Recommended Computer Registry Cleanup Software

Would this little guy beat your computer in a race?

For a number of reasons, computers can (and do) tend to slow with age. The number of programs running in the background grows, your computer's free processing power declines as a result, your hard drive brims--and you, the owner of a previously speedy machine, are forced to sit through load screens, freezes and crashes. If you're running a Windows PC, one potential cause for these ills is a registry that's beginning to show its age.

What Is the Registry?

Jerry Honeycutt, in his book "Microsoft Windows XP Registry Guide," defines the Windows registry as a database that "contains the configuration data that makes the operating system work." Honeycutt goes on to say, "Windows XP and every application that runs on Microsoft's latest desktop operating system do absolutely nothing without consulting the registry first. When you double-click a file... When you install a device... When you run an application such as Microsoft Word..."

Is My Registry Slowing Down My Computer?

The registry, according to Honeycutt, plays a central role in Windows operating systems. However, that does not necessarily mean the registry is slowing down your computer. Older Windows computers, specifically those running Windows 95, 98 and ME, are much more susceptible to registry-related slothfulness. Newer computers run Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or 7, and thus are significantly less likely to be slowed by registry trouble. This is due to a different system of registry organization in the Windows NT framework.

How Do I Tell If My Registry Is Corrupted or Damaged?

Examining your registry manually is a difficult task--so this is where, for most users, "registry cleaners" enter the scene. "Registry cleaners" are pieces of software that scan your registry for flaws and present you with findings, much like anti-virus software scans files.

Dangers of Tinkering With Your Registry

Even when using registry cleaning software, the chance of damaging your registry exists. Exercise caution. Also keep in mind this quote from Ed Bott, writer for ZDNet and author of "Windows 7 Inside Out": "I did a Google search for 'registry cleaner' performance tests, and got more than 25,000 hits. In the first 15 pages, however, there wasn't a single example of an actual performance test. Virtually all the results were from companies that make and sell this sort of utility..." Registry cleaners do not guarantee improvement.

Microsoft's Registry Cleaners

If you wish to use software provided by Microsoft, the utility "PageDefrag" is available from Microsoft TechNet. On its TechNet page, PageDefrag is described as software that "uses advanced techniques to provide you what commercial defragmenters cannot: the ability for you to see how fragmented your paging files and registry hives are, and to defragment them." Defragmentation is a process by which space that should be available--yet, for a variety of reasons, has been made unavailable --is once again made available. This is important in regard to the registry because the registry is of a limited size.

Third Party Alternatives

CCleaner, Registry Cleaner 1.5 and Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010 are some alternatives to Microsoft's registry cleaners.

Although ZDNet's Bott does warn about the potential lack of many registry cleaners' effectiveness, on his blog he did endorse the popular freeware program CCleaner (somewhat), saying, "OK, I'll give it a try." Registry Cleaner 1.5 was reviewed on CNET and given an editors' rating of four out of five stars. Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010 was also reviewed on CNET, receiving 4.5 out of five stars. Its review stated, "when it comes to cleaning your registry, Advanced Registry Optimizer seems to do a pretty good job."

Many pieces of software have been marketed as "registry cleaners." Some of these might prove effective, others might not. The safest way to find out if a "registry cleaner" is effective is to read what reputable tech sources--such as CNET, ZDNet, PCMag, PCWorld or Microsoft--have to say about it before you try it.

References

• "Microsoft Windows XP Registry Guide"; Jerry Honeycutt; 2003
• Ed Bott's Windows Expertise: Why I don't use registry cleaners
• MSDN Magazine: Windows 2000 Registry: Latest Features and APIs Provide the Power to Customize and Extend Your Apps
• Windows Sysinternals: PageDefrag v2.32
• CNET: Diagnostic Software