Clean It Time

I have a new PC (with Vista) that came with some pre-loaded programs that I would like to get rid of (NetZero, Earthlink, etc.). They are not listed in the add/remove programs utility, or in the program list. If they were not installed, can I remove them completely by just deleting their folders? How can I tell whether they were installed? I would like to remove all traces of those programs and start with a clean computer.

Installed programs are located in the registry here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths

Using "Revo Uninstaller" will remove the registry keys.
After the program is uninstalled you can safely delete the program files.

Alright here is the problem. I had been using G Data Antivirenkit 2006 for a while now but then I saw that Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 came out, so I decided to check it out. I uninstalled the G Data Antivirenkit and started to install Kaspersky. But in the beginning of the process it kept saying me that there is still G Data in the registry somewhere. Ive looked and looked, deleted anything I found using regedit but still Im getting the error.

I dont have a fresh copy of the setup file (for G Data) either.
So Im guessing the only solution for me is to either find a way to fool Kaspersky install, make it not look for the already installed products,
or completely remove this G Data Antivirenkit from the registry.
Where would that information be in the registry?
Where does Kaspersky look and say that I have already a firewall install.

Trying to install in Safe Mode doesnt work.

Please help.
Thanks.
still nothing…

Unfortunately the windows installer cleanup didnt find the program Im trying to remove.

I currently have no antivirus/firewall on my system.

The registry cleaners dont find anything.

Isnt there a manual way to remove it from the registry. I tried searching regedit for "G Data" and "Antivirenkit", found several entries and deleted them all but still the same thing.

Its so annoying.

Any other ideas?

Usually there are 2 ways to solve that…
First one is reinstall the corrupted program and uninstall it

and the second is find programs that are called registry cleaners, that delete unused registry keys of uninstalled programs

There are many free out there, so just google "registry cleaner"
and it will remove unused uninstalled keys…

I use TuneUp Utilities 2007 and has registry cleaner but it is not a freeware… It should have a trial version though

Most people I have talked too say leave it alone unless you are a pro, but isn’t there a time when a registry needs to be cleaned, defragged and repaired to speed up your computer and keep it safe?
SO confused by what I read. thanks.

Hi there,

The short answer is "no".

The registry is a text file that can be ‘read’ very quickly. It is very important since all your settings, configurations, installed programs are saved there for stable operation of your computer. If you delete a registry key you had better know exactly what is for and what will happen if it is removed.
If you explore the registry you will no doubt find keys for programs you have installed and later uninstalled. These keys can be removed but they really do no harm to the system.

Defragging the registry probably will make no discernible difference in the speed of your computer.

The third party apps that advertise to "repair" the registry can only scan the registry and compare it to the programs you have installed. After the scan the unneeded registry keys can be removed.
If you think about it; each computer has different hardware and programs installed so it would be practically impossible to design a program that could set up your unique computer in the optimum configuration. A computer programmer could examine your system and configure the registry but no program can "beat" the human brain.

There is one "safe" registry cleaner that I use and it is called Glary Utilities.
I use that but have seen no difference in speed but glary does scan for malware, fix shortcuts, etc..

My advice is to leave the registry alone as long as your computer is operating properly.
The risk is not worth the reward. If you want to do something good for your computer just keep the temporary and other junk files cleaned out. Disk clean will do that or you can download and run CCleaner daily.

Also defrag your hard drive monthly to keep the files in the drive in good order. That will help with the speed of your computer. You can use the built-in defrag utility or download and run Smart Defrag monthly.

Links below for CCleaner, Glary Utilities and Smart Defrag.

Hope this helps,
Al

My computer has been running really slowly lately and thought it was a registry error so I installed Free Window Registry Repair 2.0, and it found 3076 errors! Some of them are Non-Existent files or folds, and most of them are Empty Registry Keys. Can I fix them? What do I do?

I do NOT trust this freeware!

I like Glary Utilities free much more ( http://www.glaryutilities.com/gu.html )

In these programs, the better one is not the one who finds the most error but the one who makes your machine healthier.

My windows XP is running slow and gets hanged sometimes. How do I solve this problem? I heard registry problem can be a cause. If that is so, what can I do to solve the problem? Can Ccleaner be used for the purpose?

Registry is the controller of who is who in a computer, it manages what is installed, what it has to do, when to start etc. So if a registry key is corrupt/missing or manipulated it can cause a lot of side effects for your pc’s health. Some programs can be too much at the computer startup and they hence will cause the machine to be slow as well.

Fixing this Yes can be done by ccleaner for both the registry obsolete keys as well as startup entry’s. They are also a lot of other utility programs that can do the work like reg-cure & ace utilities but only that they are not free. Use Ccleaner and its free.

rather than by individually by saving each of the keys?

Many keys are interconnected. Think of the registry of your PC as the brain connections of the computer. As a result if you only backup a given number of registry keys and not all of them, it might happen that you are lacking a certain amount of additional unbacked-up keys dependable on or related to the ones you backed up. End result: partial backup is useless or has a great chance to be so.

Is your computer running slow or does it suddenly freeze for no apparent reason? Perhaps it is time that you cleanup your system with a window registry cleaner. It is typical for a computer to be sluggish when it holds tons and tons of redundant and superfluous information in its registry but it is never fun to have a computer that suddenly crashes, especially when you are in the middle of doing something important.

Click Here For Reg Defense Instant Access!

If you still have not known, Windows Registry refers to the database in your computer that holds information on system settings and options. These include information on hardware settings, operating system software, other installed software, and different user settings. It also provides access to kernel operations, as well as serves as a monitoring system for performance counters and active hardware.

A window registry cleaner is a kind of utility software developed for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It removes redundant and unnecessary data from the Windows registry. When unnecessary configuration data is removed from the registry, a computer system can have significant positive changes in its performance, wherein it can run faster and smoother.

It helps to regularly cleanup your registry to keep your system free of unwanted data that may have been left by different kinds of software that were not completely uninstalled from your computer or by those that are no longer in use. It also helps in clearing information and settings that may have been used in the operation of spyware or malware.

However, experts still argue on the effectiveness of registry cleaners. It is possible for a Window registry cleaner to cause registry damage, malware payloads, and increased scareware attacks. Also, most registry cleaners are unable to fix malware issues and undeletable registry keys. So before you choose a registry cleaner to use, do some comprehensive research.

Chris Jensen
http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/reg-defense-window-registry-cleaner-1127563.html

My computer system is responding slow and overly poor in checking my registry I find numerous problems that need attention anyone out there have any ideas they certainly would be welcomed.

There is microsoft regclean that is free. I’m not sure what OS your using, but it was design for win2k, I believe, but it seems to work with winxp too

You can get it here:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,4666,tfg,tfg,00.asp

Just keep in mind that automate registry clearer can cause more issues as there could be registry keys that it removes that is needed for something. Most registry clearer keep backups. So, always keep those backups in case of problems.

Can anybody recommend a registry repair program that i don’t have to pay for after it has scanned my registry? I am really annoyed that it will tell me i have over a hundred problems, then when i click to repair all, it tells me i have to register it and buy it. I cannot buy anything on the internet because i just don’t trust anyone with my details. Please can someone give me a program that will help me and not cost me any money?

Yes there are a lot.

One of the best is CCleaner: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

You can also delete registry yourself if you want to delete certain registry keys, see how to here: http://www.speed-up-pc.org/speed_up_windows/delete_registry_keys.php

I’ve used a free utility called RegMon. It will show you which applications are accessing your Registry, which keys they are accessing, and the Registry data that they are reading and writing – all in real-time.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/regmon.html

Microsoft had it’s own real-time tools called Regmon and Filemon. Ever since Microsoft bought out Sysinternals they’ve used a tool from Sysinternals called Process Monitor (also free.)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

If you don’t want the bloat of Process Monitor (1.1MB) you can still use Regmon by itself (271KB):

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896652.aspx

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