BleepingComputer.com: Registry Software Scanners.

Hi, I am having a little problem here, which I have more than 8 different brands of registry scanners install in my computer, and each one of them seems to scan more errors than the others, and I dont know if it is a good idea to have that many registry scanners, but if i want to uninstall them, i dont know which once are the best to uninstall, therefore the followings are the registry scanners that I have, and can you tell me which ones are less useful?

I have

1. Registry Fix
2. PC doc Pro
3. Advanced System Optimizer
4. Registry Compressor
5. Registry first aid platinum
6. AusLogics Boost Speed
7. Advanced Windowscare
8. Error Killer
9. Pc on point

there's one more scanner i have:

pc rescue

Registry scanners fix errors based on what the programmer thinks are errors. The trouble is that there are no absolutes - so one programmer's opinion may differe significantly from another's.

FWIW - IMO there is only one good registry cleaner - and that's you! No one knows better than you what should and should not be on your system.

Now, obviously you'll need a tool to assist with this. I'd suggest the last freeware version of JV16 Power Tools ( http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/index.html#jv16 )

Now, this tool requires a lot of input from the user. The key is to 1) Backup your registry and to 2) only delete those entries that you know aren't needed. That's where experience comes in.

Several good free tools to help with this are ERUNT and NTREGOPT (available here: http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ )

Other tools that I've seen recommended (but don't use myself) is the original Microsoft RegClean v4.1 and Easy Cleaner.

Oops! I forgot this one (from Enthusiast): http://safety.live.com
IMO it works quite well. I let it fix my registry and haven't had any problems with it.

so u are recommending to uninstall all of my registry scanners and use your recommendations?

I've only heard of #'s 3 and 7 on your list. There's no problem with leaving them installed - the problem (IMO) is with using them to automatically clean the registry.

Personally, all I think that you need are these 3:

ERUNT
NTREGOPT
http://safety.live.com

EDIT: Oh and FWIW, I don't clean my registry all that often, nor do I use the tools very often. I keep them on hand "just in case". When I used the http://safety.live.com scan yesterday, it was the first time that I can remember doing anything to my registry in a very, very long time (6 months to a year). And it only found about 800 errors (not many considering that my registry consists of about 500,000 entries or more.

I routinely install/uninstall programs for testing purposes. I surf to bad places on the web trying to ferret out problems. I manually edit my registry whenever I feel the need to (luckily, I have ERUNT automatically backing it up!) And I don't perform all that much maintenance. So, with only 800 non-threatening entries to deal with I was confident that the Microsoft tool could fix it. The use of the NTREGOPT tool can speed up registry access by compacting your registry - but I haven't noticed any difference with it in the past.

I have to agree with Usasma here. First, most of the time, cleaning up the registry yields little discernable improvement in your computer's performance. Second, the possibility of making changes that does harm far exceeds those of any supposed enhancement of performance. Third, using applications to automatically clean the registry increases the probability that the registry will be cleansed of something essential to the functioning of either the operating system or needed appliciations.
Regards,
John

Personally, although I find obsolete registry entries irritating, since they don't seem to cause any trouble I think the best advice I've heard is: "Don't overclean your registry."

Maybe the best tack to take, instead of worrying about old and unused entries, is to pay attention to the new keys that are constantly being added - especially the unauthorized ones!

A great program I found recently for constant monitoring of changes to the registry is MJ REGISTRY WATCHER:

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/registrywatcher.html

MJ Registry Watcher monitors your system for changes to any of the common startup folders and startup related registry keys, as well as many hidden startup methods and any other file(s) you want to monitor for changes. It offers several security presets, ranging from light to highest security, depending on your personal preference and level of technical expertise. Whenever a monitored file or key is modified, the program will prompt you to confirm the changes, you can also choose to automatically reject any modifications. The program includes features to backup selected items, search the list by keyword and advanced users can also exclude certain files, values or keys from being monitored.

Publisher Mark Jacobs
File Size 497 kb
Version 1.2.4.7 (history)
Last updated Jul 04, 2006
License Freeware
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

This is a really neat program that is light on resources and sits peacefully in your toolbar until it decides something is going on that you should know about. The only thing I didn't like about it was the sound file that comes with it - it's a sort of warning shout - so I've replaced it with a milder .wav file.

Cheers,

scratcher.

ok, I will have a look.

it was a good program, but since I have bitdefender already watching over my registry for viruses, I dont think I would need it that much.

returnil virtual system is unbelievable!! we don't ever need any antivirus or anti spyware programs again!