Free Registry Cleaner Download Review

letterman wrote ...

I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem.
snip

That's the same logic as saying:
"I always smoke cigarettes while I pump gasoline, and I never caused an explosion"
;-)
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

Hey, I resemble that argument!

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"glee" wrote in message
...
letterman wrote ...

I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem.
snip

That's the same logic as saying:
"I always smoke cigarettes while I pump gasoline, and I never caused an
explosion"
;-)
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

glee wrote:
letterman wrote ...

I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem.
snip

That's the same logic as saying:
"I always smoke cigarettes while I pump gasoline, and I never caused an
explosion" ;-)

Actually, it would almost be funny, if it weren't so sadly true - and
pathetic.

I'll put the response here, rather than go through all the postings for
individual responses...

Locating the issue areas is the primary purpose for which I use the
programs for, though I have tested them extensively, which is why I caution
not to use the auto cleanup.

But for the rest, I suggest a perusal through the archives of this group;
remind the parties of their postings; and direct to the SpyWare and Virus
removal forums and sites.
These tools [ccleaner, regseeker, and others] are used regularly during the
process. Granted, under the guidance of people familiar with them and the
registry, but certainly are used far more often than suggesting manual
editing. Moreover, who in here, doesn't have their favorite regedit addin or
replacement that they use because of the limited capabilities of the basic
regedit. Is there anyone still that far in the mud?

So my statement stands, careful application of these cleaners can be of
use, but not to those who fail to take the time to understand them.

--
MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...
| Please provide documentation of Registry bloat causing any significant
| failures". Only such thing I've heard of is SCANREG /FIX failing to run on
a
| large Registry. BFD.
|
| Yes, sometimes the Registry needs work, usually after a wide-spread
disaster
| involving the user doing something that shouldn't have been done, but only
| an expert is likely to know for sure, and while tools *might* locate a few
| of those entries, you know better than most, I think, how much of any real
| Registry *REPAIR*, as opposed to "cleaning", is a painstaking MANUAL
search
| and research procedure that few if any tools do well at all.
|
| I used them regularly for several years, to find "crap" and delete it,
| ALWAYS having to refuse the deletion of some things I had learned weren't
a
| good idea to remove (or were unimportant MRUs, etc.), and after many years
| of such experience, I arrived at the stance I take now. I've never once
had
| any success helping anyone else by having them run any Registry tools,
| whereas I have several times dealt with people who were screwed by their
| Registry tools, even the same ones I'd been using and thought were
| "idiot-proof".
|
| --
| Gary S. Terhune
| MS-MVP Shell/User
| www.grystmill.com
|
|
| "MEB" meb@not wrote in message
| ...
| Ah gosh I hate to do this, BUT,,,,
|
| As we all know, the registry can become quite bloated with entries which
| relate to nothing of value, from MRU lists to applications which fill
the
| registry with open files which no longer exist, to applications
supposedly
| removed but actually leave, at times, countless worthless entries; to
any
| number of other things which aren't need, or may have somehow been
changed
| at sometime.
| We also know or should know that the registry will FAIL or be prone to
| failure after exceeding a certain size [parsing issues].... which then
| becomes an issue which may affect recoverability in a time of crisis.
|
| All the MVP that I have observed here, have, at some time, posted
methods
| to clean errant registry entries, compact the registry, and otherwise
work
| upon the registry... They also have repeatedly advised, when confronted
| with
| ghost entries, bad drivers or applications or otherwise,, advised HOW to
| *manually* search the registry to *clean it*.
|
| I personally have used [and still use] several tools to clean the
| registry,
| which IF PROPERLY USED can be relied upon to make a system lean and
| mean,,,
| but the key is PROPERLY USED... ANY use of a cleaner should be taken
with
| *a
| grain of salt*. AUTOMATIC cleaning is not a good idea. IF the user is
| unfamiliar with the registry, then damage will likely occur. IF, on the
| other hand, the user familiarizes theirselves with the registry, makes
an
| effort to first increase their knowledge of the entries by searching
first
| to see if they ARE un-needed PRIOR to removal, then the desired results
| can
| be achieved.
|
| Never overlook the KEY, that personal knowledge and understanding is
YOUR
| responsibility. OR stay away from these cleaners as they MIGHT cause
more
| harm than good.
|
| These things ARE after all, relied upon quite heavily during cleanup
| activities from SpyWare, Virus, and other such activities...
|
| --
| MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
| --
| _________
|
|
| "Bill in Co." wrote in message
| ...
| | wrote:
| | On Mon, 5 May 2008 08:54:57 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none wrote:
| |
| | ALL registry cleaners are VERY dangerous to your system, and will
| | actually
| | FIX a problem, even just "slowness", approximately NEVER.
| |
| | I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem. I have never
seen
| | it fix any problems, but it does remove a lot of useless junk.
| | Without such programs, it seems to me that the registry would get so
| | huge that it would be crash prone. For example, lets say I created
a
| | folder called "JUNK". I used that folder to temporarily place a
bunch
| | of things I find on my hard drive, which are everything from text,
or
| | Wordpad notes, to downloaded pictures, file downloads, etc. Then I
| | begin sorting out the junk, and use winzip to open many of the
| | downloads, and some photo viewer to look at the pictures, and
Wordpad
| | to look at many of the notes. ALL of these things are documented in
| | the registry. Wordpad, Winzip, Photo Viewers all store "recently
| | opened files".
| |
| | Eventually I get everything put on a CD or other media and I delete
| | the "Junk" folder. Then I remove several of the demo downloads I
| tried.
| |
| | Running Regseeker finds multiple references to that JUNK folder,
| | references to Winzip, Wordpad, etc opening files, and many things
| | relating to the demos I tried and removed. All of that is removed
| | from the registry, thus keeping it small and clean. Of course I
| | always read what is being cleaned (removed). 99.9% of the time it's
| | just this old stuff that is not needed or wanted.
| |
| | So how can you say that Reg cleaners are dangerous and should not be
| | used.
| |
| | Because he (and a few others here) know what they're talking about.
| |
| | I do agree to be careful what is being removed, but without
| | them the registry will become a pile of useless garbage.
| |
| | Nonsense.
| |
| |
|
|
|

MEB wrote:
I'll put the response here, rather than go through all the postings for
individual responses...

Locating the issue areas is the primary purpose for which I use the
programs for, though I have tested them extensively, which is why I
caution
not to use the auto cleanup.

But for the rest, I suggest a perusal through the archives of this group;
remind the parties of their postings; and direct to the SpyWare and Virus
removal forums and sites.
These tools [ccleaner, regseeker, and others] are used regularly during
the
process. Granted, under the guidance of people familiar with them and the
registry, but certainly are used far more often than suggesting manual
editing. Moreover, who in here, doesn't have their favorite regedit addin
or
replacement that they use because of the limited capabilities of the basic
regedit. Is there anyone still that far in the mud?

So my statement stands, careful application of these cleaners can be of
use, but not to those who fail to take the time to understand them.

Which also means they have used regedit and do some manual editing, at least
at some point. (If they haven't, they won't have the understanding,
wisdom, and prudence necessary to responsibly use (and not misuse) any of
these "registry cleaner" utilities).

Or, to put it another way: one must first learn to walk, before one can
run.


--
MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...
Please provide documentation of Registry bloat causing any significant
failures". Only such thing I've heard of is SCANREG /FIX failing to run
on a
large Registry. BFD.

Yes, sometimes the Registry needs work, usually after a wide-spread
disaster
involving the user doing something that shouldn't have been done, but
only
an expert is likely to know for sure, and while tools *might* locate a
few
of those entries, you know better than most, I think, how much of any
real
Registry *REPAIR*, as opposed to "cleaning", is a painstaking MANUAL
search
and research procedure that few if any tools do well at all.

I used them regularly for several years, to find "crap" and delete it,
ALWAYS having to refuse the deletion of some things I had learned weren't
a
good idea to remove (or were unimportant MRUs, etc.), and after many
years
of such experience, I arrived at the stance I take now. I've never once
had
any success helping anyone else by having them run any Registry tools,
whereas I have several times dealt with people who were screwed by their
Registry tools, even the same ones I'd been using and thought were
"idiot-proof".

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com


"MEB" meb@not wrote in message
...
Ah gosh I hate to do this, BUT,,,,

As we all know, the registry can become quite bloated with entries which
relate to nothing of value, from MRU lists to applications which fill
the
registry with open files which no longer exist, to applications
supposedly
removed but actually leave, at times, countless worthless entries; to
any
number of other things which aren't need, or may have somehow been
changed
at sometime.
We also know or should know that the registry will FAIL or be prone to
failure after exceeding a certain size [parsing issues].... which then
becomes an issue which may affect recoverability in a time of crisis.

All the MVP that I have observed here, have, at some time, posted
methods
to clean errant registry entries, compact the registry, and otherwise
work
upon the registry... They also have repeatedly advised, when confronted
with
ghost entries, bad drivers or applications or otherwise,, advised HOW to
*manually* search the registry to *clean it*.

I personally have used [and still use] several tools to clean the
registry,
which IF PROPERLY USED can be relied upon to make a system lean and
mean,,,
but the key is PROPERLY USED... ANY use of a cleaner should be taken
with
*a
grain of salt*. AUTOMATIC cleaning is not a good idea. IF the user is
unfamiliar with the registry, then damage will likely occur. IF, on the
other hand, the user familiarizes theirselves with the registry, makes
an
effort to first increase their knowledge of the entries by searching
first
to see if they ARE un-needed PRIOR to removal, then the desired results
can
be achieved.

Never overlook the KEY, that personal knowledge and understanding is
YOUR
responsibility. OR stay away from these cleaners as they MIGHT cause
more
harm than good.

These things ARE after all, relied upon quite heavily during cleanup
activities from SpyWare, Virus, and other such activities...

--
MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________


"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Mon, 5 May 2008 08:54:57 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none wrote:

ALL registry cleaners are VERY dangerous to your system, and will
actually
FIX a problem, even just "slowness", approximately NEVER.

I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem. I have never seen
it fix any problems, but it does remove a lot of useless junk.
Without such programs, it seems to me that the registry would get so
huge that it would be crash prone. For example, lets say I created a
folder called "JUNK". I used that folder to temporarily place a bunch
of things I find on my hard drive, which are everything from text, or
Wordpad notes, to downloaded pictures, file downloads, etc. Then I
begin sorting out the junk, and use winzip to open many of the
downloads, and some photo viewer to look at the pictures, and Wordpad
to look at many of the notes. ALL of these things are documented in
the registry. Wordpad, Winzip, Photo Viewers all store "recently
opened files".

Eventually I get everything put on a CD or other media and I delete
the "Junk" folder. Then I remove several of the demo downloads I
tried.

Running Regseeker finds multiple references to that JUNK folder,
references to Winzip, Wordpad, etc opening files, and many things
relating to the demos I tried and removed. All of that is removed
from the registry, thus keeping it small and clean. Of course I
always read what is being cleaned (removed). 99.9% of the time it's
just this old stuff that is not needed or wanted.

So how can you say that Reg cleaners are dangerous and should not be
used.

Because he (and a few others here) know what they're talking about.

I do agree to be careful what is being removed, but without
them the registry will become a pile of useless garbage.

Nonsense.

"glee" wrote in message
...
letterman wrote ...

I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem.
snip

That's the same logic as saying:
"I always smoke cigarettes while I pump gasoline, and I never caused an
explosion"
;-)




LOL!!!!


For my "real job" I work on industrial equipment...
and am usually in an explosive atmosphere.

Though I am observant of the proper precautions...in my 33 years on the
job...
I did *once* cause a real nice explosion!

(The damage was not extreme..but suffice it to say my ears were ringing for
24 hours.)


Since the work I do is quite dangerous...I highly discourage the small crowd
of people
who like to watch me work... (they seem to think that it's interesting)

Most of the time they ask in puzzlement: "Wow...isn't that explosive?"

I smile very nonchalantly as I remove my respirator to talk:

"Oh, it's perfectly safe, I hardly ever blow these things up."


I usually end up working in complete seclusion G

I don't use any such add-on and never have. Yes, I suppose they might have
come in handy once or twice, but by the time I thought of grabbing one for
the momentary purpose, I was done.

I don't get involved in detailed spyware and virus removal. With minor
exceptions, when I encounter a seriously infested machine, I recommend a
full rebuild. Once a machine is infested, I consider it permanently suspect.
Besides, it would seem to me that in the case of viruses and spyware
removal, the experts should already know EXACTLY what spyware and virus(es)
they are dealing with and which Registry entries to remove, and even have
REG files for the purpose. If they are GUESSING to the point that they need
tools to seek out (intelligently, one presumes) just the signs of crap, then
we're back to a full wipe and reinstall AFAIC. Not to be too blunt about it,
but I consider such pastimes precisely that. Pastimes. Just like a lot of
"fixing" that goes on here, say in the networking and DUN sphere, for
instance, with the interminable and often unresolved threads, all your AT
commands, blah, blah... The way to FIX a DUN problem is almost ALWAYS to
remove all networking and related devices and services and let them
reinstall themselves.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"MEB" meb@not wrote in message
...
I'll put the response here, rather than go through all the postings for
individual responses...

Locating the issue areas is the primary purpose for which I use the
programs for, though I have tested them extensively, which is why I
caution
not to use the auto cleanup.

But for the rest, I suggest a perusal through the archives of this group;
remind the parties of their postings; and direct to the SpyWare and Virus
removal forums and sites.
These tools [ccleaner, regseeker, and others] are used regularly during
the
process. Granted, under the guidance of people familiar with them and the
registry, but certainly are used far more often than suggesting manual
editing. Moreover, who in here, doesn't have their favorite regedit addin
or
replacement that they use because of the limited capabilities of the basic
regedit. Is there anyone still that far in the mud?

So my statement stands, careful application of these cleaners can be of
use, but not to those who fail to take the time to understand them.

--
MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...
| Please provide documentation of Registry bloat causing any significant
| failures". Only such thing I've heard of is SCANREG /FIX failing to run
on
a
| large Registry. BFD.
|
| Yes, sometimes the Registry needs work, usually after a wide-spread
disaster
| involving the user doing something that shouldn't have been done, but
only
| an expert is likely to know for sure, and while tools *might* locate a
few
| of those entries, you know better than most, I think, how much of any
real
| Registry *REPAIR*, as opposed to "cleaning", is a painstaking MANUAL
search
| and research procedure that few if any tools do well at all.
|
| I used them regularly for several years, to find "crap" and delete it,
| ALWAYS having to refuse the deletion of some things I had learned
weren't
a
| good idea to remove (or were unimportant MRUs, etc.), and after many
years
| of such experience, I arrived at the stance I take now. I've never once
had
| any success helping anyone else by having them run any Registry tools,
| whereas I have several times dealt with people who were screwed by their
| Registry tools, even the same ones I'd been using and thought were
| "idiot-proof".
|
| --
| Gary S. Terhune
| MS-MVP Shell/User
| www.grystmill.com
|
|
| "MEB" meb@not wrote in message
| ...
| Ah gosh I hate to do this, BUT,,,,
|
| As we all know, the registry can become quite bloated with entries
which
| relate to nothing of value, from MRU lists to applications which fill
the
| registry with open files which no longer exist, to applications
supposedly
| removed but actually leave, at times, countless worthless entries; to
any
| number of other things which aren't need, or may have somehow been
changed
| at sometime.
| We also know or should know that the registry will FAIL or be prone to
| failure after exceeding a certain size [parsing issues].... which then
| becomes an issue which may affect recoverability in a time of crisis.
|
| All the MVP that I have observed here, have, at some time, posted
methods
| to clean errant registry entries, compact the registry, and otherwise
work
| upon the registry... They also have repeatedly advised, when
confronted
| with
| ghost entries, bad drivers or applications or otherwise,, advised HOW
to
| *manually* search the registry to *clean it*.
|
| I personally have used [and still use] several tools to clean the
| registry,
| which IF PROPERLY USED can be relied upon to make a system lean and
| mean,,,
| but the key is PROPERLY USED... ANY use of a cleaner should be taken
with
| *a
| grain of salt*. AUTOMATIC cleaning is not a good idea. IF the user is
| unfamiliar with the registry, then damage will likely occur. IF, on
the
| other hand, the user familiarizes theirselves with the registry, makes
an
| effort to first increase their knowledge of the entries by searching
first
| to see if they ARE un-needed PRIOR to removal, then the desired
results
| can
| be achieved.
|
| Never overlook the KEY, that personal knowledge and understanding is
YOUR
| responsibility. OR stay away from these cleaners as they MIGHT cause
more
| harm than good.
|
| These things ARE after all, relied upon quite heavily during cleanup
| activities from SpyWare, Virus, and other such activities...
|
| --
| MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
| --
| _________
|
|
| "Bill in Co." wrote in message
| ...
| | wrote:
| | On Mon, 5 May 2008 08:54:57 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none wrote:
| |
| | ALL registry cleaners are VERY dangerous to your system, and will
| | actually
| | FIX a problem, even just "slowness", approximately NEVER.
| |
| | I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem. I have never
seen
| | it fix any problems, but it does remove a lot of useless junk.
| | Without such programs, it seems to me that the registry would get
so
| | huge that it would be crash prone. For example, lets say I
created
a
| | folder called "JUNK". I used that folder to temporarily place a
bunch
| | of things I find on my hard drive, which are everything from text,
or
| | Wordpad notes, to downloaded pictures, file downloads, etc. Then
I
| | begin sorting out the junk, and use winzip to open many of the
| | downloads, and some photo viewer to look at the pictures, and
Wordpad
| | to look at many of the notes. ALL of these things are documented
in
| | the registry. Wordpad, Winzip, Photo Viewers all store "recently
| | opened files".
| |
| | Eventually I get everything put on a CD or other media and I
delete
| | the "Junk" folder. Then I remove several of the demo downloads I
| tried.
| |
| | Running Regseeker finds multiple references to that JUNK folder,
| | references to Winzip, Wordpad, etc opening files, and many things
| | relating to the demos I tried and removed. All of that is removed
| | from the registry, thus keeping it small and clean. Of course I
| | always read what is being cleaned (removed). 99.9% of the time
it's
| | just this old stuff that is not needed or wanted.
| |
| | So how can you say that Reg cleaners are dangerous and should not
be
| | used.
| |
| | Because he (and a few others here) know what they're talking about.
| |
| | I do agree to be careful what is being removed, but without
| | them the registry will become a pile of useless garbage.
| |
| | Nonsense.
| |
| |
|
|
|

On Mon, 5 May 2008 14:15:26 -0500, "philo" wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 5 May 2008 08:54:57 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none wrote:

ALL registry cleaners are VERY dangerous to your system, and will
actually
FIX a problem, even just "slowness", approximately NEVER.

I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem. I have never seen
it fix any problems, but it does remove a lot of useless junk.
Without such programs, it seems to me that the registry would get so
huge that it would be crash prone. For example, lets say I created a
folder called "JUNK". I used that folder to temporarily place a bunch
of things I find on my hard drive, which are everything from text, or
Wordpad notes, to downloaded pictures, file downloads, etc. Then I
begin sorting out the junk, and use winzip to open many of the
downloads, and some photo viewer to look at the pictures, and Wordpad
to look at many of the notes. ALL of these things are documented in
the registry. Wordpad, Winzip, Photo Viewers all store "recently
opened files".



snip

I agree with Gary Terhune 100% .

What about Microsoft's own RegClean.exe? For Windows 98 SE? I use that
occasionally.

MM

On Mon, 5 May 2008 16:45:57 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none wrote:

Please provide documentation of Registry bloat causing any significant
failures". Only such thing I've heard of is SCANREG /FIX failing to run on a
large Registry. BFD.

This is the problem I have had. But IS there a way to compact the
registry after deinstalling unwanted programs? Or is the ONLY solution
to reinstall Windows and reinstall only the apps one needs? My
SYSTEM.DAT on one PC (98SE) is 10MB and SCANREG /FIX barfs at about
87% completed.

MM

On a scale, I'd say it's medium dangerous. That's why you can't find it on
Microsoft's site to download, and haven't been able to for ~ 10 years or
more.

From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727154.aspx, "Distributing
Registry Changes" dated 2001-- "However, Regclean works only with the
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT subtree, which is almost never the source of major
registry problems, and the program has been known to cause as many problems
as it fixes."

Unfortunately, that paragraph also says you can't delete anything from the
Registry using REG files, which is patently false. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310516

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"MM" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 5 May 2008 14:15:26 -0500, "philo" wrote:


wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 5 May 2008 08:54:57 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none wrote:

ALL registry cleaners are VERY dangerous to your system, and will
actually
FIX a problem, even just "slowness", approximately NEVER.

I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem. I have never seen
it fix any problems, but it does remove a lot of useless junk.
Without such programs, it seems to me that the registry would get so
huge that it would be crash prone. For example, lets say I created a
folder called "JUNK". I used that folder to temporarily place a bunch
of things I find on my hard drive, which are everything from text, or
Wordpad notes, to downloaded pictures, file downloads, etc. Then I
begin sorting out the junk, and use winzip to open many of the
downloads, and some photo viewer to look at the pictures, and Wordpad
to look at many of the notes. ALL of these things are documented in
the registry. Wordpad, Winzip, Photo Viewers all store "recently
opened files".



snip

I agree with Gary Terhune 100% .

What about Microsoft's own RegClean.exe? For Windows 98 SE? I use that
occasionally.

MM