Computer Registry Scanners

[Guest db99wj]

I have seen these advertised, they will scan your registry, look for corrupt entries, broken links, missing dll files etc, that have occurred when you delete stuff, un-install software, etc.

Are they worth it? ($30.00)

or can you do it yourself?

If you don't know squat about it, can you do it yourself?

[Guest TargetShooter84]

My idea of deleting stuff off the computer:

1) Take the computer to a gun range

2) Attach computer to the target stand

3) Slap on a gigantic Bullseye on it

4) Stand back and let the computer say its final prayers

5) Load Magazine

6) Load Gun with Magazine

7) Cock the gun

8) Aim at the intended target

9) Press finger on trigger when ready

10) FIRE!

Thats pretty much a do it yourself thing...no brainer

[Bigiron]

PC pitstop has some free stuff. AVG has free virus stuff. Comodo has a free firewall. I use all three.

[dralarms]

Take it from someone who "did it myself" You do NOT want to do that. In all it cost me about 15 months of finanical data fro my business. Buy the program unless you can find one for free and let it do it's thing. Oh and just for the record, if a "file" looks like something that dosen't belong, I say leave the heck alone unless the program says it's not needed.

I honestly don't know what was worse, having to reenter all that crap by hand, or keeping a ledger by hand while I was getting the computer straightened out. (took nearly 2 1/2 months).

[Guest clutepc]

They sell those programs because programs for some reason programs want to leave parts of themselves scattered all over your system.

I'd honestly stay away from them, it'll end up doing more harm than good.

Two programs we use are:

CCleaner and Revo Uninstaller,

Both are free and you can get them from download.com

ccleaner will clean all the temp junk and what nots off you system, we've been using it for years with no issues.

And Revo Uninstaller allows you to uninstall programs completely without leaving the junk on the system,

It'll fix a lot of issues such as a program not working correctly and then you uninstall it and reinstall it and the same issue is there.

It's usually because something was left over, this program will remove it so it's like it's never been installed so you can get a clean install.

If you have ever tried to uninstall and reinstall Blackberry software you know what I mean.

[strickj]

the "left over" files are alot of times shared files.unless you know for sure what you are doing,leave these alone.if you delete a "left over" that is a shared file then what ever it shares a file with will be useless!

beware,and let you software do its job!

[Guest bluecanary25]

Buy the Registry cleaner.

There are Thousands of lines of code.........

doing it manually might take a day or three

Mucking with the Registry manually, without some experience, can you say "Re-install" EVERYTHING.

Make sure the cleaner is compatible with your operating system;

Win 98/ME/etc. Read label on box for requirements to safely run.

BTW, always make a backup of important info and store it seperate from PC.

[Guest SUNTZU]

anyone use window washer by webroot?

[DWARREN123]

AVG and IOBIT user. Paid for AVG advance and IOBIT free.

[Marswolf]

Two programs we use are:

CCleaner and Revo Uninstaller,

I think CCleaner is fantastic. It also has a very good registry cleaner built in.

I tried REVO a few days ago. It seemed to do a good job of uninstalling programs. Unfortunately, I tried its junk remover and it removed a bunch of "junk" like all my Firefox bookmarks and prevented Thunderbird from working properly. I would not use that feature.

Fortunately I did a system restore point before I installed REVO and I back up my Firefox and Thunderbird stuff with MozBackup. So I restored the system to before REVO and used my backups for the Mozilla applications. If you don't have MozBackup, get it. It's free. It also works for SeaMonkey, if you use that.

But I also do data backups to an external USB hard drive, so the data backed up on my D drive is also backed up off of the computer - just in case.

Oh yeah, I did use window washer for a while, but find CCleaner works fine, is easier to use and is free. I have it set to clean stuff up when I reboot, which I do in a Windows system several times a day....

[Daniel]

i use windows and i go days without rebooting.

[Marswolf]

i use windows and i go days without rebooting.

You are obviously blessed by the gods.

[enfield]

I used a product called Linux, and it washed Windows right off of my computer!

My computer has been up 28 days without a reboot. I normally only shut it down when I'm going to be out of town.

I don't have a registry to clean -- I feel so useless.

[molonlabetn]

I used a product called Linux, and it washed Windows right off of my computer!

My computer has been up 28 days without a reboot. I normally only shut it down when I'm going to be out of town.

I don't have a registry to clean -- I feel so useless.

Recent convert here, as well... It's nice, that's for sure.

[Guest db99wj]

Used CCleaner, got rid of around alot.

CCleaner doesn't care for virus software does it, it has listed my Symantec files. I am trying to exlude those files.

[Guest bkelm18]

I have a Mac and haven't rebooted in almost 3 months.

[Guest dotsun]

You are obviously blessed by the gods.

There are newer versions of Windows available since the release of 3.1, Mars. My XP box hadn't been rebooted in months until I started playing chess on pogo again recently and have to deal with their dodgy java software.

[molonlabetn]

Windows is very stable if you don't use it or connect it to the internet.

[Daniel]

mine works fine. although i mostly use it to play call of duty 4 and read the internet i still rarely have to reboot.

[Marswolf]

Used CCleaner, got rid of around alot.

CCleaner doesn't care for virus software does it, it has listed my Symantec files. I am trying to exlude those files.

I couldn't tell you if CCleaner likes or hates Symantec stuff. I used their products for years. Now the first thing I do is uninstall all of their products and use Comodo firewall and avast! antivirus. Speeds up the computer - a lot. No hassles with their anti-piracy protection for the database upgrades either. Comodo and avast! are free. Highly recommended.

After uninstalling Norton/Symantec crap, then use Norton Removal Tool to get rid of the junk their uninstall routines leave on the computer. There is a lot of it.

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe

I've looked at Linux and Macs. If the aps you need are available that way, then fine. I'd feel like I was in a straitjacket.

[saintsfanbrian]

Have played with Linux, but many apps that I use are not compatible (yet) when they are I will convert

[Guest db99wj]

Failed to mention, the Symantec is on my company laptop.

At home, I have some suite that came with Comunistcast Cable.

[Guest dotsun]

+1 on avast. I personally use nothing on my computer but I did install avast on my daughters box. And yes Norton is a resource hog that causes more problems than it solves. IMO

Oh and db, I call them Concast, but I like comunistcast too.

[enfield]

Have played with Linux, but many apps that I use are not compatible (yet) when they are I will convert

They'll probably never be ported to Linux. Learn to use new applications, like you did when you started to use the ones you use now.

[Marswolf]

I started with an Atari 800. Actually a very good system for its time.

When the IBM PC came out I wasn't very impressed. But after it had been out a while, one of my Atari owner friends bought one. I asked him why and he said that the applications were being written for the PC and he got tired of having only a small selection of aps for the Atari.

That's why I run Windoze.The applications are written for that OS.