Registry Cleaning - tips and tricks

Using this tip and others you can find on the web will speed up your computer but the only way to really deep clean your entire computer system to improve speed and health is to use a commercial registry cleaner. I found one that works great, has a ton of added features and is offered at an unbelievably inexpensive price. Below you will find out how I found this product and quick video showing how to use it and a lot of the benefits you get from applying it to your computer.

I came across Registry Easy a few years ago while trying to find a simple solution to a clients computer issues. She was constantly plagued by popups and her computer would slow to a crawl whenever starting a new application. I could get it up and running but she really had no interest in learning the tips and tweaks needed to keep it running that way. That's when I started looking around for a PC registry cleaner to speed her computers performance that she could run at her leisure for a quick registry fix.

After wading through a bunch of PC registry cleaner reviews I thought that Registry Easy would be exactly what she needed. It has all the features that we needed to solve her problems plus quite a few other bonus's that most registry cleaners I've come upon don't often include. We then went through the standard buying, downloading and installing of the registry cleaning software and were ready to give it a test run on her problem plagued computer.



As soon as you begin your registry cleaning session with Registry Easy your shown an easy to understand interface with six different options on what and how to clean your PC registry.

You can choose to of course run the registry cleaner, this is the most important part and does the most to improve computer speed. Next your can choose to clean up your web browser, this can be handy but it does take away your history and all the cookies, even the beneficial ones, I really don't recommend running this every time unless you feel you have to. The Junk Files Cleaner gets rid of orphan files that can bog down your hard drive and has a decent effect on your computers speed. Block ActiveX is one of the surprising features, usually you only find this in popup blocking software. This addon scans your computer and deletes malicious ActiveX controls that cause those annoying popups when surfing the web (and sometimes even when you aren't surfing). The System Optimizer is another neat feature that changes some settings in Windows that makes your computer run faster and be less open to crashes. The uninstall manager takes care of any errant entries left in windows add/remove programs panel that sometimes get left behind in a bad uninstall. It also cleans up any leftover files from uninstalls.

Since her computer badly needed a registry cleanup we choose all the options and let the program do its thing, It took about 5 minutes to run through its paces and it found 2000+ problems which it then preceded to take care of. After another few minutes and the quickest reboot this machine had done in awhile her computer was running like new and she had a program that she could run whenever she felt like and take care of all of her pc registry cleanup needs.

The Windows Registry is the area on your computers hard drive where Windows keeps information it is going to need to operate. It holds data such as the different settings you use like which desktop wallpaper you have displayed and all the non Microsoft programs you have installed. It also contains data on all the different computer hardware you have plugged in, your mouse, keyboard, speakers and any usb devices like joysticks and headphones/microphones.

The problem with the registry is that over time it can begin to hold information that is no longer needed. This comes about from many different sources, like removing programs and not using the Remove Programs function located in the Control panel. Also changing hardware when you get new mouse or keyboard can leave software traces of the old hardware behind. All these things can cause the Registry to be slowed down and become unstable due to the accumulation of these invalid entries.

In the registry your computer maintains a list of all the programs that are set to start up whenever you boot up your computer. Many 3rd party programs (and even some Microsoft ones) set themselves to automatically start even if your not using them all the time, this can drastically slow your start up time. A small program included with windows called msconfig can help you to take control over what your pc is doing at start up and improve computer speed. This handy program makes disabling these entries easy and will allow your computer to boot up faster, crash less frequently and speed performance of your computer.

1. Using Windows XP, go to Start -> Run...

2. Type msconfig in the "Open:" box and click OK

3. This will bring up Microsoft's System Configuration Utility. Left click on the "Startup" tab at the top.

4. This brings up a window with a listing of all the 'Startup Items' that your computer is set to automatically load every time you turn on your computer. I recommend to run just the most basic programs that are necessary to your computers health, such as avg, my anti-virus and my adaware popup blocker, I also listen to music a lot so I let my mp3 player start up. Programs such as google update and windows messenger I can start up when I want in my normal session. Stopping these types of programs from starting up on their own is the first step I take when cleaning my pc registry and is a good registry fix.I know it looks a bit daunting but I've found you can turn off almost all programs, your anti-virus of course should be allowed to start.

To keep a program listed here from starting up, all you have to do is uncheck the box next to the entry. Don't worry, all of Windows needed programs are loaded by an integral part of the startup process called 'Windows Services'. That mean that most of the items you see in the System Configuration Utility are optional and can be safely turned off. If any issues do arise on your next boot up just run msconfig again and check any box related to the issue. I've found this to be extremely rare.

5. When you have unchecked all the items you want to avoid at startup simply left click 'OK' and you will be given the option to Restart or Exit Without Restart. For now just left click on 'Exit Without Restart' if you have been following along.

6. When you do restart your computer all the entries you unchecked will help your computer to boot faster, run faster and be more stable. There will be a popup box, you need to check the "Don't show" box then left click 'OK'.