Registry Cleaner Articles

Pros And Cons Of Using A Registry Cleaner

2010-02-23

Asking whether or not one should use a registry cleaner is akin to asking whether or not oil additives improve car engine performance. There are camps that swear by them and camps that swear against them. Advocates claim registry cleaners are great for keeping the windows registry hive on a Windows-based PC small, organized, and clutter free. They further claim windows registry cleaners will speed up PC performance. The anti-registry cleaner camp, on the other hand, says that using registry cleaners is asking for trouble, stating that windows registry cleaners can accidentally delete important files and corrupt the Windows OS, thus doing more harm than good. There are probably just as many people on both sides of the fence.

The Windows registry is a database storing settings and options for the operating system and installed applications. Items like control panel settings, login information, and application preferences are what you will find if you ever decide to take a look at your registry. The windows registry was designed to replace the myriad of .TXT, .INI, and other proprietary settings files that were common in the early Windows 3.0 and MS-DOS days. The idea was to contain all system settings and preferences in a central location. The registry has been known to accumulate obsolete and non-functioning entries. A system with too many erroneous entries can slow and/or crash a computer. This was especially true with older versions of Windows. Microsoft tried to address this with an application called REGCLEAN. Unfortunately, it does not work with any versions of Windows newer than Windows ME.

This prompted dozens of third-party companies to make registry cleaners of their own. There are cautions to take, however, when using them as not all registry cleaners are equal. Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses. Some scan your registry only once, while others scan it twice as insurance against accidentally deleting needed entries. Registry cleaners vary in their degree of aggressiveness towards cleaning out obsolete entries. Be sure to use one that allows you to backup your entire registry before performing any deletions. Even so, be sure to make a system restore point and backup all data files. Be sure to choose a registry cleaner that displays all actions it plans to take before actually doing so. This will give you an opportunity to hand pick which ones you want performed and which ones you don't.

Registry cleaners supposedly "clean" out your registry and make your computer run faster, but at the risk of data loss and possible system corruption. As with oil additives, your mileage may vary.

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