I recently have download CCleaner and was wondering about the Registry cleaner it uses.

How safe is it?

I ran the scan and it came up with a bunch of things to clean up, just not sure if I should or not. Is it fine to leave everything offered checked off that can be or should a beginner omit some of these?

The reason I ask is that many so-called "experts" that I have come across claim you should not use registry optimizing software unless you know exactly what you are cleaning. I am far from expert status and am a little leary about using the registry entegrity section of CCleaner. I know it claims to allow you to back up your registry and everthing, but I'm still a little hesitant.

Final question.

Will this actually help improve my computer's performance?

thanks in advance, tom

Lets start with the Last Question.

>Yes it will improve your performance.

So now to your big question

>I am very cautious when it comes to Reg cleaning. I'd say as long as you follow my signature you should be fine. Be sure to make backups of the registry (you'll be given the option when you do the clean. However, of registry cleaners, CCLEANER is the safest and most kind to the registry.

Hello tomn. You'll get opinions from both sides of the "Is registry cleaning a good idea" aisle. Here is an alternate opinion http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html. And here is an interesting, albeit somewhat lengthy, thread http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/registry-cleaner-2

My own opinion: If in doubt, don't.

Well said. Far too much emphasis (IMHO) is placed on performance gains from registry cleaning. I periodically run a reg-cleaner against certain types of entries to clear out some of the junk ... but this is just taste and fancy and I certainly don't expect any performance gains. I'm not saying there aren't any ... just that I believe they are insignificant. Good comments by BobJam on the second link.

Thanks for the opinions guys. Even If I go line by line or check by check, most of the stuff it finds I would have no idea of what or what not to eliminate.

I know your answers will probably be similar, but I have also been reading about registry utilities specifically NTregOPt. This software (from my understanding) does not alter or delete anything in the registry, but rather compacts registry hive (a term they use). Possibly an equivalent to a disk defragger only for the Registry?? . It has received favorable reviews. Again snake oil or is there some validity to this type of software?
Review here: http://www.snapfiles.com/opinions/NTRegOpt/NTRegOpt.html

Lastly, If I decide to forgo any type of registry utility (which may be the smart thing to do), what is the answer to a computer that seems to be getting more sluggish with time?

I use malware/spyware freeware (Malwarbytes antimalware, SuperAntispyware) scanners and run weekly scans which normally come up pretty clean with the exception of a few adware cookies here and there. Aside from that I have McAfee's full security suite for antivirus, firewall etc..

Combine that with Auslogic's disk defrag and CCleaner for cleaning out junk (other than Registry). I have also eliminated things I don't need on start-up by editing in MSConfig. Still many times Startups take longer than what I think they should or the puter will hang a bit or just overall computer sluggishness is present. I realize that web browsing can be more of an issue with your ISP service or web browser ( I use Firefox and DSL).

Or could it be that my computer (Dell Dimension 3000 XP2 with 500k of Ram) is just getting old/outdated for the technological advancements in today's cyberworld.

Dunno what processor is in there ... but your biggest performance leap is probably a RAM upgrade! I also note you use McAfee suite ... I'm guessing that's not too light on resources either ... 500k ain't a lot to play with!

It may be that since your memory is so low, you would get a proportionally greater performance impact from cleaning things up than other users might. So selectively cleaning, then compacting (NTregOPt compacts but doesn't defrag), then defraging your registry might help to alleviate some of your problems ... it can't make them any worse!

BUT ... (from the same stable as NTregOPt) ERUNT is an easy-to-use registry back-up tool which has many followers on here. Use something like that to get a full back-up before making wholesale registry changes. And then follow Nergal's signature advice ... do one step at a time.

You might have unnecessary services running that you could safely shut down. Black Viper is a pretty good source for information on this topic. Its a lot to read. Here.

For the registry questions, cleaning it didn't make a significant difference on an old, slow computer here, nor on a newer faster one. Some difference, not significant.

Memory added made a huge difference. On both.

Configuring services made a significant difference, not huge.

Deleting junk OEM programs, made a significant difference, not huge.

My vote: Don't delete a registry entry unless you for sure recognize it. Always make a backup.

Good hunting.

@login123 ... good to get the 'been there, tried that' viewpoint

I think you're right that when resources are very tight it's a case of 'every little helps'. There are quite a few things that make a small difference, but not many that make a big one (apart from a RAM upgrade ).

Pentium 4 2.80 GHz


Never thought about that. I'm sure it's quite the memory hog..

Yah 512 of Ram is punny in today's world. I see some of the newer Dell systems with 4 gig of memory. 5 year old computer, maybe it's time for an upgrade........

i took your advice and visited the BlackViper site. Good reading by the way. By running services.msc I was able to either disable or change some of the services I don't need or to be loaded automatically on startup to manual. Re-booted, hard to say but may have improved startup time slightly not sure yet on anything else.

CCleaner is one of the best freewares I have ever used and yes, all the registry cleaning it has done has given me no problems. It helped improve my computer's performance, but I cannot say that CCleaner is the best of the best and safest of the safest utility software out there for free.

I have read about one guy complaining here in the forums about CCleaner corrupting his Windows Media Player's ability to rip CDs but besides that, I haven't seen other complaints. What it has is its simplicity to use and much less danger in using that many other utility software has failed to achieve that's why I would consider CCleaner as the most popular utility software out there today that comes to free to download and use.

If you are looking for other ways that the computer's performance can be made better, I still had so much to tell you and that will be too much time.