What Is All The Fuss About Cleaning Windows XP Registry?

July 20, 2009 · Filed Under Computer Services

There is much confusion about the need to clean Windows XP registry, this article provides an overview of the reasons and remedial actions

Reminder about Windows XP registry -Windows XP registry is a core component of you PC’s operating system. PC user should clean Windows XP registry regularly. Many refer to the registry as the heart soul and mind of Windows. The registry is used by Windows XP to store the devices and file associations of the computer. Registry is also used to store critical information on directories, drivers, Windows applications and much more. You should use a registry cleaner software instead of cleaning the registry manually, unless you are very familiar with Windows XP operating system.

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Are you sufficiently knowledgeable about Windows XP registry? - If so, read the following paragraphs

Take a backup - When carrying out the process to clean windows XP registry, it is possible to make the entire system inoperable. Hence you should ensure that you take a backup. Fortunately many proven registry repair tools are available. These tools can find the potentially questionable or unused references, and they prompt the user to review any entry that may cause a problem once removed.

Start menu - To begin cleaning Windows XP Registry manually, go to the start menu, and click on run. Type “regedit” in the text field, and press enter.

HKEY sections - Windows XP registry has many different entries separated in sections namely HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_USERS, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and HKEY_CURRENT CONFIG. There are different entries in each section, which are related to various aspects of Windows XP operation. Expand the section marked with a plus sign to clean Windows XP Registry. You will notice a + sign alongside the root directory. This will open the more detailed list, more directories to choose from in this section will then be available and will make it easier to find the entries needed to clean up the registry.

Entries causing conflicts - Next step to clean Windows XP registry is to erase the entries which are causing conflicts or are no longer required, such as redundant ActiveX components for example (click on repair activex for more information)

Clean boot records - It is also advisable to clean the boot records. This can be done easily by changing the list of programs that load when the system starts up. Click on the CURRENT_USER and LOCAL_MACHINE directories until you reach the “Run” and “Run Once” option. This makes it possible to clean the registry entries that cause certain programs to run when computer starts.

Twice a year clean - In order to drive high computer performance, users should clean their registry every six months. This sweeps out the items no longer in use. Machines which are extremely slow usually have a large number of software, or those where drivers are constantly being installed and uninstalled, require more frequent cleanups (click on computer extremely slow for more information).

However tempting a manual clean or repair may be, remember that, using the appropriate registry cleaner to repair windows XP registry is usually a superior solution than attempting this manually . Many registry repair software (i.e. the best ones) also offer both backup functionality to protect your data and will also improve computer performance.