13 replies to this topic

[mike.n]

Hi Guys,

When it comes to programs like CCleaner and things like the Registry I am a complete novice, and I so I find it a bit embarrassing to ask a question which is probably second nature to the old hands on this forum.

The problem I am having is with the Registry part of CCleaner, and whether or not to go ahead and fix the problems that the "Scan for issues" has brought to my attention. I read somewhere that you don't just go about removing things from the registry if you do not know what you are doing. Is there anyway I can make a copy of the issues so that I can post it on the forum for you guys to look at, and if so how do I go about doing it?

Sorry for the stupid question but we all have to learn from somewhere

Cheers

Mike

[hazelnut]

Hello Mike and welcome to the forum

Here is some information here about using the registry cleaner. Also when asked if you would like to make a copy of the issues that you are cleaning from the registry choose yes.

It will be saved to 'my documents' by default in case of problems. Then you would either just double click the backup or right click and choose merge.

http://docs.piriform.com/ccleaner/using-cc...gistry-cleaning

You are right to be careful about delving into the registry and it may be wise to look into using a complete registry backup software such as Erunt (it's free)

http://www.larsheder...nline.de/erunt/

Also make sure you back up copies of your music, pictures etc to either cd/dvd's or external drives , or both!

Then if things go wrong for you at anytime, you don't lose what is important to you.

[mike.n]

hazelnut, on Apr 2 2009, 11:30 AM, said:

Hello Mike and welcome to the forum

Here is some information here about using the registry cleaner. Also when asked if you would like to make a copy of the issues that you are cleaning from the registry choose yes.

It will be saved to 'my documents' by default in case of problems. Then you would either just double click the backup or right click and choose merge.

http://docs.piriform.com/ccleaner/using-cc...gistry-cleaning

You are right to be careful about delving into the registry and it may be wise to look into using a complete registry backup software such as Erunt (it's free)

http://www.larsheder...nline.de/erunt/

Also make sure you back up copies of your music, pictures etc to either cd/dvd's or external drives , or both!

Then if things go wrong for you at anytime, you don't lose what is important to you.

Hi Hazelnut,

Many thanks for the links and info, which were very helpful. I suppose the only way that I am going to learn is to make a backup and then press the fix selected issues button and hope for the best. If things do go wrong and I have to use the backup, does it always restore the registry? Because I have been told that sometimes it may not work (although I think he may have been trying to wind me up.)

Thanks again for your advice.

Cheers

Mike

[hazelnut]

The ccleaner back up does not restore the registry, it just puts back the bits of it you cleaned.

There is no reason why it should not work. if it didn't it would be probably because of a different problem.

[Nergal]

Hi just to follow up on what hazel so adeptedly said, you should probably onlyt remove from the registry the stuff you are 99% sure you don't want. . . for instance if you installed program A and didn't like it so you uninstalled it, then when you ran CCleaner you see one (or more) entrie(s) referring to Program A it's ok to remove them (again make sure to make back ups)

best practice is to heed my signature, and (bTW) good for you for checking the forum first and reading some of what we had to say.

With Love,

Nergal the demon with a golden heart. . . on my bedside table. . . I'm going to eat it soon really I am, I'm just letting it ripen.

[ident]

I personally run ERUNT at startup.

small application that auto backs up the registry at startup. Never onced had to use it. But there could always be that one time i need it.

[mike.n]

Nergal, on Apr 3 2009, 02:50 AM, said:

Hi just to follow up on what hazel so adeptedly said, you should probably onlyt remove from the registry the stuff you are 99% sure you don't want. . . for instance if you installed program A and didn't like it so you uninstalled it, then when you ran CCleaner you see one (or more) entrie(s) referring to Program A it's ok to remove them (again make sure to make back ups)

best practice is to heed my signature, and (bTW) good for you for checking the forum first and reading some of what we had to say.

With Love,

Nergal the demon with a golden heart. . . on my bedside table. . . I'm going to eat it soon really I am, I'm just letting it ripen.

Well I did as Nergal suggested (one at a time) and everything worked out ok

Many thanks for your advice and to Piriform for an excellent cleaner.

Cheers

Mike

[Chris MG]

Hello, I am a total newbie at this. As IE is freezing all the time I just downloaded CCleaner and am trying to figure out how to clean the registry. When I ran registry scan, I got a huge list filled with:
Missing Shared DLL; Unused File Extension; Invalid Default Icon; Open with Application Issues; ActiveX/Com Issue; Missing Type Lib Reference; Application Path Issues; Installer Reference Issues; Uninstaller Reference Issues; Old Start Menu Key; and Missing MUI Reference.

As only a few reference a program I recognize, how do I know what should be "Fixed" and what should be left?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Chris MG

[Augeas]

If you're doing this to stop IE freezing then you're probably barking up the wrong tree. CC is more of a tidyer up of loose ends than a problem fixer. There's most likely a more fundamental reason why IE freezes.

There's really no checklist that you can use to tick off what can be removed from the registry and what can't. It depends on many things including your software setup, what applications you have, how are they configured, etc. Nobody can guarantee that a specific item will not be trouble free if removed (except for some obvious ones such as invalid icons). I should do what's been advised in this thread, backup the registry, remove what seems like rubbish, reboot frequently to test, and leave those you aren't sure about alone. These entries aren't going to fill your disk or grind your pc to a halt so don't get too paranoid about them. Go and fix IE instead.

[fireryone]

Your probably best to get IE fixed before cleaning the registry.

[Chris MG]

Thanks all, for the input. Any suggestions for IE fixes? Chris MG

[fireryone]

re-download/re-install IE7: http://www.microsoft...t-explorer/ie7/
and try firefox see if you have the same issues with random freezes.

If your pc overall has issues you may want to make a post in the spyware hell forum to make sure you are all clean.

[metalj]

IE8 is way better than IE7,
at least for me.

[Chris MG]

Thanks all for the help. I think I will try the re-install of ie7 first.Chris MG