# What is the Best registry cleaner free one



## TRISH-HICKS (Oct 13, 2008)

really curious about this one
trish


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Hi Trish-Hicks and welcome to TSG 

Registry cleaners aren't popular with many at TSG.
Not everyone has issues with them, but many including myself think they are the Devil himself 
I have used them as a novice computer user with disastrous results and won't use or recommend them, free or commercial.
IMO, you're better off with out using one.


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## grwebguy (Oct 14, 2008)

I like RegScrubXP and CCleaner.
Both have worked excellent for me without issues.
They cleanup the crap that lots of installs/uninstalls leave behind.

I'm a newbie to the forum, but not to pc work.



CCleaner also has a more agressive disk cleanup that the standard windows version.


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## 1002richards (Jan 29, 2006)

Hi,
Interesting article often quoted at TSG on opposed to Reg Cleaners side of the house.
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643

Richard


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## grwebguy (Oct 14, 2008)

Interesting but....

1. Don't like registry mechanic anyway.

2. Ccleaner, and RegScrupXP do not delete dlls. They deleted empty reg entries, entries to invalid dlls.

3. These two are not an attempt to fix your pc. They are cleaning up the crap that bad installers put in, and worse uninstallers leave in.

A streamlined reg WILL help your computer, regardless of the lack of numbers, due to the mere fact there is less to read/index.

The use of any softwware designed to fix, or protect a computer on it's own, without an experienced person to manage it, can be hazardous to your pc's health.


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## tbird6820 (Aug 10, 2008)

What is you Opinion on Easycleaner 2.0 (free)


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## AKAJohnDoe (Jun 6, 2007)

Unless you can articulate why you wish to clean your registry there is little need in doing so


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## grwebguy (Oct 14, 2008)

I agree with AJD here. And if you don't know what you are doing, using a reg cleaner, especially one you are not familiar with, could be risky.


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## tbird6820 (Aug 10, 2008)

I could not articulate specifically as a intermediate user and defiantly do not wish to be risky, thanks.


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## AKAJohnDoe (Jun 6, 2007)

There's no harm in installing one and running it in "Analyze" mode, just to see the sort of things it finds. As long as you do not tell it to remove anything it will do no harm and could be a learning experience.

I find both CCleaner and jv16PowerTools (and the two others from MaceCraft: RegSupreme and RegSupremePro) to be quite good.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Don't fix stuff that ain't broke!©


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

JohnWill said:


> Don't fix stuff that ain't broke!©


Drive imaging is our friend


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## Powlaz (Aug 27, 2005)

These guys did all the work: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-registry-cleaner.htm
Here you'll find that EasyCleaner is very highly recommended amongst the free registry cleaners. I've used this site in one form or another for years and uncovered a bunch of jems. EasyCleaner doesn't do all of the work for you. It makes suggestions about what to delete and you will need to decide if they are good suggestions. If you are not ready to make that decision leave your registry alone - this is one area you don't want to make a mistake.

MJ


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## 1002richards (Jan 29, 2006)

Hi powlaz,
I agree, TechSupportAlert is a great site for independent, well written reviews. As you say - the decision is yours. Me? I leave alone.

Thanks
Richard


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

*Powlaz*, see post #11.


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## da_ab (Dec 4, 2004)

I use it and quite safe to use :up:.
The program comes with an *attractive, easy to use interface*. 
Nevertheless it is not intended for complete beginners and you should feel comfortable working with the Windows registry before using it.

some user reviews
http://www.snapfiles.com/opinions/RegSeeker/RegSeeker.html

http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

da_ab said:


> I use it and quite safe to use :up:.


Everyone's entitled to have their own opinion.


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## tbird6820 (Aug 10, 2008)

I was browsing the internet and came across this free diagnostic software by www.iobit.com Advanced WindowsCare V2 personal. This seems to have pretty good ratings by cnet.
http://www.download.com/Advanced-WindowsCare-Personal/3000-2086_4-10407614.html


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## WhitPhil (Oct 4, 2000)

tbird6820 said:


> This seems to have pretty good ratings by cnet.
> http://www.download.com/Advanced-WindowsCare-Personal/3000-2086_4-10407614.html
> [/FONT][/FONT]


And, as in the case of ALL registry cleaners, has the potential to affect Windows and application stability or leave you with a non bootable PC.

And, all for naught. Since a cleaner on it's own has no affect on performance.


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## ianovic (Oct 31, 2008)

I use CCleaner.
It works for me.


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## da_ab (Dec 4, 2004)

i use it too, speeds up my computer.:up:
http://www.ccleaner.com/


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

da_ab said:


> i use it too, speeds up my computer.:up:
> http://www.ccleaner.com/


Did you benchmark that or just how it feels?
Did your commit charge value change?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

da_ab said:


> i use it too, speeds up my computer.:up:
> http://www.ccleaner.com/


SUre, and you have all the benchmarks to document this, right?


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## jfarc539 (Nov 2, 2008)

Go to ConsumerSoftwareReviews.com and check out RegCure. Its not free but does work. A cluttered registry can slow down your computor quite a bit.
jfarc539


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## WhitPhil (Oct 4, 2000)

jfarc539 said:


> Go to ConsumerSoftwareReviews.com and check out RegCure. Its not free but does work. A cluttered registry can slow down your computor quite a bit.
> jfarc539


Cluttered registries do NOT slow down your computer, contrary to what all these sites keep trying to advertise. It is mis-guided info on how the registry is actually accessed.

As for RegCure, it is high on the list of one of the absolutely worst programs to get involved with.

This is a long thread with many posters indicating the damage caused and the poor (if any) support from the manufacturer.

As is being continually stated, there are no valid reasons to be running a cleaner. On their own, they do not improve performance. I have seen no posted benchmarks, and all of the "increases" are strictly anecdotal!


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## AKAJohnDoe (Jun 6, 2007)

That is a fact: The structure/contents of the Windows registry has virtually zero effect on run-time performance.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Post #11 here still tells the whole story.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Post #12 for those that forget


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## da_ab (Dec 4, 2004)

Whit Phil & JohnWill,

i'm no computer genius but i've been using this for years with no problem.

what many are saying about it. if you care to read it.

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/utilities/ccleaner/reviews/
http://www.isnare.com/?aid=266800&ca=Computers+and+Technology


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## jfarc539 (Nov 2, 2008)

TRISH-HICKS....I received some interesting comments, bordering on sarcasm, but interesting so you are going to have to make an informed decision on your own. To do that go to http://www.webopedia.internet.com On the main page the menue is on the left, click on Quick Reference. Now type in Registry, then go to bottom of the page and click "Your Windows System Registry". Here it tell you what it is, how it gets screwed up, the affects that has on your computor, how to fix it yourself or with one of the third party Registry Cleaners on the market. This is not a sales site. I had a major registry problem, used an after market Registry Cleaner and now it runs like a top. To the negitive commenters, "If you have'nt tried it, don't knock it" This is my first day on this site, I am an intermediate player and I expected members to be more professional responding to another members questions or comments.
jfarc539


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

jfarc539 said:


> ................. "If you have'nt tried it, don't knock it" This is my first day on this site, I am an intermediate player and I expected members to be more professional responding to another members questions or comments.
> jfarc539


I have tried them.
And I knock them from my experiences.
This is a topic that is repeated so frequently, it ought to be a sticky.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Some of the many reasons not to use them.

[WEBQUOTE="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registry_cleaner"] *Disadvantages*[/WEBQUOTE]


> Due to the small size of the registry hive, its performance impact is almost negligible. Some registry cleaners make no distinction as to the severity of the errors, and many that do may erroneously categorize errors as "critical" with little basis to support it.





> *Registry damage*
> 
> Most notably, critics say there is no reliable way for a third party program to know whether any particular key is invalid, redundant or neither. Poorly designed registry cleaners may not know for sure whether a key is still being used by Windows or what detrimental effects removing it may have. This has led to examples of registry cleaners causing loss of functionality and/or system instability.[2][3]





> *Malware*
> 
> The benefits of Registry cleaners have been used by a number of trojan applications to install malware, typically through social engineering attacks that use website popups. Rogue registry cleaner "WinFixer" has been ranked as one of the most prevalent pieces of malware currently in circulation.[5]





> *Scareware*
> 
> Rogue registry cleaners are often marketed with alarmist advertisements that falsely claim to have pre-analyzed your PC, displaying bogus warnings to take "corrective" action, hence the reason that they are sometimes called "scareware". In October 2008, Microsoft and the Washington attorney general filed a lawsuit against two Texas firms, Branch Software and Alpha Red, producers of the "Registry Cleaner XP" scareware.[6] The lawsuit alleges that the company sent incessant pop-ups resembling system warnings to consumers' personal computers stating "CRITICAL ERROR MESSAGE! - REGISTRY DAMAGED AND CORRUPTED", before instructing users to visit a web site to download Registry Cleaner XP at a cost of $39.95.





> *Marginal performance benefit*
> 
> On Windows 9x computers, it is possible that a very large registry could slow down the computer's startup time. However this is far less of an issue with NT-based Operating Systems (including Windows XP and Vista) due to a different on-disk structure of the registry, improved memory management and indexing.[7] Slowdown due to registry bloat is thus far less of an issue in modern versions of Windows. More importantly, however, the difference in speed due to the use of a registry cleaner is negligible: rarely do they remove more than a few kilobytes from the total size of the registry. In fact, technology journalist Ed Bott has claimed that no-one has ever successfully managed to measure any significant performance increase from the use of a registry cleaner.[8] Any potential user of a registry cleaner must thus balance a probably negligible performance increase against the possibility of system instability. A safer and more measurable approach to Registry performance is to defragment the Registry files using a Microsoft-supported tool such as PageDefrag.[9]


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## jfarc539 (Nov 2, 2008)

John, I will check your site info at http://en.wikipedia.org if you will check mine at www.webopedia.com 
jfarc539


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## da_ab (Dec 4, 2004)

fortunately the disavantages doesn't apply to ccleaner.
see the most popular download 
http://www.filehippo.com/popular/

[WEBQUOTE="Advantages Registry cleaners, or registry cleanup software, can improve the performance of computers by ridding the registry of redundant information. Due to the sheer size and complexity of the registry database, manually cleaning up debris and invalid entries would be impractical, so registry cleaners are essentially tools that automate the process of looking for invalid entries, missing file references or broken links within the registry and resolving them. [U]The correction of an invalid registry key can provide many benefits[/U]. For example, a registry entry indicating a program should be run at startup from a network path that no longer exists can delay startup by as long as the network protocol takes to timeout. Noted Windows architecture expert Mark Russinovich has concluded that registry cleaners will continue to have a role until most applications have moved to the .NET Framework platform that does not rely on the registry for application settings.[1] [U]Some registry cleaners offer backup and restore functions that allow the user to revert changes made by the registry cleaner in case they are undesired. A registry cleaner is very useful for someone that adds or removes programs from their computer very often[/U]."][/WEBQUOTE]


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## PCcruncher (Oct 24, 2007)

Being the most popular download, doesn't mean it always works. 
I for one use it a lot, but only to remove Temp files Etc. and never use the reg cleaning part. :up:


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## WhitPhil (Oct 4, 2000)

:up:


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

I also use Ccleaner for removing temp files.
But never use the registry cleaner.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I have actually used the registry cleaner, but only in a "supervised" mode. When I know there are a bunch of entries because I'm deleting some stuff that won't uninstall, I run it. I also review ALL the stuff it's going to do before turning it loose. It's really an automated registry editor the way I use it. As far as just pointing it to the registry and letting it do it's thing automatically, that's a foolish move IMO!


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