What is your opinion of Registry Optimizers?

[roraniel]

The contest for 10 free licenses of jv16 PowerTools brings up a good debate.

I have read many threads on other forums and consistent comments from MVP's and other senior members is to avoid Registry Optimizers because they have a greater potential for harm than good.

The consistent reason people seam to give for thinking they need one is to remove left over garbage from installing and uninstalling programs.

To combat this, I use Revo Uninstaller.

What is your opinion of Registry Optimizers in general?

Also, how do I make this a poll?

[seti]

The contest for 10 free licenses of jv16 PowerTools brings up a good debate.

I have read many threads on other forums and consistent comments from MVP's and other senior members is to avoid Registry Optimizers because they have a greater potential for harm than good.

The consistent reason people seam to give for thinking they need one is to remove left over garbage from installing and uninstalling programs.

To combat this, I use Revo Uninstaller.

What is your opinion of Registry Optimizers in general?

Also, how do I make this a poll?

I can not remember where but there was a study done a few years ago on all the registry optimisers that came to the conclusion that they really did not do a great of good, and that as you state in the wrong hands they can do a lot of harm. Personally I don't use one, because of this. I do however manually check my registry to see what is there, and if I've not go the programme to match then I just delete the item. I also think that if there had been a real need for a registry optimiser then Microsoft would have done one by now.

[James]

Also, how do I make this a poll?

You have to create a poll with the initial thread. If you want to start a new thread with a poll, I can merge the existing thread with it.

[johnny.rotton]

I can not remember where but there was a study done a few years ago on all the registry optimisers that came to the conclusion that they really did not do a great of good, and that as you state in the wrong hands they can do a lot of harm. Personally I don't use one, because of this. I do however manually check my registry to see what is there, and if I've not go the programme to match then I just delete the item. I also think that if there had been a real need for a registry optimiser then Microsoft would have done one by now.
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Seti

Microsoft have released a registry cleaner and it has been out for a while now.

Check it out Windows Live OneCare safety scanner: Free online tool for PC health and safety

[seti]

I can not remember where but there was a study done a few years ago on all the registry optimisers that came to the conclusion that they really did not do a great of good, and that as you state in the wrong hands they can do a lot of harm. Personally I don't use one, because of this. I do however manually check my registry to see what is there, and if I've not go the programme to match then I just delete the item. I also think that if there had been a real need for a registry optimiser then Microsoft would have done one by now.
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Seti

Microsoft have released a registry cleaner and it has been out for a while now.

Check it out Windows Live OneCare safety scanner: Free online tool for PC health and safety

Thanks JR I must have missed that along the way it must be my age

[johnny.rotton]

Thats alright, I will add though it can only be used by Internet explorer 7

[James]

It works with IE8 Beta as well. I'm using it on Vista right now. Thanks for the reminder about this online scanner, JR.

[leofelix]

I also prefer to check my registry manually, I use however CCleaner (with caution) and REVO UNINSTALLER.

I remember J. Vuorio RegCleaner (the former name of JV6 Power Tools) which was a good and free registry cleaner some years ago, in my humble opinion.. well it was good for Win98/Me

[whs]

I understand that registry cleaning is an old myth from previous Windows (XP and older) where clening the registry could buy you a little performance gain. However, in Vista, the access method to the registry was changed and "cleaning" the registry does not buy any performance gain. I personally stay away from it. But if you use it (e.g. with CCleaner), make a backup since they give you this option. The few bytes of disk space you will be saving are not worth talking about anyhow.

[Corrine]

I can not remember where but there was a study done a few years ago on all the registry optimisers that came to the conclusion that they really did not do a great of good, and that as you state in the wrong hands they can do a lot of harm. Personally I don't use one, because of this. I do however manually check my registry to see what is there, and if I've not go the programme to match then I just delete the item. I also think that if there had been a real need for a registry optimiser then Microsoft would have done one by now.

I wonder if you are recalling the same old Fred Langa article as me: Langa Letter: Testing 10 Windows 'Registry Cleaning' Software Packs -- PC Maintenance

Here are a couple other opinions (also from 2005):

Ed Bott -- Why I don’t use registry cleaners | Ed Bott’s Windows Expertise |
Mark Russinovich -- Mark's Blog : Registry Junk: A Windows Fact of Life

My point of view is that unless there is a specific problem in the registry there is no need to use a reg cleaner. If there is a specific problem in the registry, it is unlikely to be solved by using a reg cleaner. Any time I am helping with malware removal and have to include a script for a registry entry removal, I double- and triple-check the script -- especially if it is for a key rather than a value.

In the event anyone still feels that a registry cleaner is needed, please first make a full backup -- not merely a registry export, but a backup with ERUNT that can be restored if something goes wrong.