Internet Security ABC - Something Doesn't Register - Cleaning your Computer's Registry for Safety

Something Doesn't Register - Cleaning your Computer's Registry for Safety

Each time you put new hardware or software on your system, or you reinstall programs or hardware on your system, information about that install is placed in your system's Registry. The system Registry is a log of everything that happens on the computer in terms of programs, services, and processes. Even if you follow all of the recommended steps to uninstall the software or hardware in the future, bits and pieces may be left behind in the Registry. It is essential that you clean your Registry because the redundant and useless entries can wreak havoc on your system's stability. They can slow the overall performance, and this can mean that you will have problems installing new software or hardware. Moreover, your computer is more likely to crash multiple times if you have never cleaned your registry. You are also more likely to encounter continuous error messages.

Even if you clean up the bits and pieces programs leave behind after un-installation found in the "Program Files" folder, you still need to clean up the Registry keys and values. It is not a terribly difficult procedure. It is important, though, that you be very careful while cleaning. Deleting things from the Registry is permanent. It cannot be undone. If you delete something your system needs to run, you will be out of luck in terms of restarting your system.

You can start by searching your Registry to manually delete and eliminate all entries related to a recently uninstalled application. Open the Registry Editor and click on the My Computer icon in the left panel. Click Edit and Find. Put in a word that has some relation to the program you want to be sure is gone from your registry. You could put in the name of the program or the program's publisher. Be sure to check the box labeled "Keys, Values, and Data," then click "Find Next." Examine the first thing you find. If you do not need it, highlight and press delete. You will need to press your F3 key to continue. You should then repeat the process a few more times. After you have finished, a box will appear with the following message: "Finished searching through the Registry."

If you want to fully clean your Registry, though, you must also do so during the startup process. Windows launches all .exe files during startup and uses information contained in your computer's Registry. You can see what is running by clicking on your "Start" button. Choose "Run" and type "msconfig" and hit enter to launch System Configuration Utility. Once you've done that, you will see a series of tabs. Click on the "Startup" tab, and you can see all the programs that are set to run during the startup process. Even though the actual files are stored on the hard drive, the instructions to run them are in the Registry. Even if the check to remove an application has been uninstalled, the Registry entry remains to clog your system. The best way to get rid of this is to open the Registry editor. You want to click browse to HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run. That will help you see a list of programs that runs during startup. Simply highlight the programs you no longer want running at startup. Then press delete. The programs are now forever removed. If, however, the list of programs is pretty long, you may need to do some further registry editing to get rid of everything.There are a few other things you can check to get rid of those unwanted entries. Try HKEY_ CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Shared Tools \ MSConfig \ startupreg. Just like you did before, highlight the entries you do not want, and delete them. You might also try taking a look at the Services section of the System Configuration Utility. These list the processes that are supposed to run while your version of Windows starts. These are not really registry keys, but they, like registry keys, can take up necessary space. They can slow down your system's performance. If you are uncomfortable editing your system's Registry yourself, and if you are an inexperienced computer user, you probably should ask someone for help or consider purchasing or downloading a program to help you. There are a number of shareware and freeware programs written specifically to help you clean your computer's Registry and make the most of your machine.

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