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ScanMyReg 2.2 Giveaway
$39.95
EXPIRED

Giveaway of the day — ScanMyReg 2.2

ScanMyReg is a fast and effective utility that optimizes the registry and finds incorrect information in it.
$39.95 EXPIRED
User rating: 165 49 comments

ScanMyReg 2.2 was available as a giveaway on August 26, 2015!

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ScanMyReg is a fast and effective utility that optimizes the registry and finds incorrect information in it. It makes your system run faster by fixing the errors and obsolete information in the registry. ScanMyReg defragments the registry and keeps it streamlined for smooth system performance.

Backup/restore feature will help to backup and restore the whole Windows Registry.

System Requirements:

Windows 2000/ XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8/ 8.1 (x32/x64)

Publisher:

YL Computing

Homepage:

http://hi.ylcomputing.com/products/scanmyreg

File Size:

10.5 MB

Price:

$39.95

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Comments on ScanMyReg 2.2

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#28

I have no fear in editing my registry manually to address a specific problem, but I do not recommend that the average user take that risk. I am a power user in that I have many programs installed and used simultaneously. I also like to try new ones if I think they will be useful to me. I use CCleaner on occasion to remove superfluous entries and I look at the list of what it intends to remove before proceeding. I can tell you that Ccleaner errs on the side of caution leaving behind entries that could be safely removed. It is true that cleaning the registry does not speed up the computer, but compacting it after the cleaning will improve the startup time, especially on an older machine where it has never been compacted (aka defragged). The reading of the registry at startup speeds up in the same way that defragmentation of the hard drive speeds up the computer. The program offered today includes defragmentation of the registry but the free version of ccleaner does not (unless it recently changed). So I have used a separate free program called auslogic registry defrag, which even tells you in terms of percentage, how much the startup speed will be improved. I mainly do this on my older XP machine (custom build) and have had no issues. If you know what you are doing, go ahead and try this program. I am taking a pass because I already have free software tools that do the same thing.

Reply   |   Comment by Sandy Coulter  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#27

In my lengthy experience, if you know what you're doing, messing with the Registry is a valid option. Windows DOES get bogged down and sometimes a poorly contsructed Registry can be a sizable part of that (it IS indeed a database, after all).
Also I have found that Malware can infest the Registry and sometimes the only effective way I have found is to go in there and cut it out myself. A tool like this can help. I would not rely on it alone.

Reply   |   Comment by wyrwolf  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#26

Everyone always recommends CCleaner. Be very, very careful if you do. Never accept blindly what it says. I did and everything went wrong. Fortunately, I had put in a restore point. After that I always checked very carefully what it was doing. But that was back in the early 2000s. Since Win 7 I have never run a registry cleaner. Never felt the need. Both computers I have had running it have functioned perfectly well.

Reply   |   Comment by Anairb  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#25

personally speaking the registry only gets bloated if you uninstall /install a lot of software. should you use the correct type of uninstaller then it will not get bloated at all
I myself over the past 15 years have never had the need for this type of software and although i test most software from major geeks as an administrator i have never found any benefit from this type of software

Reply   |   Comment by nick  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#24

I get a laugh out of the hysteria that takes over this site whenever a registry cleaner is offered. "NEVER NEVER NEVER edit your registry! Don't even TOUCH your registry! DON'T even THINK about it! OMG OMG OMG DON'T DO IT!!!!!"

I've been editing my registry for years, and most of those times it was because a page on Microsoft's own support site told me to do it to change a setting or solve some problem. Yes, they do warn you about the risks (and sometimes they offer a "fix it for me" option) but they do give you the registry editing instructions. Funny how Microsoft trusts me to edit my registry, but a bunch of panicky "IT professionals" on GOTD don't.

Just last week I had to edit out a couple of registry values because a bad uninstall hosed my DVD burner. Took less than a minute to fix, thanks to the helpful instructions from Microsoft. If I listened to you guys, I'd still be sitting here with a dead burner--or paying somebody to fix it.

That said, I agree that registry cleaners won't speed up your computer; that's an urban legend. And if you do have computer problems caused by registry errors, a cleaner probably won't fix them. However, every registry cleaner I've ever tried (including this one) has been completely harmless, and lets you roll back the changes if you want. Even Microsoft used to offer a registry cleaner, RegClean.

Reply   |   Comment by chimera236  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#23

This appears to be a worthless give-away. I downloaded it and installed it. It scanned my registry, told me I had 598 errors, but when I clicked on "fix", it only came up with my need to buy the full version. It would fix nothing. So I'm taking it off my computer and would not recommend it as a give-away to anyone.

Reply   |   Comment by BJ  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+11)

You should have registered it.... Tested it myself, everything got fixed without popup.

Reply   |   Comment by Mmmmm  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#22

Installation went well. Entered name (giveawayoftheday)and registration number. Box said registration successful, and to restart program. So I restarted the program and it still wasn't registered. Went thru registration process again with same results. Restarted my computer hoping registration would register. No luck. Uninstalled.

Reply   |   Comment by Injeun  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#21

There have been a number of tests from respected sources to see if cleaning the registry speeds up the computer. I'm not saying the jury is still out, but these sources seem to come down on the side of there is not enough evidence that cleaning the registry speeds up or helps the computer in anyway.

So not trying this program, more like smoke and mirrors than a useful tool.

Reply   |   Comment by Corek  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#20

Unless the company for this software is ESTABLISHED, NEVER mess with your registry. YOU HAD BETTER KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Always make a backup of your registry 1st!

I use WiseCare 365 PRO and CCleaner, two of the VERY BEST TOOLS out there for your registry and for cleaning out your system.

PLEASE STICK WITH A WELL-KNOWN ESTABLISHED COMPANY TO DO THESE KINDS OF THINGS ON YOUR PC, or you will be sorry.
Years ago, I tested some apps on a test PC. One particular app changed my BIOS, along with corrupting my registry. Luckily, it was just a test PC and only worth about $150 but it taught me a very valuable lesson about ALL SOFTWARE. Trust but VERIFY before you install ANYTHING on your PC.

...........An I.T. EXPERT

Reply   |   Comment by Software Babe  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-6)

@Software Babe: YL Computing have posted software for GaotD users a total of 19 times (including this release), so I think it is safe to say 'they' know what they're doing.

That said, I generally agree with your comments about tinkering with Windows registry.

.
Of greater importance is that this software is not Windows 10 COMPATiBLE at least according to the info box at the top of this topic. (... probably haven't paid the appropriate fee to Micro$oft ...)

.
So Windows 10 Users be very careful using this on your shiny new "Win X" Operating System.

Reply   |   Comment by Grumpy Wally  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#19

Perrsonally I don't use such products. If I get in trouble with my PC do to a virus or ? I just restore an image file. For my friends that are not computer literate that call when it's taking 3 minutes to boot I I suggest they try an Iobit sys suite which more often than not cleans out all their junk. If not they go back to their original Dell or whatever restore to factory fresh. Obviousley if they are welcome to dump their rig here and I will fix it. I agree do not use these registry gizmos unless your have no other choose. External data back regularly. Have a great day guys!

Rick

Reply   |   Comment by Rick Martin  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#18

Wow, what a lot of long winded comments! But, most of these comments are helpful and I agree with most! Don't let any program mess with your registry, period! You even have to be very cautious with Ccleaner when using it to clean your registry! Because, coming from personal experience, even it will hurt or damage your registry! I had Ccleaner clean my registry a couple of times and I had lost a few things on my computer that wouldn't work! So, by all means, be cautious!

Reply   |   Comment by Bill  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#17

Just my 2 cents worth. I have tried several cleaners on my XP system for a few year. I always keep an image of everything using Acronis Backup. Most cleaners I have tried in the past really mess up your system. I have had to restore my earlier backup because of them. I now use CCleaner and WinUtilities Pro. I have used these programs for over 2 years. ScanMyReg is part of WinUtilitiesPro. I can truthfully say I have never had any problems with either of these programs. ScanMyReg works great on my XP system.

Reply   |   Comment by Home User  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#16

I'm far from being an expert, but I've had occasion to go into the registry and simply scan for strings in order to rid my computers of fragments left over from deleted programs. These fragments sometimes affect other programs from installing or working properly. I don't have the time right now to try this software, and I do use CCleaner freeware version regularly as well. I also like Glary Utilities (freeware version).

Reply   |   Comment by Paul  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#15

Been using scanmyreg 2.02 and earlier versions on 7 computers - desktops & laptops for years. Some are XP machines upgraded to 7 when XP support ended. Run it about once a year on each machine. No issues.

If users have a firewall, run good protection, do not visit questionable sites and download unverified software, and use a good uninstaller that does not leave fragments, registry maintenance should be minimal.

Reply   |   Comment by Geo  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#14

Are you referencing CCleaner by Piriform? I as well use CCleaner - I have the PRO version and use it daily. I have tried others only to have my registry clobbered, so am very leery of registry cleaner tools. I have been using CCleaner for over 10 years, I used the free version for several years before I was comfortable purchasing the product. Yes, registry has be cleaned on a PC, it is like a tune-up for your workstation. I always do a registry backup before cleaning it and I like the fact that CCleaner will automatically do a registry backup before subsequent cleaning. As a senior software developer, I have a small toolset of utilities that I use when developing and a couple of Piriform's products are included, CCleaner and Speccy. The registry of your operating system has to be maintained else it gets bloated and does weigh it down. ScanMyReg I have not heard much about and it might be a good product but when it comes to the registry - I have to use something I can trust. I did not find much information online about ScanMyReg - good or bad - but am not willing to risk the nature of my registry to try this product. Registry cleaning is imperative to keeping your workstation tune-up, I would try this product but as I mentioned I cannot find much information on it and not willing to risk at this time. I have used other GAOTD products, but ScanMyReg is not something I am willing to risk until more research and the way GAOTD downloads required a download and activation on the day its offered, which does not allow me the time I need to fully test and analyze a registry cleaner.

Reply   |   Comment by SodaWerks  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#13

I did an experiment after doing reg backup. I inserted into the registry erroneous info from old registry entries and hex keys that no longer have reference to already uninstalled programs.
After running this software, only found 4 out of 48 erroneous entries I did on purpose and those 4 entries were unrelated to the irrelevant keys I inserted into the registry.
Draw your own conclusion of what this software can do or don't.

Reply   |   Comment by Maria  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+20)
#12

I have used the 2.1 version when it was offered here with no issues. Never have had to restore from backup. No worries here.

Reply   |   Comment by JohnW  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#11

Many people say I am a computer specialist, I am an IT specialist I am and I am and telling you guys don't touch or edit your registry. You know something and believe me in that: I have been using registry editors and cleaners for many years and not once had any problems in my 3 PCs .
At least this is my honest experience with these kind of softwares. By the way all the programs I'm talking about are from famous developers in this field .

Reply   |   Comment by Adam Rayan  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)

What you say is the absolute truth. I've been running Windows XP Pro for many years now with tons of software programs installed and because I no longer use any kind of registry cleaners, my OS is just as stable as the day I first installed it. Thank you Adam for mentioning this. Unfortunately most people to use registry cleaners because they are sold on the idea and not knowing what the consequences are in the future. Just think of it, if Microsoft hasn't made a registry cleaning program, why do you think that is? Easy answer, you don't need them. If your OS is unstable, it is generally do to some other problem such as defragging, running your anti-virus/anti-malware/anti-spyware programs or installing an OS performance enhancing software. There are many of those out there.

Not many people know the registry very well or what to edit but I do. If I decide to make alterations to the registry, I feel extremely confident in knowing what I'm doing so as not to screw up my OS stability. I'm very proficient at what I do in this area. There was also a link about this topic and I read it. It changed my whole opinion on registry cleaners. You see, as each brand of registry cleaner uses their own algorithm. No two are the same and because of that, your chances are very high that your OS will become unstable, permanently, especially if you overuse them. Heed Adam Rayan's post.

Reply   |   Comment by Robert  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)
#10

As always when a registry cleaner is presented there will be comments such as, a waste of time or, should be used regularly.
Both of these are utter nonsense as hardly any two registries are the same and registry cleaners vary considerably in the way they operate.
What will happen is very difficult to predict and varies between improvement and total disaster.

There is a very simple reason for this, the registry is the equivalent of the nervous system of the OS and the OS does not have full control of it.
This can easily be checked by going to Microsoft's support and entering "registry corruption" where you will find 50 pages in which each page contains a list of problems this can cause. Such as when programs will not close when exiting Windows and you are requested to end them, Microsoft suggests that this could be a problem in the registry!

In essence, a major control of the operating system has no method of checking the validity of its content!

Why would anyone put such a system in place you may wonder, there is one good reason and it works extremely well.
The reason is, most software will not run if it does not find the correct information in the registry and Microsoft was losing a lot of money because of pirating of their software.
The registry means problem solved, as long as it's functioning is to a large degree hidden and they certainly made sure of that!

Many other aspects of the registry are difficult to understand such as making information which should be local in to global information. This wastes memory, something as a developer I try to avoid, also avoided is any use whatsoever of the registry and instead the much maligned INI file is used in its place.

From the above it will be apparent I have a very low opinion of the registry in its present form.
Thankfully I did my postgraduate computer studies the year before this monstrosity reared its head.
This made backup of my work a simple process even though storage was much more limited and I didn't have to worry that if my OS went down it would NOT take all my software with it, inexcusable in my opinion!
I have no doubt in my mind that this problem could be remedied if Microsoft had any consideration for their customers by adding software that allowed manipulation of the registry. Sadly as always in Microsoft profit by any means is the bottom line!

If I wasn't in my 70s I would discard Windows and go for an operating system that offered stability, one that is fit for purpose.
One thing is sure I'll stick with XP rather than fill the Microsoft coffers for another unstable OS.

Reply   |   Comment by XP-Man  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+28)

"... registry cleaners vary considerably in the way they operate.
What will happen is very difficult to predict and varies between improvement and total disaster... the registry is the equivalent of the nervous system of the OS and the OS does not have full control of it...."


Sorry, but the registry is simply a database -- nothing more, nothing less. Windows uses it to store data it needs to run, data it needs to use your installed or attached hardware, & data it needs when some of your installed software runs. You software may use it to store data it needs, or anything else that software's developers or coders decided that they wanted to store there.

Windows lets software read & write to the registry -- there wouldn't be much point to having the registry if Windows did not. Since Windows lets software write to the registry, software can write bad things, e.g. mal-ware can exist in the registry rather than the files your anti-virus app scans. The vast majority of the time however, when software writes something to the registry that it shouldn't, the coder(s) was simply lazy or inept.

Since the registry is stored in files, everything bad that can happen to files can happen to the registry. The solution = Back Up.

"The reason is, most software will not run if it does not find the correct information in the registry and Microsoft was losing a lot of money because of pirating of their software."

While the monetary damage from pirating will long be debated, though not here by me, if you use DOS you know why Windows 3.1 existed, & if you used 3.1, you know why in win95 the registry was introduced. Configuration info used to be stored in individual files that you edited, rather than stored in some central repository. Microsoft could have made it work the way the *nix world has, but they elected to create that central repository in a database called the registry.

Software was pirated before and afterwards. The only contribution the registry makes to anti-piracy is providing a forest full of trees for whatever keys to hide behind. Like many [most?] front door locks that are susceptible to bumping, this is just false security, intended to keep already honest people honest.

"If I wasn’t in my 70s I would discard Windows and go for an operating system that offered stability, one that is fit for purpose."

Run *nix... Download a Live ISO & there ya go - done. Unfortunately if you want to run Windows software you need Windows, even if it's running via Wine or in a VM in *nix. If you run Windows you're stuck with the registry. If you're stuck with the registry, then you have the option to try & prevent some ill effects by running something like ScanMyReg, but it is an option -- no more, no less.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+11)

mike
It would appear you have no idea of just how complex database tables can be.
When I was programming we had 2 tables within the 90 normal tables in our relational database.
The first of these 2 tables described the contents and how to reference them in the 160 “tables” in the second database.

As neither you nor I have any idea of the structure of the tables of the registry database you can hardly state it is simply a database.

Reply   |   Comment by XP-Man  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+13)
#9

Well this is going to be a disaster with the non-techs. Go ahead and let it rampage through the registry, I would say Good bye to your computer as you end up having to do a factory reinstall. I don't see where this is going to end well. Hope you have a recent full back up somewhere besides on your computer.

Reply   |   Comment by nomadss1  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)

Yes, you should backup before playing in the registry, & if you can restore that backup, which doesn't require being a tech in any way, Why in the world would you need to do a factory reset?

As for having a copy of your backup that's not connected to the PC, laptop, or tablet, that's a good precaution against ransomware, drive failure, & physical damage, e.g. from dropping a laptop or tablet in the water, not to mention things like theft.

Windows registry however lives entirely within Windows. You could delete it & not have any effect on backup archives stored on the same hard drive. Worst case, after using ScanMyReg you want to restore your backup outside of Windows, you simply boot to the USB stick you created with your backup software & restore that backup.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

You're stereotyping everyone into a classification of a pure amateur. And that's far from correct. Some of us have programming degrees and know exactly what we're doing on a computer .

Reply   |   Comment by Jim  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)

@Jim
When it comes to the registry, anyone who installs one of these registry-cleaner-type programs IS a rank amateur who deserves all the grief which comes his way as well as the bill to repair said computer.

Those of us who have enough learning to go into the computer's innards leave the registry alone or go into it manually. Even on the rare occasions it needs cleaning, which is as rare as hen's teeth.

Reply   |   Comment by bart  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#8

I think the software depends on the developer, I have used some other products for this particular developer and they always been with excellent results to me, I will install and use this product because it's from a developer that never let me down in the past. And since there always a chance for back up before the changes in the registry so why someone should be coward and afraid from trying the technology, isn't the whole thing here about software which is technology as I see it.

Reply   |   Comment by Adam Rayan  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#7

There's little need for a reg cleaner unless you want to remove incriminating traces of nefarious proggies you've run. But go ahead. Use this to "clean" your reg, and then discover a month from now that one of the offending keys you removed has crippled access to your good proggies.

Reply   |   Comment by Zakim  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

Before I install most anything in one of my regular copies of Windows I'll monitor it's installation in a VM, or in some few cases, while running a virtualization app like Timefreeze in one of those regular copies. Installing software, updating Windows, updating your apps & driver software, and to a lesser extent just running Windows & your apps will add sometimes a huge amount of registry entries. In win7 & later you can sometimes also have an awful lot of what I'll call churn, with hundreds of thousands of temporary registry entries when you install software [e.g. yesterdays PD from Cyberlink, as anyone could have verified using the free & portable Regshot].

Now I avoid adding entries to the registry as best I can, e.g. if app X adds 3k entries & a similar app Y only adds a dozen, I'll use app Y. I don't *Need* to do it that way, but feel the results are beneficial to me so I do it. Likewise most people can probably get away with never running any sort of cleaning app, at least for a long time. It's not something that they *Need* to do. It is OTOH something many *Want* to do because they find short &/or long term benefits from doing it.

As far as removing traces of whatever, chances are you won't ever get everything, so if that's what you're after think stuff like RAM disks & VMs etc.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#6

I tried the program and after a scan I had several errors.[which I knew I had] When I tried the fix repair. It went to where I would have to pay. To me where it is a free from giveawayoftheday. So I deleted it right away.

Reply   |   Comment by Ivan Pascoe  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+23)
#5

I think this software is much too aggressive in what it "repairs", for the average user. Make sure you create a Restore Point before using it and use the F8 key during boot if problems develop. I'll stick to running CCleaner once a week. CCleaner is not nearly as aggressive, it's conservative.

Reply   |   Comment by Glen C  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+18)
#4

Being a computer technician I never play with the registry unless I know exactly what it is I am looking for or doing and I do it manually, never ever with anyone's software, as simply put it is not truly safe. To play with the registry is to play with fire and it if you have no problem good, but to continue doing so, it is only a matter of time before you have many problems, just don't play with the registry and any technician can tell you that, it does not help, it does not make your computer faster and actually it does not more than good.....

Reply   |   Comment by Ivan  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+12)
#3

This program has the GUI from hell. No way to expand the window to read what is behind those long lines.
Must click on each line to get the details. Uninstalled.

Reply   |   Comment by Snurre  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+67)

Yes, Snurre, that was my main objection, as well. I could hardly believe it when the window refused to expand to full screen.

Reply   |   Comment by David J Wilson  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#2

The price is way too steep for one thing, but even so, I wouldn't touch it for the simple reason that there other other cheaper and better alternatives out there. $40 for ONLY a registry cleaner? IOBIT Advanced System Care is so much better, even cheaper.

Some people are way too afraid to use programs like these, but for older computers, they do deal with an OS becoming "top heavy" so are actually very good, provided you can trust the author. I have been using IOBIT for years, I swear by it for my older computers, I used to have to reformat every 6 months, now, I never need to.

Have a nice day.

Reply   |   Comment by kiwi1960  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-9)

Actually, All registery cleaners are useless.
cleaning registery won't increase the speed of your computer and you can find a lot of articles about that on internet.

Reply   |   Comment by Jokr  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)

"Actually, All registery cleaners are useless.
cleaning registery won’t increase the speed of your computer and you can find a lot of articles about that on internet."

.
Just Teasing, I'd bet I could also find proof that your DNA contains parts from an alien race, &/or that cats are plotting world domination.

More seriously, read all sides of the argument if you're going to read any, & reserve judgement until you try it yourself. kiwi1960 has good results from iObit, & thousands if not millions swear by CCleaner. Why doubt them in favor of people arguing that's not possible?

If you don't want to bother trying something that's cool, but don't pass judgement as if you did. If you do try ScanMyReg, say whether it helped or hurt you, rather than saying it'll help or hurt everyone else, because that last is really unknown.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+18)

I never said it would make a computer "faster".... you guys assume far too much.

The fact is that on an older computer, the OS gets bogged down with junk and that applies to the registry as well, these top heavy system will start to crash. or suffer other problems long before you notice a drop in speed.

Running a registry cleaner clears this bloat to make a system much more stable... you may or may not get an increase in speed, but please read what I said... I never made that claim. I have been involved in the computer industry since the 1970's so my opinion is worth a little more than your urban legend about these things not increasing speed... especially since I never said that.

Reply   |   Comment by kiwi1960  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#1

Personally I tend to shy away from such programs. The registry should not be tampered with. Most claims of a faster computer is not always the case and many of these so called registry cleaners end up damaging the registry beyond repair. As a past PC troubleshooting moderator on the internet I always recommended cCleaner to our members which most of my Pc repair online buddies also recommended. Many new registry cCleaners have popped out during the years and none are better than cCleaner. Since it came out I use it on a daily and sometimes weekly basis and never encountered any problems when deleting what it finds.

Reply   |   Comment by Mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+61)

But, Did you install or try this software? Agreed in general best leave to registry alone, but how about this software?

Reply   |   Comment by Dennis  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+70)

Well said... and understood Mike, i too uses cCleaner on an 72 hrs basis. With all cautions.. i'm gonna give this ScanMyReg 2.2 software a test.

Thanks .

Reply   |   Comment by insomnia tuesday '  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-20)

That the registry is slowing the PC down is an urban legend, coming way back from Win 95 and 98 times. Since Windows XP, Windows only loads the parts of the registry it needs to run. The only thing that might happen when you have a large registry is that it needs a few kilobytes more harddisk space.

I do clean the registry once in a while automatically with general cleaning tools that delete temporary files - the registry cleaning is just a side effect. A tool just for registry cleaning is absolutely useless because it has no effect.

Reply   |   Comment by Spiritogre  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)

Your right on Mike, never ever play with the registry with any software, it is not safe and your asking for trouble and any technician can tell you that. It does not matter if he tried the software or not, most technicians stay clear of this voodoo junk and that is what it is. If the registry needs repair for a certain item, best to do it manually but only if you know exactly what your doing, if you do not, don't do it. Do not be fooled by the nice words of miracles of software makers, everyone knows, you do not play with your registry at all, it does not help and makes things worse, and we all know that..

Reply   |   Comment by Ivan  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-7)

Correction: Only those with expertise should alter registry. There are many benefits to this but don't try it if you're an amateur.

Reply   |   Comment by G Thomas  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+31)

"Since Windows XP, Windows only loads the parts of the registry it needs to run. The only thing that might happen when you have a large registry is that it needs a few kilobytes more harddisk space."

I'd politely question the KB part... Anyone can run ERUNT, a portable registry backup tool that's been around for years. It copies the existing registry to a folder of your choice. The intent is to have a backup that can be restored, even if/when Windows wont start, but in this case simply check the amount of space that copy of the registry takes up by checking the folder's properties. In this copy of win7 64 it's 267MB. You see a part of it in the User folders for example, but that is not the whole. The logged registry changes for Tuesday's GOTD from Cyberlink was itself 2.4MB.

Now ~270MB is a drop in the bucket for this rig, so I'd agree in principle that trimming that down to 250 or 225MB wouldn't make much noticeable difference. Some Windows installs however have larger registries & less RAM to work with.

As far as Windows just using what it needs... I can look in the fridge & pull out what I want/need to fix my lunch -- that's because I can see at a glance what's in there. Digital files aren't like that -- they have to be read to see what's inside. That's why you have previews & thumbnails for image files -- you can't see what a jpg file is a picture of unless software reads the file for you. SO, Windows can't know what's in the registry until it reads it.

Yes, some parts Windows &/or your software will hold onto, some parts they won't, but it's an ongoing process as long as Windows is running. Want to see for yourself? Download & run ProcessMonitor, a free tool from SysInternals at microsoft.com. It's small, portable, free, & won't make any changes to anything.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+43)

"Correction: Only those with expertise should alter registry. There are many benefits to this but don’t try it if you’re an amateur."

I'd humbly point out that restoring a disk/partition image backup does not require much if any expertise. It's also something that folks should be doing on a regular basis anyway, so it's not just some hurtle to jump over before using software like ScanMyReg.

So running ScanMyReg [or similar] is kinda like trying a new dish you haven't eaten before -- if you don't like it you can most always just push it aside & eat something else, or in this case, if Windows misbehaves, you can restore that backup. The old saying still holds true: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained".

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+17)

Do not use the REGISTRY CLEANER function that any software may have as part of it's utilities - CCleaner included.

Registry cleaning software can't anticipate how a software programmer may have used/mis-used the registry for their software purposes.

System Restore doesn't always fix Registry Cleaner damage.

If you DO use such software, CLONE your hard disk or create an image first.

Reply   |   Comment by Cliff  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
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