

2. Install the Tool and Backup the Registry:

2. After you have selected a tool, download it and install it on the computer. Next, backup the registry using the tool’s backup and restore feature.
3. 
4. This is important because if by any chance an error occurs during the repair process, you can use the backup to restore your registry.
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3. Scan and Repair the Registry Regularly:

6. Next, use the scan and repair feature of the tool to start searching the registry for unwanted information and then display the errors on the screen. If you want, you can review these errors and select the ones you want to remove, or just hit the automatic repair option.
   
   

4. Defrag the registry:

7. The scan and repair process gets rid of unwanted data and repairs corrupt registry entries. Registry defragging further helps you by consolidating fragmented registry files and compressing the registry by removing unwanted empty registry keys. This process further optimizes the registry, speeds up data access and, as a result, enhances the performance of your system.

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