registry cleaners?

Question

My pc has been running a bit slow, it seems to take ages to boot up, I have checked in the task manager and I have got 40 processes running. Seems a lot??? And I dont know which ones are safe to close down. I have been looking at a program called registry mechanic. Has anyone used this, or know of something better?? As someone who is not a PC expert any advice would be most welcome..
Thanks.

Answer 1

Please don't use Registry Mechanic of you're not sure what you're doing, it can flag duplicate files to be deleted; but Windows needs some files as duplicates.
Ccleaner is much safer, I've used it for a year with no trouble and have yet to meet anyone who's had a problem with it. It will prompt you to back up the registry when you use the Issues tab. If you've removed something you needed you just double click on the registry back up to re-install the entries.
If you have a lot of issues then deal with them 10 at a time not all at once.

You could try Winpatrol, its a very small program but you can use it to stop programs loading on Startup. They still appear in your programs list. Leave Windoes and your security programs alone; you need those to load on startup.

And run a full security scan, then defragment your hard drive from Start - programs - accessories - system tools - disc defragmenter.

Before attempting to remove malware you must switch off System Restore as back up files will be hiding in there, and it will just restore itself. Go to Start - programs - accessories - system tools - system restore.
Run your anti virus and anti spyware in Safe Mode. To get into Safe Mode repeatedly press the F8 key after the bios screen loads but before Windows loads. You'll know if you made it because the screen will be at 800 x 600 and your pc will be slow.

Then beef up your security. Its easier to prevent malware getting on to your sytem in the first place rather than trying to remove it.

You need to install one firewall.
The Windows firewall doesn't stop malware on your pc from dialling out. Both these firewalls are free for personal use and stop unwanted incoming and outgoing traffic.
http://www.zonelabs.com Zone Alarm firewall
http://www.comodogroup.com/ - Comodo security suite.

Shields Up security site;
https://www.grc.com - check your firewall works
http://www.grc.com/optout.htm - grc anti spyware program and info.

http://www.mozilla.com/ Firefox web browser
http://www.opera.com/ Opera web browser
Instal both these web browsers, turn off javascript on one and use that browser for vising unknown websites. They don't support Active X so thats one less way for problems to get on your pc.

You need to install one anti virus;
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1 AVG anti virus or
http://www.avast.com - Avast Antivirus

You need all three anti spyware programs;
http://www.ewido.net - AVG(Ewido) anti trojan.
http://www.lavasoft.com - Ad-Aware SE Personal anti adware
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search and Destroy anti spyware

And these are useful utilities;
http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm - The Spyware Warrior site identifies fake anti spyware programs.
http://www.ccleaner.com Cr*pcleaner Registry cleaner and privacy tool
http://www.mailwasher.net/ -spam filter
Winpatrol is a handy utility that tracks cookies on your pc and stops unwanted changes to your startup folder.
http://www.winpatrol.com
Spywareblaster works with Internet Explorer and Firefox. It won't uninstall spyware that is already on your pc, but it will prevent hijacks and other malicious changes to your browser.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com
http://www.siteadvisor.com -Site Advisor warns about malware on sites you are about to visit.

Remember to update and run all of you anti malware programs at least once a week.

Answer 2

If you don't have an understanding of how the registry works, best not to use any registry cleaners, as they can do more harm then good if you don't know what it's doing. The registry is basicly how the computer functions, if something gets messed up in the registry your computer will get errors, blue screen errors and not work correctly.

Answer 3

Registry mechanic is an excellent registry cleaning tool as you can roll back any changes made. However, as already suggested you may have issues with spyware and/or temporary files clogging your disk space. Use CCleaner as recommended earlier. It's free and simple to use and includes a free registry cleaner. The site has a useful tutorial too
http://www.ccleaner.com

To scan for spyware use Spybot Search & Destroy or Adaware, or something stronger like AVG antispyware (free resident protection for 30 days) - or indeed, all three!
http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Spybot_-_Search_and_Destroy/spybot.html
http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Ad-Aware/adaware.html
http://www.ewido.net/en/

Answer 4

It spounds more like a spyware problem. Spyware will brinf youir PC to its knees.

Try this scan, its free, it removes
I-Worm/Stration · BackDoor.Generic3.GBB and .GBC · Worm/Generic.FX · Exploit.WMF
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.
http://www.safer-networking.org/

Answer 5

Registry cleaners will not speed your system up at all. The issues tab in Ccleaner is well known to remove stuff that are not junk. It is best to just leave the registry alone unless you know what you are doing do not rely on software

Answer 6

I use ADVANCED WINDOWS CARE to clean my registry, cut ur start up programs back to a minimum, u only really need firewalls, antivirus n spyware starting when u turn ur pc on !!!

In this order if u want to reduce the programs that run on start up, START, RUN, MSCONFIG,START UP n untick all necessary applications, APPLY n OK, when it restarts, tick to box n ur all done!!!!

Programs like yahoo messenger, windows live messenger n nero n printer software dont really need to start when u start ur pc, there r just slowing u down n stealing memeory n wasteing ur time !!!

Hope this was helpful to someone !!!

Answer 7

Just got ccleaner the other day and found bucket loads of stuff to dump.its really good.
Theres also Eusing free registery cleaner which is also really good.

Hope thats usefull.

Answer 8

although most regristry cleaners seem to work i dont recomend them as i have seen so many pepole kill their os using them

Answer 9

Advanced System Optimizer, is the best one I've used so far............

Answer 10

this http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/offer.php?ref=cnet