what does a registry cleaner do? Are there any totally free, and safe ones . Will this help if my computer?

Question

started running extremely slowly recently.

will anything else help that..I did a disk refrag and it helped a little. Anything else (but please answer mostly about registry cleaner or don't forget this part

Answer 1

Here are some common causes of a computer suddenly slowing down:

1. Installed a new software program
2. Installed new hardware
3. Computer infected with spyware or other malicious programs.

The registry is rarely the cause for a computer to slow down. The Windows registry is a part of the operating system that you shouldn't change unless you know exactly what you are doing. Even a minor mistake can make your computer unusable. The registry is a big checklist which stores information on programs installed, files stored and personal settings. Over time, erroneous registry entries appear. For example, you uninstalled a program but the registry might still have an entry for the program. 99% of the time, these errors do nothing and are harmless.

Trace the steps just before your computer started to slow down. Did you install anything, software or hardware. If it is software, uninstall the program and use Windows System Restore to restore your computer to a time before you installed the program. If it is hardware, turn off your computer, remove the new hardware and restart your computer.

Sadly, one of the most common causes of sudden loss in computer performance is spyware. If you have any security software installed on your computer, now is a good time to scan your computer. At the very least, perform both an antivirus and anti spyware scan. If you don't have security software installed on your computer then it is imperative that you do so now. There are plenty of free security software; so, there is no good reason not to have one. Go to www.filehippo.com and look under both antivirus and anti spyware. There are a number of free antivirus programs and anti spyware program to choose from. If you want some recommendations, drop me an e-mail.

Answer 2

-Free registry cleaners or trials -

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/easy-cleane...
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download460.ht...
http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscare...
http://www.eusing.com/window_washer/wind...
http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_clea...
http://www.abexo.com/free-registry-clean...
http://ccleaner.com/

free virus programs etc
http://www.kiete.com/download/security/index.html
http://security.yahoo.com/
http://www.basicspywaretips.com/spywareremovaltool.html
FREE VIRUS PROTECTION
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/5390/1ng/us/tp1/v5#avg-anti-spyware-free
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm
http://www.spybot.info/
http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/
http://superantispyware.com/
http://mypchelp.blogspot.com/2006/10/essential-free-internet-security.html
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/spyware/default.mspx