Registry / Dll Pollution

[EricW]

I know that supposed "registry cleaners" are sold. But do they work? What about sweeping out all the garbage DLL's?

I'd love to get away from the annual to semi-annual Windows OS reinstall (because it's the only way to get rid of the junk).

Thoughts...?

[Merlin Orr]

I have never had any luck with repairs or cleaning but I found this site.... Might be worth a look.

[vincent]

BTW, the link provided is just an advertisement page. All of the links are "affiliate" trackers that pay the site for pushing clicks. I would look elsewhere for info on software.

Also I've never found a registry cleaner that was worth a darn. Most are the fastest way to an unstable system.

I've had a lot fewer registry issues in XP Pro than earlier versions of Windows like the 95/98/Me series. What are you seeing that makes you want a registry cleaner?

Edited October 13, 2006 by vincent

[EricW]

What are you seeing that makes you want a registry cleaner?

Well... among others:

Speed

Reliability

The inability/refusal of software to fully remove itself upon uninstallation (which ought to be a felony)

I've never really had an OS go for more than about a year before having serious issues. XP or otherwise. The only fix seems to be a format and fresh OS install. Which I absolutely HATE. It generally takes me about a week of nights to get my system back to where it was.

Oh well...

Edited October 13, 2006 by EricW

[shred]

There are some tools in Windows Defender (currently a free beta download from Microsoft) that let you see what all is installed and running and disable many of them if you want.

[D.Hayden]

I still go the way Eric's talking about. I install/uninstall so much crap and Alpha/Beta software - the systems will just about die - 12 months is pushing it.

My wifes - runs 100% - until we get new hardware - she's just not mucking with it.

There was a nice software Product called AlhoaBob - that would save off ALL your settings and let you select what software to keep, etc... save this image of to a file or transfer to another system... worked great, and it was dirt cheap. Gave me the best optins - cleared out the crap, and didn't need to re-install and configure everything.

Maybe see if you can find an old copy on Ebay - it's a strech, but it works pretty well.

Microsoft bought them out - and includes a minor version with XP.

[sargenv]

One thing I think is a lifesaver is Norton Ghost. Load your system with everything you want, run Norton ghost and take an image of your machine. Break up the image among DVD's and you have a fresh load based on your system ready in case something corrupts or if you lose a HD with your OS on it. When I lost my HD, I re-imaged to a copy I'd had. I didn't have everything on it, but I had most of my neccesary software loaded already.

Vince

[Vlad]

I'm fairly rough on my systems from the stand point of installing stuff and removing it. I find that keeping track of whats is running on your machine is the most efficient way to keep it alive. I use Windows Defender (which I think its is better then then spybot and adaware which is what I used to use), Startup Panel and Startup Monitor, Zone Alarm as a firewall (though all my machines are also behind hardware firewalls). I'm running 2000 and XP. The only times I do reinstalls is when I burn out a drive, heck Raz-0 yells at me because half the time I won't reinstall even when I upgrade my CPU, MB, and drive. I'm sure he is right as that being a bad idea but so far I've been lucky I guess.

Of course .. video drivers are my bane, I'm think I'm cursed with that.