BleepingComputer.com: Registry Cleaner?

I would like to know if using a registry cleaner is a smart thing to do. My T60 Thinkpad is really running slow. I'm using Norton Internet Security Suite 2007, but no other programs to scan for problems. I know many don't care for Norton, but I have it installed, so I'll use it for now.

XP, SP2, 2.0GHz, Core 2 Duo T7200

Moderator Edit: Moved topic to the more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

This post has been edited by Animal: 25 July 2007 - 06:22 PM

Unless you are comparatively knowledgeable about your version of Windows, you can certainly do more harm to your computer's functioning than any small improvements made by registry cleaners warrant.
There are safer methods to employ to speed performance, and these usually produce noticeable results. See this pinned topic for a start:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic44690.html

Regards,
John

Looked at the "slow computer" thread, and there's nothing new there. Is there any registry cleaner around that won't hash things up? Is so, I'd like to know about it. I've been using this process:

1. Install registry cleaner

2. Create restore point

3. Run registry cleaner

4. Find out what isn't working any more

5. Run System Restore

6. Uninstall registry cleaner

And forget about cleaning up the registry manually! Tried it once, won't do it again.

In addition to garbage in the registry, I know that XP also keeps chunks of trash strewn all over the OS. Is there any way to hunt all of this garbage down and get rid of it? Or do we resign ourselves to the fact that XP will slowly fill itself up with so much crapola that the easiest solution is just to re-install it from scratch?

Oh, one thing I did find out that does increase performance is to turn off "indexing" on your drive(s).

This post has been edited by MattV: 28 July 2007 - 04:35 PM

This is a matter of much debate throughout the web - but the essence is that Windows will "bloat" on you unless you spend an immense amount of time "policing" it. I tried this once upon a time and found it to be too much effort for too little result. Although expensive, more RAM is a much easier "fix".

You can spend hours tweaking Windows to achieve your goals, but the simplest fixes are often them most significant (such as turning of the indexing service).

I do not recommend the use of registry cleaners under any circumstances (although I do accept the use of the one at http://safety.live.com when used in conjunction with malware removal). If you need a registry cleaner, then it's better to get your hands dirty and do it yourself - then you've only got yourself to blame for whatever may go wrong.

The solution isn't necessarily to reinstall from scratch. Rather, install the OS, make all the Windows Updates, then install all of your programs. Then, use a disk imaging program to create an image of the hard drive. Use this image to restore Windows when it gets bloated - and you'll be back to the way it was when you imaged the fresh copy.

My dig/systems professor told me about RegVac. It works very well and so far (over a year) I've experienced no glitches. It does help the overall performance of my system. There is a trial version avail online.

I suggest you be VERY careful if you do anything with your registry. I just installed a new HDD, after getting it all the way I wanted I ran System Mechanic 6 Pro. I configured it NOT to change anything in my registry, but did allow it to backup the registry. While backing it up, the program froze, it screwed up my system and I had no restore points left. So be careful...