registry cleaner and defragmenter

I would like opinions as to what registry cleaners you use and what registry defragmenters you use also. I currently wanna try RegScrubVista but it is a beta and I'm afraid it could damage my registry.

 

>> I would like opinions as to what registry cleaners you use and what registry defragmenters you use also. Bladesofhalo <<

As for Windows registry cleaning tools available as freeware; CCleaner is definitely the safest "registry cleaner" that I know of. Most people use it as a temp file, and Internet history cleaner and it does this job well too. But when using the Issues button; CCleaner will also scan and thoroughly clean out the registry as well and it is very configurable. You can pick and choose what you want to clean and chose to do a backup as well.

I’ve used CCleaner as both a temp file cleaner as well as registry cleaner since the program was first released and have never had a single problem using it. Most of the users that have experienced problems while using CCleaner's registry cleaner; clicked on choices (other than the default) when they were unclear as to what those choices actually do and/or they chose not to click "backup," which unfortunately is an "optional" choice.

The developers of CCleaner also do two things that many other freeware Windows cleaner program authors do not – (1) They sponsor their own online forum where users can ask questions and/or post any problems that they are having. (2) The program is updated very often; adding new tweaks and configuration possibilities

Another freeware choice called ToniArts EasyCleaner; which is also an all-around "suite" type of Windows cleaning program that will also scan for, find and clean out invalid registry entries, as well. Like many other Registry cleaning utilities, this one lets you select individual areas to clear out. It also cleans other things like temp files and deletes invalid shortcuts, duplicate junk files, and clears the Recent Documents list as well.

EasyCleaner also has a very useful, easy-to-read and thorough help file (something sorely lacking in many registry cleaning programs) which gives you every little detail about the program. The developer also sponsors ToniArts Support Forums for all of their programs; including a small but useful EasyCleaner Support Forum.

Both CCleaner and EasyCleaner are available at Major Geeks.

My favorite registry defrag tool is a fairly new entry in the freeware category called Free Registry Defrag 2.20. I believe was first released earlier this summer. This tiny program will do a good job defragmenting the Windows registry, and does it very quickly. After you choose to defrag your registry and the scan results appear, be prepared to reboot your machine. Since this program is apparently not currently available at Major Geeks; to find it; Google the exact search terms: Free Registry Defrag/Compact (Freeware) and the Home Page will appear at the top of the search results.

The RegCompact.NET program will compact and optimize the Windows 2003, XP, 2000; NT 4 registry hives as well and is available at Major Geeks. According to the developer’s home page, the very latest version of RegCompact.NET v2.0 now supports Windows XP Professional 64-bit. After the registry hives are compacted; during the subsequent system startup the old fragmented files are replaced with the newly generated and optimized ones.

Note: All of the "Registry Defragmentation" types of programs require an immediate reboot in order to properly defrag the Windows registry. I have tested many of these programs (both freeware and shareware) and sometimes these programs do not warn users to "reboot" immediately; however I believe that it is always best to do so whether the program warns you to or not.

Good Luck!

 

I use CCleaner and EasyCleaner, one gets what the other misses. Between the two, they seem to do a pretty thorough job very safely.

For defragmenting, I use Pagedefrag, which defrags the Registry hives as well as the paging files. I also use NTREGOPT to compact the registry - not exactly the same process.

I run the cleaners, then either set Pagedefrag to run on the next boot or run NTREGOPT just before shutdown/reboot. I wouldn't try to run them at the same time, it just sounds like a bad idea. I've never had any trouble doing it this way.

 

Will EasyCleaner work with Firefox also?

 

Yes, you can add FireFox manually to the unnecessary files through the Options.

 

thank you BirdBath.

 

CCleaner will also scan and thoroughly clean out the registry as well and it is very configurable. You can pick and choose what you want to clean and chose to do a backup as well.

I’ve used CCleaner as both a temp file cleaner as well as registry cleaner since the program was first released and have never had a single problem using it. Most of the users that have experienced problems while using CCleaner's registry cleaner; clicked on choices (other than the default) when they were unclear as to what those choices actually do and/or they chose not to click "backup," which unfortunately is an "optional" choice.

I have also wanted to use a reg cleaner (and defrag). Is is safe to delete all the reg "problems" that CCleaner finds? How do I know if something should not be deleted?? (I'm clearly very novice at this and don't want to do anything stupid. Also, when going through the malware removal process, I was told that I should only use CCleaner to clean out the temp files and not the registry. What should I do?)
Thank you for your help. Rick

 

Oh! I forgot to ask about RegScrubXP. This is listed on the MajorGeeks "Must Have" list. How does this compare to CCleaner for reg cleaning? Also, if I use the RegScrubXP program, is it safe to delete everything that it finds?
Thank you, again. Rick

 

I have used CCleaner for over a year now, on WinXP, Win2000, and Win98SE machines, and thus far I have not suffered any ill affects from deleting/correcting all the reg problems it finds. I do, as a matter of policy, always elect to save the changes in case there ever IS a problem . . . but so far I have not had too restore anything.

Speaking of registry matters - I highly reccommend using ERUNT for NT based systems (WinXP/2000). It is a registry back up and compression utility. Should you ever run into a problem with a damaged registry, it can save you.

 

I use ERUNT too, but it's not a compression utility. The download from MG comes bundled with NTREGOPT, which is the compression utility by the same author. Good thing you brought it up, I should have provided that link, too. Here it is: ERUNT

 

>> Is is safe to delete all the reg "problems" that CCleaner finds? How do I know if something should not be deleted?? (I'm clearly very novice at this and don't want to do anything stupid. pastorricky <<

You are wise to be cautious about removing any "unknown" files which you are entirely unfamiliar with. As a general rule of thumb; regarding cleaning out the Windows registry, it is never a good idea to delete or remove any files from your computer, unless you are aware of the consequences of what occurs after removing them.

To find out more about what exactly is removed when using the CCleaner "Issues" section; I’d strongly suggest checking out the program’s help files as well as well as the CCleaner.com home page and in particular, the Help & Support and Discussion Forum sections on the website.

That being said, I have used the CCleaner Issues section to clean my registry (using the default settings when the program is installed) many times over the years, and have never experienced any problems. CCleaner is especially helpful for anyone who installs/reinstalls or removes programs on a regular basis. It is very useful for removing registry entries that go nowhere and works wonders removing other various program 'leftovers' that are obsolete, or aren't listed in Add/Remove after you attempt to uninstall programs and utilities.

Important Note: Whenever you use the CCleaner "Issues" section to clean the registry; prior to performing the actual cleaning process, the program offers to "option" to backup the previous registry. The CCleaner backup process takes about 5 seconds to complete and can save you hours of trouble should something go wrong. I'd strongly suggest always using this backup option; just in case something goes wrong after the cleaning - so that you can easily restore the previous settings.

Good Luck!

 

Thank you all very much for your help!
Rick