MEB
Mon May 05 21:21:35 PDT 2008
I'll put the response here, rather than go through all the postings for
individual responses...
Locating the issue areas is the primary purpose for which I use the
programs for, though I have tested them extensively, which is why I caution
not to use the auto cleanup.
But for the rest, I suggest a perusal through the archives of this group;
remind the parties of their postings; and direct to the SpyWare and Virus
removal forums and sites.
These tools [ccleaner, regseeker, and others] are used regularly during the
process. Granted, under the guidance of people familiar with them and the
registry, but certainly are used far more often than suggesting manual
editing. Moreover, who in here, doesn't have their favorite regedit addin or
replacement that they use because of the limited capabilities of the basic
regedit. Is there anyone still that far in the mud?
So my statement stands, careful application of these cleaners can be of
use, but not to those who fail to take the time to understand them.
--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________
"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:uJJ8wpwrIHA.4952@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
| Please provide documentation of Registry bloat causing any significant
| failures". Only such thing I've heard of is SCANREG /FIX failing to run on
a
| large Registry. BFD.
|
| Yes, sometimes the Registry needs work, usually after a wide-spread
disaster
| involving the user doing something that shouldn't have been done, but only
| an expert is likely to know for sure, and while tools *might* locate a few
| of those entries, you know better than most, I think, how much of any real
| Registry *REPAIR*, as opposed to "cleaning", is a painstaking MANUAL
search
| and research procedure that few if any tools do well at all.
|
| I used them regularly for several years, to find "crap" and delete it,
| ALWAYS having to refuse the deletion of some things I had learned weren't
a
| good idea to remove (or were unimportant MRUs, etc.), and after many years
| of such experience, I arrived at the stance I take now. I've never once
had
| any success helping anyone else by having them run any Registry tools,
| whereas I have several times dealt with people who were screwed by their
| Registry tools, even the same ones I'd been using and thought were
| "idiot-proof".
|
| --
| Gary S. Terhune
| MS-MVP Shell/User
| www.grystmill.com
|
|
| "MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message
| news:OnaPSovrIHA.3616@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
| > Ah gosh I hate to do this, BUT,,,,
| >
| > As we all know, the registry can become quite bloated with entries which
| > relate to nothing of value, from MRU lists to applications which fill
the
| > registry with open files which no longer exist, to applications
supposedly
| > removed but actually leave, at times, countless worthless entries; to
any
| > number of other things which aren't need, or may have somehow been
changed
| > at sometime.
| > We also know or should know that the registry will FAIL or be prone to
| > failure after exceeding a certain size [parsing issues].... which then
| > becomes an issue which may affect recoverability in a time of crisis.
| >
| > All the MVP that I have observed here, have, at some time, posted
methods
| > to clean errant registry entries, compact the registry, and otherwise
work
| > upon the registry... They also have repeatedly advised, when confronted
| > with
| > ghost entries, bad drivers or applications or otherwise,, advised HOW to
| > *manually* search the registry to *clean it*.
| >
| > I personally have used [and still use] several tools to clean the
| > registry,
| > which IF PROPERLY USED can be relied upon to make a system lean and
| > mean,,,
| > but the key is PROPERLY USED... ANY use of a cleaner should be taken
with
| > *a
| > grain of salt*. AUTOMATIC cleaning is not a good idea. IF the user is
| > unfamiliar with the registry, then damage will likely occur. IF, on the
| > other hand, the user familiarizes theirselves with the registry, makes
an
| > effort to first increase their knowledge of the entries by searching
first
| > to see if they ARE un-needed PRIOR to removal, then the desired results
| > can
| > be achieved.
| >
| > Never overlook the KEY, that personal knowledge and understanding is
YOUR
| > responsibility. OR stay away from these cleaners as they MIGHT cause
more
| > harm than good.
| >
| > These things ARE after all, relied upon quite heavily during cleanup
| > activities from SpyWare, Virus, and other such activities...
| >
| > --
| > MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
| > --
| > _________
| >
| >
| > "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
| > news:O18TzSurIHA.5060@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
| > | letterman@invalid.com wrote:
| > | > On Mon, 5 May 2008 08:54:57 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote:
| > | >
| > | >> ALL registry cleaners are VERY dangerous to your system, and will
| > | >> actually
| > | >> FIX a problem, even just "slowness", approximately NEVER.
| > | >
| > | > I run Regseeker regularly and never had a problem. I have never
seen
| > | > it fix any problems, but it does remove a lot of useless junk.
| > | > Without such programs, it seems to me that the registry would get so
| > | > huge that it would be crash prone. For example, lets say I created
a
| > | > folder called "JUNK". I used that folder to temporarily place a
bunch
| > | > of things I find on my hard drive, which are everything from text,
or
| > | > Wordpad notes, to downloaded pictures, file downloads, etc. Then I
| > | > begin sorting out the junk, and use winzip to open many of the
| > | > downloads, and some photo viewer to look at the pictures, and
Wordpad
| > | > to look at many of the notes. ALL of these things are documented in
| > | > the registry. Wordpad, Winzip, Photo Viewers all store "recently
| > | > opened files".
| > | >
| > | > Eventually I get everything put on a CD or other media and I delete
| > | > the "Junk" folder. Then I remove several of the demo downloads I
| > tried.
| > | >
| > | > Running Regseeker finds multiple references to that JUNK folder,
| > | > references to Winzip, Wordpad, etc opening files, and many things
| > | > relating to the demos I tried and removed. All of that is removed
| > | > from the registry, thus keeping it small and clean. Of course I
| > | > always read what is being cleaned (removed). 99.9% of the time it's
| > | > just this old stuff that is not needed or wanted.
| > | >
| > | > So how can you say that Reg cleaners are dangerous and should not be
| > | > used.
| > |
| > | Because he (and a few others here) know what they're talking about.
| > |
| > | > I do agree to be careful what is being removed, but without
| > | > them the registry will become a pile of useless garbage.
| > |
| > | Nonsense.
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|