Are Registry Cleaners a Good Idea?

Function

• Dealing with unwanted registry entries is a fact of life if you are using a Windows operating system. Registry cleaning software companies claim that registry cleaners can remove excess entries that don't belong in your registry by deleting the registry entries made by spyware, viruses or old programs. Deleting such unwanted entries can increase the performance of your computer.
  
  

Software Options

• Many independent and corporate software companies have created software that they claim will clean your registry and improve computer performance. Registry Cleaner companies include Eusing, Registry Mechanic and CCleaner. CCleaner has a good reputation among computer users who use it to clean their Windows registry, but any program that accesses and changes your computer registry places you at great risk for damage.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Amateur computer repair technicians often make the mistake of identifying a problem's source as the registry when it is really a hardware problem or other software issue. Registry cleaning is a dangerous process for the stability of your computer, and if a registry cleaner is used at all, it should be used as a last ditch effort to fix the computer before reinstalling the operating system.
  
  

Warning

• Most registry cleaners, especially those that advertise through popups on your computer, contain viruses, spyware, malware, scareware and other unwelcome software installations. If you are receiving popups that state that your registry should be cleaned, your computer's security has probably already been breached by a type of software called scareware. Scareware is software that is meant to goad the user into installing an unsavory registry cleaner by warning the user of an imminent computer failure, usually with excessive popups.
  
  

Registry Cleaner Problems

• In addition to their reputation with bundled spyware and other unwanted programs, registry cleaners can also delete files that the system and software need to function. If you don't know what files you need to delete, you should not use registry cleaners because you will not be able to tell which files your computer relies on. If you do know which files you need to delete, you are better off treating your registry manually with an anti-spyware and anti-hijacking program such as HiJackThis. HiJackThis gives you a list of processes that are running and in the registry on your computer, so you can have them evaluated by a qualified person to find out if you have spyware or errors.