If Registry Mechanic support does not answer, perhaps someone else can.?

Question

Regarding full scan - When I have scanned in the past, I did not have all the boxes checked, such as deep scan and temporary files. Today I scanned everything and got almost 7000 error messages. I immediately scanned again (everything) and the list of errors numbered 110. Another scan revealed 11 errors and a fourth scan told me I has 10 errors. All low priority and temporary files in those final two scans. My question is, shall I check ALL boxes when I scan my computer each time?

Since I am a paid customer, will Registy Mechanic run as well if I don't bother to renew the subscription? If you do advise my renewing, will Registry Mechanic be improving the program significantly enough in the next few months to warrant paying for the upgrade? Or...is there a better registry cleaner available. I already tried CCleaner, but they found so many programs that were familiar and important that I didn't want to delete something I needed.

Thanks for any advice,

William

Answer 1

I find no reason to buy a registry cleaner. There are plenty of free ones that work well enough. In most cases removing hundreds of registry keys will make no difference in performance. Removing one wrong key can leave your system unbootable.

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Registry Cleaners
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/XPMyths.html
Myth - "Registry Cleaners improve performance."

Reality - "A few hundred kilobytes of unused keys and values causes no noticeable performance impact on system operation. Even if the registry was massively bloated there would be little impact on the performance of anything other than exhaustive searches."

Notes - "Registry Cleaners can fix problems associated with traces of applications left behind due to incomplete uninstalls. So it seems that Registry junk is a Windows fact of life and that Registry cleaners will continue to have a place in the anal-sysadmin's tool chest."
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Free Registry Cleaners

Windows Live OneCare
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm
Full scan: Backs up registry and then cleans registry, virus and spyware scan, disk cleanup, disk fragmentation (if needed), updates windows, and checks for open firewall ports.
Clean up scan: Backs up registry and then cleans registry, updates windows.

RegScrubXP
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/RegScrubXP/1040020223/1
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048

RegSupreme Pro 1.4.0.48 (30 day free/ $16.96)
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/RegSupreme_Pro/1122042238/1
Finds an amazing amount of entries in aggressive search mode (a thousand plus entries) after using all other cleaners listed here.

CCleaner: Do not install toolbar and recycle bin options
"Scan for Issues" function is the registry cleaner.
Clean function deletes unused files, history, and tracking cookies.
In options:
Set to run when computer starts.
Place cookies you want to save in the save list.
http://www.ccleaner.com/
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How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756

Safekeeping the Windows XP Registry
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/honeycutt_03march17.mspx

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Answer 2

An excellent, and free program that will do the job for you, and much more, is called "Advanced Windows Care Personal" and it's available for download at the below link. Just look for the "Get Freebie" button to download the free version, install it, and run it. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I'm using CCleaner and Eusing registry cleaner, and I've never had any problems with them.
http://ccleaner.com/
http://www.download.com/Eusing-Free-Registry-Cleaner/3000-2094_4-10621571.html?tag=lst-0-1