Great Registry Cleaner suggestions?

[Asergaottie]

Anyone have any recommendations for a great registry cleaner? My cousin is a network engineer for Janus Research and suggested Ccleaner.

Just looking for other suggestions. I have read that some do more harm than good.

[DJanda]

There was a discussion about this last year:
http://bbs.blackviper.com/index.php/topic,329.0.html

I presume that entire thread pertains to 32-bit systems however.

In the 32-bit world. I have used Regcure for several years with no problem. However, they don't support 64-bit systems and I'm skittish enough about any software poking around in my registry let alone have something that isn't written specifically for 64-bit systems. Ergo, my registry will just have to take care of itself for a while. 

[Spawn]

I would suggest not using one...

Spawn

[Black Viper]

I would suggest not using one...

I agree.

[WildcatDan]

Registry cleaners can be very useful and CCleaner is a pretty good one.  But, I've always believed that you shouldn't mess around with a registry cleaning utility unless you know what you're doing with it.  It's easy to mess up your OS by taking out the wrong registry entries by accident.

[VampireMuffinMan]

There was a discussion about this last year:
http://bbs.blackviper.com/index.php/topic,329.0.html

I presume that entire thread pertains to 32-bit systems however.

In the 32-bit world. I have used Regcure for several years with no problem. However, they don't support 64-bit systems and I'm skittish enough about any software poking around in my registry let alone have something that isn't written specifically for 64-bit systems. Ergo, my registry will just have to take care of itself for a while. 

Glary Utilities is a very good program and when CCleaner wrecked my 7 RC x64 install, Glary worked just fine.  Since then, CCleaner has fixed that bug and their latest release also works fine.  Glary Utilities has a lot of other tools and the junk cleaner and the registry tool work just as well as CCleaner.  I also like the interface much better than that of CCleaner. 

[DJanda]

Glary Utilities is a very good program and when CCleaner wrecked my 7 RC x64 install, Glary worked just fine.  Since then, CCleaner has fixed that bug and their latest release also works fine.  Glary Utilities has a lot of other tools and the junk cleaner and the registry tool work just as well as CCleaner.  I also like the interface much better than that of CCleaner.

Thanks! I installed Glary Utilities on both the Vista and Win7 sides of the (computer) house. I agree, very nice interface and runs fast. Looks good so far... 

[Myrm]

I would suggest not using one...

I agree.

Hi

Sorry if I sound stupid, but why would you suggest not using a Registry Cleaner?  Companies that sell such products claim that if you don't use one, your system will eventually slow down.  Is that just sales talk or are these programs worth getting?

Thanks.

[Black Viper]

Sorry if I sound stupid, but why would you suggest not using a Registry Cleaner?  Companies that sell such products claim that if you don't use one, your system will eventually slow down.  Is that just sales talk or are these programs worth getting?

The whole idea stemmed from many software companies adding things in the registry (and Windows having legacy entries not needed) and the idea that accessing the registry constantly slows down the system. Whether or not this is true, I have not tested, but in the "old" days, this may have been the case. I say, if it is not needed, why have it there, but I have also heard many people complain about cleaners doing "too" good of a job and breaking things down the line and not understanding why it happened.

To be on the safe side of the fence, I do not use them and never have as I feel that my systems performance in what I do in other areas compensates for what little the cleaners do with a bigger return.

The registry is intended for a system wide storage of variables and, even though in certain respects, looking back, that may or may not have been a good idea to do such a thing (and have errors in the registry take the whole system down), but on the other hand, if each application had their "own" registry hive, the bloat, I feel, would probably be noticeable and be worse on system performance overall.

[Spawn]

Hi

Sorry if I sound stupid, but why would you suggest not using a Registry Cleaner?  Companies that sell such products claim that if you don't use one, your system will eventually slow down.  Is that just sales talk or are these programs worth getting?

Thanks.

I keep my system running in top performance without them...why add an additional piece of software?  As BV said, I also know how they can screw up your system, and yes, I know what I am doing, so knowledge of how they work doesn't have anything to do with it.  I can only speak from the experience I have had with them on my own and other's machines.  I saw no gain that was worth using the software...especially when you really don't know what the software is doing behind the scenes.

I see no reason for one.

Spawn

[couttsj]

Sorry if I sound stupid, but why would you suggest not using a Registry Cleaner?  Companies that sell such products claim that if you don't use one, your system will eventually slow down.  Is that just sales talk or are these programs worth getting?
Thanks.

As others have already said, Registry Cleaners should not be necessary for normal system use. Some software does does do a good job of cleaning up after an uninstall. If you are one of those people that installs a lot of software just to try it, and then uninstalls it when they realize it is not for them, the registry can become bloated and slow down the system. I find it difficult to understand how a Registry Cleaner can make the decisions necessary to really clean it up, and IMHO I find the only real solution to registry bloat is to start over and reload the operating system.

J.A. Coutts

[Black Viper]

I find it difficult to understand how a Registry Cleaner can make the decisions necessary to really clean it up, and IMHO I find the only real solution to registry bloat is to start over and reload the operating system.

This is also how I usually "fix" the bloat issue. If I am getting close to a reinstall (service pack release, major patches, etc), I install a bunch of game demos to see what I like and do not like and test out some software that I may like and install the OS clean and only put back what I want and will use often.

[Spawn]

This is also how I usually "fix" the bloat issue. If I am getting close to a reinstall (service pack release, major patches, etc), I install a bunch of game demos to see what I like and do not like and test out some software that I may like and install the OS clean and only put back what I want and will use often.

Ditto.

[Myrm]

Well, do very rude things to me with a galvanised toilet brush!!!   

I just had a 'major' problem caused by using a registry cleaner (RegCure).  I ran the program and it found about 50 billion 'problems' (well, 200 odd), and so I let it fix them.

A few minutes later I tried to rename a folder on my hard drive, when I start getting the following error; "File or folder does not exist".  WTF!! All I am trying to do is to rename a folder, not look for one, or a file.  Nothing I did would allow me to rename a folder or create a new one with a specified name.

So, I went into Regcure, rolled back the changes it had made and hey presto!  problem cured.

Regcure my bottom!!  I have uninstalled it and will never use a registry cleaner again.

You may now all say; "I told you so!" 

[Black Viper]

You may now all say; "I told you so!" 

Nah, more like "live and learn."
If I never broke a computer doing random stuff that I thought would be a good thing, I would never know how to fix it.