registry cleaner can you help?

About halfway down on our top freeware picks, we suggest a couple for you:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20

 

Hi and Welcome

Registry cleaners I have used over the years and still use these today are,

RegCleaner and the in-built one in CCleaner

one thing to note tho, do when prompted chhose to backup what changes are being done, in case something removed stops another application from working.

 

Thats fair point, and no question is stupid, if you never used these apps then its fair to say you need a bit of guidence, so I will try and cover two of them with a few step by steps, I say two of them for the very reason Star makes, like in most cleaning software 1 will miss what the other finds and vice versa.

1. Regcleaner
Install and run > first off just check this option is checked... click Options > Registry Cleanup > Method > and check Automatic is ticked, then under that option is Backups, make sure only one is ticked.

then on to the cleanup... Click Tools > Registry Cleanup > Do them All > sit back and wait while the scan, cleanup and backup all all done for you.

Do run the scan again to see if any entries have been missed.

Please do not remove anything listed under the blue menu tabs unless you know what your removing as its likely to result in some software not working, those options are for users who know that those items are not on the PC.. dont even thing I have use most of the options apart from Software and Startup. Especially if you notice it says NEW and OLD in the Software list, those just destinguish between new items that have been added to the registry and older ones.




2. CCleaner
Download and install the software, then run.

Click Issues > Leave all the default options listed checked then click Scan for Issues, the scan process takes from a few seconds to minutes, depends on how much junk is found.

once the scan has completed click Fix selected Issues > you will be prompted for the option to backup the changes to the registry that about to be deleted click YES > a Save As box will appear ( the default location for the CCleaner backups are in Program Files > CCleaner folder ) you can change the file name to something more recognisable like the date even tho the date is seen in the central part of the default file name seen > click Save

then click Fix All Selected Issues > click OK to are you sure.

thats it all done.. but if this is thefirst time run I would run through the steps again as sometimes a second run is needed to clear all old items out.


The Cleaner menu in CCleaner is good for removing all old temp files and old installer files, internet temps and old cookies etc.


I have not used Regseeker so maybe Star will give you some instructions for that software

 

Glad the instructions helped, see you knew you could do it

Registy cleanup I would do once you uninstall something or say once a month would be fine.

To be honest windows disk clean misses alot of junk files, which is why many users now use a 3rd party cleaner as in CCleaner or CleanUp! ( as recomended Bigbazza one of our members ) these tools remove vast amounts of redundant files.. from internet temps and cookies to old temp installer files.. you'd be amazed at what they find and give you back hard drive space. These I would run weekly.

I do have a small typed up guide to using CCleaner I could post if you wish to use that program?


Other good tools and ones especially for helping you keep Virii/Spyware free are listed in this superb guide How to Protect yourself from malware!


also many good freebie software to help can be found in this listing that the Major posted earlier.
Majorgeeks ~ Must have free downloads


But just ask if you need help with anything as we have some really knowledgable members here on all aspects of computing

 

Not a problem Liam


Seems as if you have some of the essential security apps installed already, but another one you must have is Spywareblaster, its a free application that helps stop any malware from being installed on your PC in the first place ( it does not remove ) just needs to be manually updated once a week. What it does in essence is to block any known URL from dropping its spyware load onto your PC.. its an essential IMO.


As to the guide on CCleaner, its one I use daily/weekly as to being the best I think it is along with the other app CleanUp! I posted as they both will cover all aspects of cleaning your PC from old junk files etc .. BUT here you go, its not a full ( guide ) one but covers most of the essentials ( I wrote it a year ago but just checked to make sure all the info was correct )

---------------------------------------------


Here is a quick guide on what I would show friends/relatives/collegues etc what to start with,

Cleaner ( Windows )

These are the items I would personally tick in this section, the recycle bin is missing as I use something more secure because of info from work I may have used on this pc, but if your not the type of person that bins data to later look atand review just to check its ok to perminently bin then tick that option. The section I have arrowed in red, is one that you have to make a decision on....

Temp Internet Files ~ Junk delete always
Cookies ~ well if you dont mind typing your login on some websites forums like this every time then tick this, if you like auto logging on then un-tick ( cavet to that is you can click Options > Cookies and specify the ones you wish to always keep, useful for forums, Gmail etc to save you typing User/Passward again/each time )
History ~ untick if you like to know where you have been on the net, if your not bothered in having a history of your surfing activity then tick.
Reciently typed URLs ~ again upto you if you want to keep
Last Download Location ~ I have this unticked as I download everything to the same folder, easier to find where you saved them
Autocomplete ~ Have this turned off anyway in Internet Explorer or other browsers options, I just dont like the way when I type a URL it trys to second guess me, but this option if ticked removes all those entries from the drop down list.

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/8122/ccleaner11nq.jpg


Cleaner ( Applications )

These the other software packages that you have installed and depending on wether you wish to know what the last few opened files from Office etc are then tick or untick.... I have them all the below ticked as I have no use to know what I opened a day or hours ago ( again personal preference )

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/5836/ccleaner25su.jpg


Those are the bulk of removing old junk files the next section is totally upto you if you want to use or not as this section deals with the registry of your PC, basic terms its a directory of where all program locations and settings are stored and if manually adjusted CAN cause your PC to error, now this is where software like CCleaner and the mentioned RegCleaner come in handy as the search for safe* missing links in the directory and delete them, helping your PC to run smoother ( NOTE: they do backup what they delete as you are given the option in case something is deleted in error, never had it in the many years I have used a registry cleaner )


Issues ( registry )

The below represents what I have my settings and that of all PCs I install this software on set to and have not found it causes a problem...
http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/9417/ccleaner39qq.jpg

AGAIN it's upto you if you want to use the registry cleaner.


Tools

Uninstall ~ Wouldnt touch.... unless I know I had uninstalled an application that wasnt removed from Control Panel > Add/Remove, this option will help remove that corrupt entry
Startup ~ Again wouldnt touch unless you are experiencing a very slow starting PC and this could be covered at a later date, to which applications are needed at startup or not.


Options

The softwares settings, not much to adjust their from default, apart from the Cookies in which I mentioned at the start or the newer function of secure deletion of what is to be removed,Under Options > Settings is a secure Deltion option, this uses algorithims to scramble the deleted data up so it cannot be recovered easily... donwside is you if mistakingly deleted something you wont be able to recover it.... so again an option you take a choice at using.




and if in doubt the online help guide is superb http://www.ccleaner.com/help/?v=1.23.160&l=1033

 

Yes thats quite fine for Norton to turn the XP firewall off, the XP Firewall in only a single direction firewall in only blocking incomming data, it doesnt block outgoing data or in other words if you sadly became infected with spyware then the spyware component would be free to send its data out, but with a bi-directional Firewall as in your Norton one it will alert you to any software wanting to connect to the internet from your PC, without your permission.

So I would keep the XP firewall disabled.

As to Norton and its list of allowed and disallowed softaware location, sadly I cannot remember off hand as I dont use Norton/Symantec products.

But have a read of the user manual to NPF ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/engli...personal_firewall/2006/manuals/npf2006_ug.pdf , and I will do later and see if I can remember where the settings are.

but just to Double Check as the locations of menus maybe different which Norton product do you have is it Norton Interenet Security or just Norton Personal Firewall?

 

If I have this right ( and I may not have as the manuals are terrible for telling you how to manually configure the Permit/Disallow options per application )

but open up NPF, click Personal Firewall, to the right will be a configure button, click that > Program Control and then you can change the setting per application

Seems to also be an option to disable *nearly typed disembowel* the Automatic Program Control, in which Symantec have a known list of friendly apps it automatically allows connection to the net without any user knowledge, you can untick and each time a new application you install or dont in case of malware wants net access you get a popup warning in which you say Permit always or Block/Disallow


Hope this helps until a knowledgable user of NPF comes along to clarify.