Understanding Windows Registry

If your computer appears slow, displays a blue screen or doesn’t respond properly it may not be the usual suspects; spyware, malware ad trackers, trojans, worms or a virus. We all run into problems with our computer operating system and, rather than jumping to conclusions, you should check your Windows Registry. The problem may be as simple as that. If your registry is corrupt it needs a cleaning to clear out left over files and bits of formerly installed programs.

The Windows Registry is a database in Windows that stores your settings, options, preferences, and hardware options. The registry grows every time you load Windows. At start up the program reviews the registry informs your installed programs about their settings, docs, application paths and various information to make your computer operate properly. Over time the registry accumulates unecessary files and this leads to a slow down in computer speed.

Every time a program is uninstalled small bits of the application will be left in the registry. This is the problem; you can’t make changes to the registry or undo it without special registry cleaning programs unless you have the skills to edit the registry manually. This has been a concern since Windows 95 – since then most software places permanent entries in the registry for a variety of reasons and they are not deleted during an uninstall. These entries continue to collect until a registry cleaner is used to clean it out. In some cases software malfunctions cause the registry to become scrambled.

Doing a manual edit of your registry is not advised unless you have the training but fortunately there are plenty of registry cleaners available online that will do the job for you.

You will find many sites that offer a “Free Registry Scan”. Is a free registry scan safe? Usually the readily available “free” registry cleaners are often nothing more than a vehicle for a variety of very serious viruses and malware that will seriously damage your computer. On the other hand, most of the legitimate registry cleaner software firms offer you the ability to conduct a free scan of your system before your purchase their software.

What should a registry cleaner do?

Registry cleaning programs are supposed to check the registry, locate, and delete the unnecessary entries in there. But that’s the perfects situation. The reality is, there isn’t a perfect registry cleaner. Every registry cleaner has several algorithms which assist them “identify” which is an important key and what is trash. There is no way of forseeing if deleting a registry key will affect system performance in subtle ways. Therefore, any good registry cleaner needs to let the user backup the registry before it cleans it.

How to manually back-up your registry

Click (from Windows menu) Start – Run
Type in the words – regedit (which opens up the registry editor window)
From the box, hit File – Export
Save it with a name you can remember, preferably including the date.

Registry Cleaners

4 types of registry cleaners:

Balanced scan registry cleaners

Fake registry cleaners

Deep scan registry cleaners

Surface scan registry cleaners

A deep cleaner is actually harmful to your system because it may delete some important registry keys by being too thorough. A light scanning one, isn’t much use either as it simply scans the surface. A fake registry cleaner is dangerous as it is usually spyware in disguise.

A proper registry cleaner is one that:

Asks whether you want to delete various entries and offers solutions

Performs other functions aside from the registry work

Defragments your registry

Offers a backup of the registry
Ultimately get yourself a recommended registry cleaner. It will help your system run smoothly and as fast as the day you bought it new.