Whats The Best Free Registry Fix Program?

[KyleW]

Iv been searching for a registry program that fixes your registry,I came
across "Registry Mechanic" but it dont clean everything up & wants you to buy
it.Im looking for freeware,is there any recommendations that a Microsoft user
would use?

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

The best registry "cleaner" is none. They all think they know more than the people that wrote the operating system and/or the applications you've installed. Unless you have the experience to analyze every entry that the "cleaner" wants to remove and make an informed decision about it, leave well enough alone.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
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http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
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Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"KyleW" <Ky...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:F6E05EAF-07B0-42FB...@microsoft.com...

[KyleW]

Thanks.I wont look any further for registry programs.

[Shenan Stanley]

None. Let Windows handle it. Don't install randomly on a production
machine.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

[Shannon Jacobs]

I've used something called EasyCleaner on both Windows XP and Windows 2000
machines, and it hasn't caused me any major problems. However, in general
registry cleaning also produced little benefit, except for speeding up one
especially crufty old W2K machine. The program also has a number of other
helpful functions beyond registry cleaning. (On the other hand, many highly
experienced Windows experts insist there is no substitute for a periodic
rebuild of the entire universe.)

However, the thing that most interests me about this thread is to see the
firm "party line" position of Microsoft against such programs. All three of
their concrete claims are highly debatable. Letting Windows handle it is the
same as doing nothing. Many of the people who write applications for Windows
clearly have very little idea of how to do it properly or consistently. The
third claim, that only Microsoft knows what is going on in their OS is
mostly true, but that doesn't prove the people who write registry cleaners
can't program competently and defensively. Without further research, I
cannot say, but I can say that if I was programming such a utility, I would
take a distinctly cautious approach, and use very conservative algorithms to
delete things. However, even if you just compiled a list of glaring registry
cruft, you'd find plenty of stuff worth removing.

However, putting on my tinfoil hat, I think the real reason for the firm
party line is that there is probably stuff in the registry that users don't
want but which Microsoft does. For example, remember the ad-shortcutting
stuff they tried to hard-code through that front company a few years ago?

[Shenan Stanley]

Has nothing to do with being a member of any "party line" - the simple truth
is that most people are not educated enough to go messing around in the
registry - even with the "registry cleaners". They have NO IDEA what they
are erasing and *if* the machine doesn't reboot after they remove
something... well - then I guess they understand now.

Common sense says that if you properly maintain your system - you won't need
things like registry cleaners. If you have to test an application on your
computer, then clear out your system restore points, give it maximum space
and make a new manual one before installing.. Install, try the application
and if you don't like it - uninstall and THEN restore back to the point
before you installed using System Restore. *poof*. Everything back to
normal. Do most people follow this procedure - nope.

If someone wants to take the time to learn about the registry - go for it -
erase everything you know you can after you have done the research - but
don't depend on any tool to do it for you.. Not unless you understand what
the tool is doing.

In other words - people who ask this type of question - in general - do not
have the knowledge needed to run the tools out there safely. They should be
dissuaded - or at least warned of the dangers and told to learn more before
they continue on with their venture.

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

In particular, Easy Cleaner was one of the first identified to cause a specific, known problem with Windows XP. And Windows Me, I believe. It broke Help and Support by removing 4 required registry entries, because by its logic, they appeared to be an invalid path.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"Shenan Stanley" <newsh...@gmail.com> wrote in message news:uGlMjZwl...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

There is no "firm "party line" position of Microsoft" in this thread.
In fact no one from Microsoft even responded in this thread.
Instead the responses are from experienced users, probably the type the OP
hoped to get answers.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
http://www.dts-l.org

"Shannon Jacobs" <sha...@cashette.com> wrote in message
news:OeDwm9vl...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...