Registry Cleaner

Do you suffer with a slow computer and find yourself wanting to scream at all of the conflicting advice you find when you search the Internet for a cure? You’ve undoubtedly come across a myriad of websites trying to sell you registry cleaners that claim to speed your computer up, wash the dishes, and do your laundry every Sunday morning.

These sites look more like blatant sales pitches than they do truly useful websites. Do you really take a chance on the software they’re touting? Will it really speed up your computer? Will it do more harm than good?

According to Wikipedia “…the necessity and usefulness of registry cleaners is a controversial topic, with experts not agreeing on their benefit. The problem is further clouded by the fact that malware and scareware is often associated with utilities of this type.” That’s not terribly encouraging but before we pass judgment, it’s worthwhile to consider what a registry cleaner actually does.

“…the necessity and usefulness of registry cleaners is a controversial topic, with experts not agreeing on their benefit. The problem is further clouded by the fact that malware and scareware is often associated with utilities of this type.” The Windows registry is a complex database that keeps tracks of Windows settings and options. As hardware – and more importantly software – is added and removed, their registry entries can get left behind. The primary purpose of registery cleaners is to remove these orphaned entries and thereby reclaim computer performance – at least according to their authors.

The phrase “bloated registry” comes up frequently in the marketing hype on web pages that peddle registry cleaners. The premise is that orphaned registry entries add to the size of the registry itself. Therefore, it takes longer to load and use the registry and the computer necessarily slows down. That sounds pretty reasonable and seems to make sense. The trouble is that modern databases are built to handle a large number of records without slowing down.

When you consider two of the largest databases in the world, Google and Wikipedia, it’s not hard to conclude that large databases can be accessed very quickly.

Go ahead and type a question into Google and note how quickly the results come up. The same applies to Wikipedia. Add to the mix the fact that the Windows registry is accessed entirely on your computer rather than over the Internet, and it will become clear that database size can be a negligible factor when considering performance.

It probably sounds as though I am dead against any and all registry cleaners. The truth of the matter is that I sit in the camp that is sceptical of their claims of drastically increased performance but I speak to this more in the upcoming version 2 of my "Speed Up My PC" ebook. In the olden days of Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 98, and Me, a bloated registry did contribute more to performance issues than they do today. Versions of Windows from 2000 on have much improved registries and bloated registries are no longer the issue they once were.

In addition, a poorly written registry cleaner can potentially damage the system. The registry contains settings that are vital to the operation of Windows, and deleting or altering these settings could cause the computer to act up or fail to start. The Windows registry is not something to take lightly and is fraught with settings that could cause much trouble.

With that said, there is some value in cleaning the registry of orphaned and useless entries. While you won’t see a huge performance increase, as a regular maintenance routine, running a well regarded and reputable registry cleaner can be worthwhile. The trick is to sift through the marketing hype and find a product that does its job well with minimal risk.

If your motivation for using registry cleaner is simply to speed up a slow computer, you really should be looking at other factors that are contributing to the slow down. A registry cleaner alone will not provide a significant enough performance boost to be worthwhile.