Registry cleaner/defrag?

B

Buck268

Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
1,864
Has anybody a good recommendation for a registry cleaner and defragmenter for WinXP? I've been using Registry Washer for a couple years now, and it seems to work well, but perhaps there are better options now?

I do a lot of preventitive maint. on my system and it rarely gets too bad, but that also translates to many install/uninstalls and such, so having the best registry tools at my disposal is key. Any suggestions? Freeware is a must, though! :thumbup:
 
I've always used RegCleaner by Jouni Vuorio (there seem to be several programs with the same name) for the registry - removing registry keys left by old software, etc. There used to be a good program called "Uninstall Cleaner" by JonesSoft - don't know if it works with XP or not.

And of course you can always manually edit the registry with RegEdit that's already included with XP.

For defragmenting I just use the one built into the OS. I'd be interested in hearing the advantages of third-party defrag software over the MS program.
 
The third party ones that I posted are faster than the O/S system provided one. I have compared the one provided with Vista and it works vary thoroughly, but it takes a lot longer than the two that I linked above. They are both effective in defragmenting the drive.

I also use RegScrubVistaXP for the registry. It catches some entires that the other one misses. I have not had any problems with it or CCleaner.
 
For defragmenting, I really like DiskKeeper. PerfectDisk is supposed to be slightly better according to C-Net, however.
 
Try 'RegCure.' I had been using Registry Clean and Fix-it8 and was quite surprised that after running both of those several times and getting a 'no problems' result, ran 'RegCure' and it turned up several HUNDRED empty keys and other assorted errors!

Stitchawl
 
You mentioned you do installs and uninstalls quite often, if so, you need Revo Uninstaller, it will use the programs built in uninstaller then it hunts down all the bits and pieces of the program left behind, including those written in the registry. I have found up to 15 to 20 traces left behind after uninstalling programs. It is a free and great program. Here is the link for it.
Jim
http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html
 
I don't use a registry cleaner, I clean my machine with Privacy Mantra though and Windows Defrag program.
 
I like Ccleaner for XP as a no brain job. Works well and never louses stuff up.

For hunting down specific remnants I prefer RegSeeker. It allows you much more power / control over what you are doing, but obviously you can louse stuff up with it. I never have but the potential is there. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/regseeker.html

For doing a defrag on XP I use DirMS CL [CL is the command line version] http://freewarewiki.com/DirMS
 
Holy Cow!
Read the thread.
Downloaded and ran ccleaner.

Holy accelerator, batman. Machine runs way faster.

Thanks for the tip!
 
I just ran RegistryBooster for the first time a few days ago. It was very anal-retentive about making back ups, which I consider to be a good thing. It found about 1200 registry problems and scrubbed them all. I only had one problem from it; I need to re-enter the serial # for my anti-virus protection. No big deal.

For defrag, I just started using Ultimate Defrag 2008 from Disktrix. Holy crap! This program is awesome. It lets you take your files and place them in specific physical locations on your hard drive. Programs and files towards the outer edge of the platter can be loaded much more quickly. So, if all your startup programs and .dlls are towards the edge. . . Well, the results were impressive. I bet I shaved a good 40 seconds off my boot time with these two programs. At least. All my little tray icons snap right into place after I log on, and the anti virus program finishes loading in about eight seconds. It used to be a "turn on the computer and go get a drink" kind of deal. No more.

Happy happy, joy joy. . .

:D
 
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