Softwares For Cleaning Windows Registers - May We Trust Them ?

Hello.
Many times I had to manually clean Windows XP registers in order to fully remove some programs. Doing so, I discovered (see www . registry-cleaners-reviewed . info) a few softwares which are proposed as a solution to Windows Registers' automatic cleanup: Registry Fix - Registry Cure - Error Nuke - Registry Sweep - Registry Easy. One of those softwares says my computer suffers from 353 problems and/or errors ! I have only very superficial knowledge on Windows Registers, but I know this is a most delicate subject, where any inappropriate action may ruin the installation. So, here follows my questions:
MAY WE TRUST THOSE SOFTWARES FOR WINDOWS REGISTERS' AUTOMATIC CLEANUP ?
ANY FEEDBACK ABOUT REGISTRY FIX, WHICH THE ABOVE LINK SAYS IT'S THE BEST ?
ANY RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHAT TO DO PRIOR TO CLEANUP (Windows Register backup, recovery point creation etc etc) ?
I thank you in advance for your precious help.
Dilermando

 

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

These are the registry cleaners we recommend here at MajorGeeks. I find the registry Issues function in CCleaner helpful as well.

I searched all of those items you mentioned on MetaCrawler, and none of them have come up with specific removal instructions, which usually indicates a program is malware. They're not likely to be malicious, since there haven't been any complaints posted about them.

 

First- Welcome to Major Geeks! :major

Be careful with registry cleaners! Many are 'free trials' and are actually spyware/malware. Trusted registry cleaners can be found here at MajorGeeks in the Registry section; personally, CCleaner and Wise Registry Cleaner I find to be the best, but that's just one man's opinion.

 

hd2k <<< You forgot something hooperdave2000

I agree with hd2k those two are the safest.

 

As hopperdave has already said. Welcome to MG.:major

The 2 cleaners he listed are 2 that I use every day. Both are eessential on any PC, IMO. Bazza

===

 

I thank everybody who answered my questions.

When I posted them, I forgot to mention:
- I have Norton SystemsWorks Premier 2005 version 8.02 build 6 in my computer
- I regularly run One Button Checkup and WinDoctor

There is something which puzzles me. If I backup Windows Registers using REGEDIT, the backup file is created (Windows Explorer shows it). But a warning appears and says: "it's not possible to export the file ... error when saving file - maybe the harddisk or the file system are in error" (this is of course a free translation from my native language).

The same warning appears if a backup is created with Wise Registry Cleaner.

Amazingly, Registry Fix creates a backup, and no such warning appears.

I would like very much to make my first try at Wise Registry Cleaner and/or CCleaner, but that ominous warning makes me think twice: I'm not sure those backup files are ok.

Any comments, suggestions ?

Again, thank you very much !

 

Try using CCleaner; you need to click the 'Issues' button for a registry scan. When the scan is finished, select only one item to be cleaned (for now). When you click 'Fix', CCleaner will ask if you want to back up the registry, say 'yes' and see if the error comes up. If not, go ahead and let CCleaner fix everything it finds.... if you still get the error, let us know, and we'll look into it a bit further and try to get you sorted out.....

hd2k

 

Hello Hopperdave2000.
I tried CCleaner as you suggested.
After selecting On Issues - Registry Integrity - Obsolete Software - scan for issues, I choosed to clean just one entry, namey an obsolete software key.
A very small backup file cc_20070805_1015.reg was created.
No error messages were displayed.
Do you think I may safely run CCleaner ? meaning may I check EVERY entry under Issues - Registry Integrity & File Integrity, then Scan & Fix ?
My best regards.
Dilermando

 

Ok, I am new to this site...and totally ADD....I need help...err....my computer needs help. After much ado about malware and problems on my pc....I cannot get Adobe FlashPLayer to d/l properly. I end up having to run my chkdsk /r to fix the errors that keep occurring. I am running Windoze XP Professional. IE 7 and AOL Optimized keep asking for the d/l and ActiveX controls. I have done all the basic stuff I was encouraged to do when I joined this site. What am I supposed to do to make this work and not waste any more of my valuable time???? Much gratitude.

 

Karima- it's best to start a new thread instead of tagging onto someone elses. Your more likely to get quicker and more accurate answers. But, Welcome to MajorGeeks :major Hopefully we can help you out!

Dilermando- go ahead and let CCleaner fix all the registry issues and again, be sure to make the back up (just in case). Once you have more experience with reg cleaning, you can go thru the list and pick out entries that you may not want removed for whatever reason. For various reasons of my own, I tend to keep the unused file extension entries (I think it's because I used a different cleaner years ago, and it removed an extension that was incorrectly identified as unused; it caused massive problems). There's also a neat program called NTREGOPT which will 'defrag' and optimize the registry. It's best when run after running CCleaner. It goes thru the reg and removes any gaps or 'slack', resulting in a more effecient and streamlined registry. Take a gander: http://www.majorgeeks.com/NTREGOPT_d4824.html

hd2k

 

It's recommended to create a system restore point before using any tools to clean registry. Most tools do have a way to undo the changes.

If you are an expert, always take a quick look before allowing a registry cleaner to delete the errors.


Hari

 

haritvm,

You are not authorized to advertise on these forums. Your links to the registry cleaner you are advertising have been removed.

Please contact the owners for the proper procedure to advertise here. Further posts of this nature will be regarded as spam.

Thanks!

 

Sorry I do not kow how to make a new thread so I posted my attachments here in response to "Windows XP Cleaning Procedure" thread posted by chaslang. My computer is working fine now, thanks to chaslang, but I just wanted to make sure that there weren't any problems overlooked. I had to run superantispyware twice because I wasn't able to remove it all at once (computer kept restarting thanks to malware). I will also be posting another response with the combofix and mgtools log files,

 

Here are the other log files.