The Microsoft Registry is simply the central database where settings and configurations, hardware and software information, as well as personalized system settings are stored. The more hardware, drivers, software, and personalized your PC is, the more complicated your registry is. By the same token, whenever you unknowingly install a malicious program, or your PC gets a virus attack, the details of the program and its configuration settings find their way into the Microsoft registry.

It therefore goes without saying that the registry is a very busy part of any computer system; hence it is bound to experience problems with continuous use of the PC. Just like the human body, the registry of your computer can do with some thorough cleanup every once in a while. Depending on how often you use your computer, you may find that the cleanup can even be on a weekly basis, for optimal performance of your computer.

What happens if the registry is not cleaned? Sluggish response to commands, slow when booting up, error messages, blue screens, and worse of all, the computer may eventually freeze and crash if no cleaning measures are taken. Cleaning… with water or what? You must be thinking?

Cleaning a computer registry does not mean cleaning it with water. You can do it manually, i.e. go into your registry and identify all the things you believe are causing the errors, and start deleting them one by one. Of course this is a very cumbersome process, and not only that, it can be a very costly one in the end.

Unless you are a computer Geek, you may end up deleting useful programs or system files, meaning that once you are done, your computer may not respond to commands again. Even computer geeks find it hard to identify problems in the Microsoft registry system. Manually cleaning the computer registry is also very time-consuming, to say the least.

The best way to clean a Microsoft registry system is to use a specially formulated registry fix software program. This is a program designed to identify, weed out, delete, or fix registry errors. By the end of a thorough cleanup process, the computer’s optimal performance will have been restored. Viruses, malicious programs, adware and spyware, missing keys, dead links, broken links, are few of the many registry problems that Microsoft registries fix tool handles.

Unlike cleaning the Microsoft registry manually, these software programs are automated, meaning your work will only be to download and install, and command it to create a back up copy (in the event or a costly error), and the cleaner will do all the other work.

Being a computer is tough. You process things all day and need to do it in record time to keep the user happy. It is frightening to imagine how a computer manages all these things. The answer is pretty simple though. The Windows operating systems have a fantastic system in place that makes information readily available for the processor. This information is stored and organized in a database we call a registry. The Windows registry manages everything a computer needs to know to do its job. The problem is that this registry can get cluttered over time and especially if the user has installed a lot of programs. This makes the registry cleaners a wonderful thing to have on hand.

Registry problems arise if there are tremendous amounts of unnecessary entries in the registry. This usually occurs when a person is not well educated about the installation and uninstallation process. It may have occurred to them that if they deleted the folder in the Program Files, the application would no longer run. That is right. It will definitely not run. However, the computer still thinks the program is installed because the registry was not made aware of the deletion. That is why there is an uninstall file always accompanying the programs we use. It has a built in batch file that handles the cleaning of the registry entries. Registry cleaners were created to serve this purpose. Developers are well aware that this is a growing issue and so they developed these reg cleaners.

Registry cleaners also have other tasks aside from detecting obsolete software. They are also able to detect missing shared DLLs. This means that it can detect if an important DLL has disappeared from the computer. This is a big help since DLLs are important in the functionality of programs. When these are detected, it is up to you to find a way to get these DLLs again. The registry cleaner simply tells you what you are missing.

The registry also manages and stores a list of the file extensions we use. Some of these are .exe, .ico, .jpg, .doc and many more. Some of the programs we use have their own specific file extensions. For example, Photoshop is known to have the .psd file extension. When we uninstall Photoshop, the registry sometimes mislooks the .psd extension. If it is not removed along with the program, a registry cleaner will be able to detect it and will list it as an unused file extension.

The market has so many registry cleaners such that most people get confused as to which one is the best and most effective of all. This is very important since if you don’t use the best cleaning tool, you may end up doing more harm than good on your PC, thus causing permanent damage to the computer. Simply put, the best registry cleaning tool is the one that does its job perfectly and effectively. Needless to mention, all registry cleaners in the market have been designed to clean the registry – a very huge database where Windows stores all user settings, options, and personal information of the pc.

Whatever you do on the computer, windows will save and update the settings constantly in the registry in an effort to make the PC run as quickly and as reliably as possible. Sadly though, such a level of usage will often leave the Windows registry confused, thus creating several entries of the same thing in the registry the wrong way, eventually corrupting most of the entries. When some parts of the database in the registry are corrupt, they become very hard to read, which makes the computer take a longer time to process request – thereby slowing down the computer. With time, Windows will run slower, slower, and much slower and if the corrupt files continue to multiply, they cause many errors on the registry as well.

Attributes

1. Ability to clean out all corrupt entries of the registry as effectively as possible
2. Ability to identify as well as remove all registry problems safely
3. Ability to work flawlessly with all versions of Windows
4. Shouldn’t crash the system or occupy lots of space on the PC

How the registry cleaning software tool works

A registry cleaner, regardless of its name, is software tool which has the ability to scan through the whole registry database and in turn fix all corrupt or damaged files in the registry. When you use a cleaner to clean the system therefore, you should click on ‘Scan Now’ button, and leave the rest for the software to do. In order to get a registry cleaning tool on your computer, you simply need to download an effective one, install it as you would any other program, and then click on the ‘Scan Now’ button. The tool will start scanning through the registry system in search of any corrupt files and deleting files as well as fixing any errors or problems on the PC.

Sadly, most registry cleaning tools will scan the registry but end up removing files that your Windows system still need to function optimally. In the event that this happens, your PC will run even slower and sometimes even have permanent errors, since deleting ‘healthy’ parts of a computer registry is like removing the main ingredients of a recipe… windows will not be in a position to function well and the whole PC will just slow down and only be problematic; reason why you need to invest only in the best registry cleaning software tool.

The term registry cleanup may not be familiar to all. Some may have heard it mentioned in PC tech forums or similar conversations but have no clue as to what it is. Let me try to explain it to you. Windows applications need lots of variables, settings and paths to properly run. They need to organize this in a way that these are found quickly and easily. That is the work of the Windows registry. It is a huge library where a program’s fundamental parameters are listed and defined. Think of it as a library card catalog so as to make an analogy.

Making changes to the Windows registry is not highly recommended. This is because one wrong move can make a cataclysmic change on your entire operating system’s behavior. Sadly, the reality is that every time we run a program, we are already accessing and modifying the registry. For this very reason, regular registry cleanups should be enforced. Failure to do so would usually result in a downgrade of performance and we wouldn’t like that, would we?

There is no exact number of times a registry cleanup is needed. Aside from a regular scheduled maintenance, you will also find yourself in need of doing an emergency registry cleanup once a sudden error arises with one of your programs.

A registry cleanup is usually needed once you have installed lots of hardware on a computer. For instance, installing a printer, external hard drive and DVD reader is a lot for the computer to handle. Why? Well, these devices all require paths of some sort in order to work 100%. The printer, for example, would need to know the port number where it is attached. The hard drive and DVD reader, as well, need to be assigned a drive path so that you can use them correctly. Sometimes this does not get assigned correctly which makes a registry cleanup necessary.

Another instance where you need to do registry cleanup is when you frequently reinstall or update programs. When you reinstall a program, you first uninstall it so as to leave no trace on your computer. There are some programs that don’t have very well-coded uninstallers. These usually leave their mark on your registry. When you think of reinstalling it, you will sometimes have a problem because of that. The same also happens when you update a program. The program usually overwrites its registry entry and this causes problems at times. This would be a perfect time to perform a registry cleanup.

If your computer has started to run slow, show error messages, boot slowly, respond slowly to commands, ‘forget things’, and show a blue screen, then most probably there is a huge problem with the registry. The registry of a computer is simply a huge database of information needed by the system to respond to commands.

It is in the registry where information about your hardware configurations and settings is stored. Information regarding your browser history and settings, your software installed and uninstalled, your preferred desktop settings, paths of your saved files, etc, is also stored in the registry.

As time goes by, the registry can be full and clogged, especially with redundant files and keys as you keep installing and uninstalling programs. Note that just the mere fact that you have uninstalled a program from the control panel does not mean it is completely out of the system. In most cases, some keys and entries of the same are left on the registry. So you can imagine all those trial programs you deleted after the expiry date, the programs that you deleted because you do not use etc.

Note also that software update, reinstall, and upgrades can also contribute to registry clogging by creating duplicate entries which ought to be deleted during the installation process. In most cases, and because people install and update software without knowing the repercussions the process could be having, the entries are never deleted from the registry when they should, adding more files and keys into this all-important database.

Redundant keys are also brought about by malicious programs; say from virus, Trojan, worms, malware, spyware and adware programs. These are mostly brought about by such things as accessing unsecured websites, downloading and installing programs from unknown sources, and the use of external hardware such as a diskette (do they still exist), flash disk, or CD on your PC.

Generally, each time your computer is on and working, it accesses the registry and reads the information in there in order to open up as per the settings. When creating new files and document folders, the system writes to the registry thus makes continuous changes. Once you are done using the PC and shut it down, all these entries have to be cleaned up and saved on the hard drive to be used another day. Should you not shut down the PC in the right procedure, it means that more corrupt entries find their way into the registry.

All is not lost though, something can be done, and actually, most of these problems can be avoided. How?

• Ensure you follow the right path of shutting down your PC, without leaving it on overnight. Only this way will you be able to save your hard drive and reduce the chances of it getting corrupt should the computer crash or freeze.
• Always ensure you install a good antispyware/ antivirus program to help keep malicious programs at bay
• Always ensure you uninstall software through the right channel, the uninstall program or use the Windows Add or Remove program located in the control panel. Still on point, ensure you install software and programs only from trusted sources.

If you have a computer, you have probably asked yourself this question a million and one times. What really makes a computer run slow? Is it something that you have done or is it just the making of the system, that it is bound to start to run slow after use? Well, some things are within your powers while others are out of your control. The good news is that there are effective remedies to a slow computer. You don’t have to be late to submit an assignment because your computer does not respond to commands, or because it is taking forever to attach a file.

Some of the things that contribute to slow computers include:

• A corrupt registry
• Malicious attack
• Over fragmented hard drive
• Overloaded startup menu

What is the remedy to slow computer problems?

Disable unused items on the startup menu

Slow computer problems can also be felt when the computer is booting up. If you notice that your PC is taking forever to boot, the odds are quite high that it is as a result of an over-crammed startup menu. As time goes by, the system will run out of important system resources and space to boot. The solution to this problem is as simple as disabling unused programs in the start-up menu.

Run a virus scan regularly, preferably on a daily basis

A virus is very notorious and can ‘eat’ up your system resource, thus compromising on its speeds. As such, to avoid experiencing sluggish response, and to even avoid losing important data and information because your hard drive crashes, you might want to ensure you run virus scans on a regular basis. There is good virus scan software programs out there, some which are free while others are paid, to help you get rid of viruses.

Disk defragmentation

Although this point is often overlooked, having a simple disk defragmentation can significantly help improve the speeds of your PC. This will help ensure files are rearranged and easily organized to make them easy to reach and more coherent, than if they were haphazardly saved. You might therefore want to run a disk defragmentation at least once every week to help make the process of sorting out files and accessing them easy.

Fix registry errors

The registry is the central database system where files and system configurations are stored. With time the registry becomes clogged, hence becomes unresponsive to commands. Fixing registry errors helps restore the performance of a slow computer. This you can do with the use of an effective registry cleaning tool, which are readily available over the internet. A good registry cleaner can help fix all registry problems and de-clutter it, thus making its response to commands fast enough.

Fixing the registry is a hassle at times. We often have too much on our work load that we do not have the time to perform a registry fix. Oftentimes, we do not even notice that we have a registry problem. Lucky for us there are several ways to do a registry fix without manually doing so. Enumerated below are some of the things which you can try but before that, it is also good to know how to perform the manual registry fix.

Manual Registry Fix

To manually edit the registry, you need a registry editor. Thankfully, Microsoft has seen it fit to include one in every Windows installation. To access it, simply press Start and then Run on Windows XP and older machines. After that, enter regedit in the Run prompt and press Okay. For Windows Vista machines and newer, just press Start and enter regedit in the search bar. Afterward, press enter or click regedit on the menu. Once you are inside, you can access the various registry folders and values there. The manual editing process is a bit long so we are going to skip it for now. Recommended if you are a skilled user.

Online Registry Fix

There are several sites on the internet that offer an online registry fix. All you need to do is upload your registry file to their site and wait for the results. In order to do that, you need to know how to export your registry. That is why we taught you how to access regedit earlier. Once you are inside regedit, just click File and Export and then give your .reg file a filename. After that, you can now submit it online for an automatic registry fix. Not exactly recommended way to fix your registry – beware.

System Restore

If you have performed minor changes on your computer before a registry problem arose, a system restore can also act as a registry fix. It will restore your computer to an earlier time and undo any changes you have made. This method is only suggested if there were minimal changes to a computer. Otherwise, it may be a waste of time.

Registry Cleaner Programs

Registry Mechanic is a good example of a registry fix program. It verifies registry integrity in several categories such as Missing Shared DLLs, MUI Cache, Installer, Help Files and many more. There are also other similar software out there. Search engines and forums would be the perfect place to start looking. Keep in mind that free is good but not always trustworthy. Always read other people’s comments prior to downloading any registry cleaner.

So what is a registry anyway? A registry is to a computer what the brain is to your body… that is the simplest that the definition can get. Just imagine how you will function without your brain. Here is an illustration. Imagine taking a large file cabinet and spilling all its content on the floor, before moving them all over the place. Now, instruct your office messenger or whoever, to try and retrieve a specific file. How fast are they going to retrieve the file? Yes, that is exactly how a registry works. The more it is cluttered the slower it responds to commands.

While the above illustration may seem extreme, when you think of the hundreds and thousands of programs and files being downloaded, stored, deleted, and modified on a daily basis, it is not far from the real thing that takes place in the registry of your computer. The busy your computer is, the higher your chances of having the paths of the files disorganized, and the more complicated and clogged the registry will be.

So now, we come to cleaning the registry. Were you to go manually, you will need to know the file name and path of each and every wrong entry in the registry for you to be able to delete it? Unless you are a geek, file paths on a computer seem to resemble each other, or rather, they may have only a slight difference that is oblivious to the human eye. What this means is that you may end up deleting what you did not intend to in the first place.

This is where registry cleaners come to play. They are designed to help you arrange the disorganized and clog pile that your PC registry has become. Registry cleaners have been in the market for a while now, and as is with most other products, they have received their share of good and bad reviews as well. Some cleaners are thought to be more efficient and reputable than others.

Some registry cleaners are reported to delete important programs while missing some unwanted and malicious programs. As such, it is always advisable to stick to a reputable brand. How do you know that a specific registry repair tool is reputable? Simple… look for registry cleaners consumer reviews, testimonials online, and you will know the good and the bad of the tool you are considering buying.

In a nutshell, a good registry cleaner should be user friendly, it should have backup facility, it should be able to give your PC a thorough scan to unearth all the hidden unwanted files and entries that clog the system, and more importantly, it should be able to clean your PC and restore it to its optimal functionality.

It is to be mentioned that a registry cleaner isn’t a miraculous cure for your computer. Nevertheless, without a doubt, it will do a lot more than you can do on your own.

A computer registry is a central database system that holds settings, information, and other configurations of the OS. It has entries of the Operating system in use, the hardware, different user settings, the memory of the PC, and the important application settings and programs that make the PC respond to commands as it should. It is made up of a set of instructions that PC users always use to communicate with the computer on how to respond to the different commands given.

The computer registry is found in Microsoft Windows operating systems. Basically, the computer registry is an upgraded and better version of the INI and configuration files that were used with the Windows Dos-systems.

The registry of a computer is responsible for the computer’s optimal performance. It is the one that does all the changes, responds to all the commands, and stores all the settings, information, configurations etc. Simply put, it is the heart and soul of your computer. What this therefore means is that if the registry becomes compromised, the whole system will be slow. A computer registry can be compromised when it is too cluttered with redundant files, broken links, malicious programs etc.

To access the windows registry, you simply need key in ‘regedit’ on the Run command on your startup menu, and you will be able to see this central database system. As you will see, there are so many complex file systems and codes that deleting even a slight ‘fullstop’ in a file path can interfere with the optimal performance of your computer.

By the same token, careless editing of a computer registry can significantly damage your registry, sometimes with irreversible damages. It is because of this that computer technicians always advice on running registry backups before doing any registry cleaning exercise. Actually, this is the top most consideration when buying a registry cleaning tool. It ought to have a registry backup facility such that should anything go wrong during the cleanup process, you can always have a backup copy to turn back to.

Being such a delicate system, laxity and negligence in protecting registry is a very grave mistake. Remember that the more you use your computer the more the computer registry becomes cluttered. Using the computer here is as simple as booting the computer and as complex as downloading and installing, and uninstalling software programs through the control panel. It can also be as simple as changing the desktop background and screensaver preference options.

When all is said and done, the registry is bound to get cluttered and would need some cleaning. It is highly recommended that you select the program you want to use to clean your computer registry carefully. Some software programs can introduce malicious programs into your system, thereby making the situation worse.

Cleaning up the registry of your computer is as important as cleaning up your compound at home or de-cluttering your work environment. Clutter will simply slow you down and compromise on your efficiency. Therefore, a good registry cleaner tool will help you clean out your PC registry. So, what exactly is the registry and how important is it when it comes to the functionality of your computer?

A registry is the central database of your computer. Without it, your computer cannot function. The registry stores all the information that your PC needs to respond to commands, to open programs etc. All details regarding hardware and software that make up the computer and programs that runs the hardware are all stored in this all important central database system known as the registry.

As if that is not enough, the registry keeps entries of all the activities that take place on the computer. Such things as the number of users logged on to the computer, the time of logging in and logging off of each user, the number and paths of websites and links visited, what information was downloaded to the computer, where it was stored, and at what time. The registry further stores such things as desktop settings… ever wondered how your computer remembers your preferred desktop background image each time it boots? Wonder no more, it is the work of the registry.

As is therefore evidence, data on the registry keeps changing each time something is done on the computer … be it deleting a program, downloading one, saving a file etc. Being such a busy central system where information is stored, it is therefore not surprising to find it clogged with redundant information over time. It can have so many entries that will compromise on its efficacy. Remember, it responds to each and every command it is given. So, if it means sifting through all that information stored in there to find what it wants, it may take a considerable amount of time.

This is where you will need to clean the registry and ensure the entries that remain in there are the most important of them all. Of course it would be hard for you to delete the redundant files manually, and this is where a registry cleaner comes in. This is a software program designed to clean the registry, weeding out all unwanted programs and leaving you with only the right ones. A good registry cleaner will identify malicious programs, redundant files, broken and dead links, and all other information and entry deemed useless and redundant, and it will try fixing the broken links and deleting the unwanted and unused programs.

The market has a number of registry cleaners, some which are effective and others which are not as effective. It is important to do your thorough research before settling on any registry cleaner, to ensure you end up with something that will be beneficial, not something that will make the situation worse that it is already.