Are "registry cleaners" safe to use?

Hi,

I just want to know if those so-called "registry cleaners" are safe to use.  Since they are all over the Internet, I assume a lot of people do use them.  They give promises of faster computer performance, getting rid of all the junk left by previously uninstalled programs.  But I am thinking that to an untrained hand, isn't that going to cause more trouble?

The reason I am asking is that yes, I do see folders left by previously uninstalled programs and it's pretty annoying to find folders that have nothing in them.  I just need advice if using these things will be okay. 

And I would also greatly appreciate if you could give suggestions on what cleaners I would use.  As you have noticed I am not very adept with computers, but I am also trying to avoid inadvertedly damaging anything because I know I cannot fix it.

Thanks!

-Reine

Was this discussion helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this discussion?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this discussion?

Thanks for your feedback.

* Please try a lower page number.

* Please enter only numbers.

* Please try a lower page number.

* Please enter only numbers.

On Sat, 19-Dec-09 19:55:23 GMT, reineshadow wrote:

> Hi,I just want to know if those so-called "registry cleaners"
> are safe to use.


No!


> Since they are all over the Internet, I assume a lot of
> people do use them.


Yes, unfortunately.


> They give promises of faster computer performance, getting
> rid of all the junk left by previously uninstalled programs.
> But I am thinking that to an untrained hand, isn't that
> going to cause more trouble?


Yes! Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of the
ve the registry alone and
don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and
what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.

Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html



> The reason I am asking is that yes, I do see folders left
> by previously uninstalled programs and it's pretty annoying
> to find folders that have nothing in them.


That has nothing to do with registry cleaners, which don't do anything
about them at all.
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003

Ken Blake

23 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

KJBlake has it down here... registry cleaners really don't give you a noticable speed increase. However I use CCleaner (ccleaner.com), which also cleans junk files off your system, not just clean the registry.   My"> favorite threads | Computer tips       Contact me | 'Gadget' programs

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Yes,

Ken you're copletely right.

Those tools are completely useless since Vista. Vista/7 optimize themselves (Superfetch, ReadyBoot, automatic defragmentation during idle). And Windows doesn't completely load the registry into the RAM any longer. So those tools are useless.

Save the money and better buy more RAM to speed up your PC!

André
"A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/

3 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

On Sat, 19-Dec-09 22:14:25 GMT, JoelbX wrote:

> KJBlake has it down here... registry cleaners really
> don't give you a noticable speed increase. However I
> use CCleaner (ccleaner.com), which also cleans junk
> files off your system, not just clean the registry.


CCleaner *is* a good program, as long as you don't use its registry
cleaning function.
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003

Ken Blake

1 person found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Thank you for your replies.  I verified this information with my friends before buying a new computer and Windows 7.  Your input is much appreciated. :)

2 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

"reineshadow" wrote in message
news:94de97de-e440-4810-a6e9-e095bd1bd7c1...

> Thank you for your replies. I verified this information with my
> friends before buying a new computer and Windows 7. Your input is
> much appreciated. :)


You're welcome. Glad to help.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003


Ken Blake

2 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Reply In reply to deleted message

Rcmichelle,

Please note that posting SPAM in any Microsoft forum violates theCode of Conduct. Kindly read the document and adhere to its policies. We have deleted  the posts in question, but please know that you risk being banned from posting in all Microsoft forums if violation continues. Thank you for your cooperation

 


Cody C
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.
Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.

3 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Registry cleaners are unsafe. They can damage your system, make your computer unbootable, and stop your programs from running. They use all kinds of "algorithms" to see what items in your registry should be deleted, and then delete vital registry keys and values that are essential for your computer to run properly. There is no significant improvement in your computer performance from using them. They are the snake oil of the software market. See http://chris.pirillo.com/are-registry-cleaners-safe-to-use/

8 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

They are completely UNSAFE! Not good at all. I had tuneup utilities, and drivers started deleting themselves on my PC! It wouldn't start, and programs always hung. Uninstalled it and restored, pc works like new. I think you should get CCleaner and use it to clean (C:/) but don't use the registry cleaner. See my discoussion... 

Any posts greatly appreciated.

2 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Cleaning up your empty folders is very different from cleaning up your Windows registry. Cleaning up your empty folders is safe and there are free tools to do it with (see http://download.cnet.com/Remove-Empty-Directories/3000-2248_4-10755867.html). Cleaning up your registry can break your system, and CCleaner is one of the worst offenders (see http://chris.pirillo.com/are-registry-cleaners-safe-to-use/)
I wouldn't install it on my PC.

5 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

* Please try a lower page number.

* Please enter only numbers.

* Please try a lower page number.

* Please enter only numbers.

 
 

Discussion Info


Last updated March 11, 2024 Views 34,568 Applies to: