Has your Windows computer become slow? Does it show up error messages which persist even after you have run the usual anti-spyware and anti-virus software? If most of the usual methods of trying to fix your PC are not working, then your PC probably has a corrupt system registry that needs to be fixed.
But first of all, a brief explanation of what a registry is and what does it do is in order. The Windows registry is basically a centralized database that is used to store all the important data regarding user profiles, their individualized settings, program settings and other hardware and software configurations. Every time a new user profile is created or a new program installed, a file or a set of files regarding that is created in the registry. These files are called registry keys. There are five main registry keys, each with many more subkeys. The five registry keys are: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ,HKEY_USERS,and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG.
Invalid or corrupt registry keys can cause the following problems: frequent error messages, system crashes and freezes, slow performance and the most dreaded error message – the blue screen. The error messages are a result of Windows being unable to find certain files it needs to operate and when it is unable to get them, it displays those messages. But when important registry files are unavailable to Windows, this results in system freezes and less frequently a system crash. A slow bootup happens because the registry is cluttered or corrupt. It is during the bootup time that Windows uses the registry the most. This is because it needs access to all the startup programs, including anti-virus software, firewall and most importantly the operating system itself. The more invalid and corrupt registry keys a system has, the longer it takes for Windows to find and use all the necessary registry keys. In cases of system crash, which happens when there’s a fatal error, all the processes stop working and the blue screen appears.
You can fix the registry by tweaking it on your own, and Microsoft has several pages on this on its website. In fact, Windows comes with a tool called the Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) which enables you to look up, search for and change the settings to your system registry. But Microsoft itself warns on its website that using this tool is not recommended because making incorrect modifications can damage your computer even more. According to Microsoft, this tool is to be used under the guidance of a IT professional. So this means, most users will have to rely on something else to clean up and correct their registry.
There are several commercially available registry cleaners that you can use to repair your registry. But before doing that it is a good idea to create a backup registry file. To create a backup copy:
1.Click the Start button and type in “regedit.exe” in the Start Search box.
2.You will see five main registry keys.
3.Click on the File menu and then choose Export.
4.Select the location for your backup copy and give the copy a name.
5.Hit Save.
Now comes the hard part. Just type in “registry cleaner” in Google and you will see lots of websites selling registry cleaners. Most of them have similar names, similar looking websites and all of them have a free scan tool to help you gauge how many invalid and corrupt registry keys do you have on your computer. But not all registry cleaners are the same. Several software publishers create registry cleaners that are basically useless. They will show you a high amount of registry errors to make their product look good. If your computer is running normally, then a registry cleaner which shows a high amount of errors is not a genuine product. Because of this kind of unscrupulous software publishers there are some IT professionals who have come to the conclusion that registry cleaners are unnecessary. Then there are the fake registry cleaners that are actually trojans for spyware, malware and adware.
There are reputable registry cleaners such as RegGenie who have an excellent rating from the BBB. The company also has a McAfee SECURE logo, which stands for the fact that the website undergoes a daily security scan by McAfee. This registry cleaner even comes with several extra features including the following:
1.Registry Backup – A standard feature so that you do not have to worry about creating backups.
2.Registry Defrag – A feature that lets you check whether the system registry really does need to be cleansed.
3.Performance Review – This shows how many invalid and corrupt files were found and how many the application was able to fix.
4.Windows Startup Manager – This feature allows you to select which programs Windows should run when you boot your computer.
5.Auto Scan – This creates automated backups and scans the registry on a scheduled time.
