Do registry cleaners actually improve Windows performance?
There are lots of registry cleaners around, obviously. The thing is, many of their claims remind me of the old snake oil salesmen in the vintage westerns I used to watch as a kid. "You there madam, with the Windows XP machine. Is you computer slower than it used to be? Do programs sometimes crash? Well, have I got a cure for you! Dr. Bill's miracle registry cleaner will take care of all of that and more! It will even help cure dropsy and ward off consumption!"
While dropsy of a computer would probably be bad and cause breaksy, I think I can avoid that on my own. I guess I'm not exactly hiding my skepticism about registry cleaners, but I do wonder a little if they have any benefits. Would a registry cleaner actually be beneficial for a Windows PC, or am I right to think of it as digital snake oil?
Answers
Here's an article that answers some of your questions, and looks at some of the more useful registry cleaners. It will also help you learn how to clean your registry and speed up your PC.
How to Clean Your Windows Registry and Speed Up Your PC
http://www.pcworld.com/article/149951/how_to_clean_your_windows_registry...
Of course, if you are really sick of the registry then you might consider moving to Linux or OS X. Then you'd never have to deal with it again. ;)
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I like the Q&A in the linked article: "Do registry cleaners work? Maybe." Which, of course, implies maybe not as well.
I have seen so many PCs screwed up by people using registry cleaners who weren't careful, or perhaps didn't know what they were doing. I would tread carefully with registry cleaners if I used them at all. I whole-heartedly agree with the article that you should make a back up before using a registry cleaner, if you decide to go that route.
Personally, I take the view that you are generally better off leaving the registry alone. Sure there are going to be some unused settings, but it doesn't make much of a difference. You are unlikely to see much, if any improvement in a computer's speed from messing around with the registry, and there is the real risk of screwing up and removing something needed by the OS.