Free Registry Cleaner

[bustednutz]

Does anyone know of a free registry cleaner that I can download for windows 7?
SO many say "free" then they hit you with a price to clean the computer up.
I'd like something thats totally free.
Thanks for your recommendations.

 

[Quattro Pete]

CCleaner.

 

[greg_J35]

visit http://www.eusing.com/index.html. I have used their freeware for years.

 

[wkcars]

Try ccleaner or the advance systemcare http://www.cnet.com/1770-5_1-0.html?query=registry+cleaner&tag=srch

 

[Colt45ws]

I would recommend not using one. Ive seen where they mark stuff to delete on a brand new virgin Windows install.

 

[chambers]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
CCleaner.

+1, I use it all the time and it will back up registry changes just in case it does some harm. I've never had to use the backups in several years of using it though.

 

[urchin]

Win 7 almost NEVER needs the use of a registry cleaner. Most than likely using one will cause more harm than good. What's worse it may seem like after you delete certain registry entries that are not needed you'll find you actually did need them!

Unless you have an MS certified professional guide you through useage if necessary save yourself the trouble and don't do it! .

 

[Drew99GT]

Been using ccleaner for years and years and it's never hurt any of my systems; plus, you can back up the registry if it does hurt something.

 

[Quest]

never use registry cleaner for you may never know if it's gonna delete some registry keys that deemed important to the stability of the OS or relevant software applications.

When in doubt: always resort to installing a fresh OS and start from scratch. While most of the legitimate software from major vendors are fairly good in terms of sanity or integrity of their registry keys or entries, some "shady" or "rouge" softwares or "drive by" types tend to leave a lot of things behind. This is esp. true with time-limited shareware or "bloatware".

Also: most brand name laptops these days typically come loaded with time-trial versions of "Bloatware" (requires you to pay in order to activate and use it/them). These are what we considered "garbage" and should stay away at all cost.

My 2c's worth.

Q.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: wkcars
Try ccleaner or the advance systemcare http://www.cnet.com/1770-5_1-0.html?query=registry+cleaner&tag=srch


Avoid CNET like the plague, all their downloads are loaded with bloatware and spyware.

 

[zloveraz]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: wkcars
Try ccleaner or the advance systemcare http://www.cnet.com/1770-5_1-0.html?query=registry+cleaner&tag=srch


Avoid CNET like the plague, all their downloads are loaded with bloatware and spyware.


Can we say exaggeration.... Yes some have [censored] maybe but spyware?

 

[daves66nova]

http://download.cnet.com/windows/addpcs/3260-20_4-6290268.html

 

[Mystic]

I think you need to be very careful with registry cleaners. Many Windows experts say not to use registry cleaners at all. And be extremely careful with any free registry cleaners advertised on the internet. Some contain malware.

About the only cleaner I am willing to use is CCleaner. And one expert who wrote a book on Windows 7 says that he uses CCleaner but only to clean out unnecessary files. He does not use the registry cleaning at all.

A lot of people who are supposed to be experts label registry cleaners 'snake oil.'

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
CCleaner.


+1

 

[berniedd]

Ccleaner is very popular. I've used it for years, even in my Win7 desktop, never had problems with it. And yes, I clean out the registry too.

 

[dishdude]

My Win 7 computer works just fine, the registry can stay dirty. Thank you very much!

It ain't broke so I ain't fixin' it!

 

[urchin]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
My Win 7 computer works just fine, the registry can stay dirty. Thank you very much!

It ain't broke so I ain't fixin' it!


Exactly.

A registry sweep will almost never resolve problems you are having because most of the time it is malware or spyware that is causing the issue


WARNING!!!!!

IF YOU ARE INFECTED WITH MALWARE AND USE A REGISTRY CLEANER EVEN A GOOD ONE YOU MAY MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPLETELY REMOVE ALL OF THE MAlWARE ON THE MACHINE!!!

 

[Mystic]

I have read several books on Windows 7 written by Microsoft 'MVPs.' These people are supposed to know what they are doing. In exactly one book, the woman who wrote the book recommended registry cleaners, but she was an IT pro. Not one of the other people in their books recommended registry cleaners. Some said don't use registry cleaners at all. Some said that if you manually have to work in the registry to back up the registry and be extremely careful, and not mess with the registry unless you knew what you were doing. And one guy who was a Microsoft MVP said he used CCleaner but only to clean out unnecessary files and he did not recommend the registry cleaner in CCleaner. He said that CCleaner was better than Microsoft's Disk Cleanup built into Windows.

Microsoft used to have an online antivirus scanner that included some registry cleaning. But it was real conservative in what it did. And Microsoft has since dropped the registry cleaning in their latest online scanner.

 

[urchin]

Just to add the specific reason why the use of a registry cleaner after being infected is bad for malware removal is because usually the malware is often designed to leave many fragments of itself scattered throughout the registry and the registry cleaner may miss some of these. Then if you try and use custom removal programs to eradicate the malware (many are used by MS MVP Certified Professionals) it makes it almost impossible for those generally effective programs to detect and remove all the bad coding. Leaving folks often times with permanent problems in the OS.

IF YOU SUSPECT YOUR SYSTEM IS INFECTED DO NOT DELETE ANY FILES AT ALL, INCLUDING TEMPORARY OR EVEN TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES ON YOUR SYSTEM.

CALL MICROSOFT FOR NO COST REMOVAL ASSISTANCE AT
1 866 PC SAFETY.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: urchin


CALL MICROSOFT FOR NO COST REMOVAL ASSISTANCE AT
1 866 PC SAFETY.