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Vashna
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17 Dec 2009, 12:57 pm

If anyone uses one, can anyone suggest a good (preferably freeware) registry cleaner for Windows XP? I'm so used to doing it by hand, but if anyone has any advice on how to automate the task, I'd be really interested. Thanks!



CloudWalker
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17 Dec 2009, 3:12 pm

Generally my recommendation is not to use one.

Why do you wanna clean it anyway? If it's for privacy concern then I think CCleaner is good. If you have a list of keys you want to delete, you can use a .reg file and auto run it at startup/shutdown.



zer0netgain
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17 Dec 2009, 10:06 pm

Don't know of any free stuff.

I've always had Norton Utilities, and I justify the cost because it IDs and fixes registry problems that develop over time and can compact the registry by deleting stuff that doesn't belong there anymore.



Vashna
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18 Dec 2009, 1:29 am

Actually, to be totally honest, security isn't a concern at all. I just delete all the old keys from uninstalled programs out of habit I suppose. Is it unnecessary in your opinion?



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19 Dec 2009, 7:32 pm

That will depend on how thorough you are. The overhead of orphan key is tiny, it won't really matter unless the machine is under spec to the point of unusable to begin with. It's not too different from having some left over files on the harddisk. What can really adversely affect performance are left over components like drivers, services, registered COMs, shell handlers, etc. They are however hard to identify unless you log the installation process in the first place. Even then, there's the danger of cross dependency. I have yet to see any registry cleaner or 3rd party uninstaller that do a good job of it and it's hard to imagine someone putting the enormous effort to do it manually. If you are the kind of person that like to try out different programs, I will recommend you do it in a virtual machine and only install those that you really like in your normal windows. You can use Windows in trial mode for 120 days, so you don't really need to activate the copy in the VM.



Vashna
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20 Dec 2009, 2:36 am

I used to take outrageous amounts of time to manually delete keys from the registry. I guess its probably just a neurotic obsession with me.



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20 Dec 2009, 2:22 pm

As a software developer I'd strongly recommend against manually removing any keys from the registry. The chance of wrecking something is extremely high if you get it wrong. All the applications I write make use of the registry for storing keys and various settings but what I don't allow for (and I think the same probably goes for lots of other developers) is partial removal of settings. There is a good chance that if you decide to re-install an application or a later version of an application that it will fail with bizarre run time problems if some keys are present and some are not. Best not to meddle with the registry. Only the developer who designed the software and put the keys in the registry knows what the keys are for and where they were all placed.


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JohnnyCarcinogen
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21 Dec 2009, 12:51 pm

I've used CCleaner for a couple of years on XP, Vista and now 7 with no problems.


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khelben1979
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27 Dec 2009, 9:33 am

Registry Mechanic works good for XP, but it's not free.


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LinnaeusCat
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28 Dec 2009, 3:30 am

CCleaner.


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29 Dec 2009, 5:48 am

Fdisk and then install Ubuntu :lol:


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