How To Clean A Windows Registry

The Windows Registry is essential to the proper operation of any Windows machine. It contains information pertaining to drivers and related settings for hardware components; key OS parameters; information about services and protocols; application data; and much more. Most experts recommend a Registry cleanup on all systems at least once every six months. But take care: If you clean the Windows Registry improperly, then you can render the entire system inoperable. For this reason, making a backup before cleaning or changing the Registry is a must.

For this Recipe, you'll need one or more Windows PCs, Internet access for each PC and any Web browser that lets you download an evaluation copy of cleanup software. I chose a "crippleware" version of a well-regarded tool called CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner.

Let's Get To Work

Step 1: Visit the CleanMyPC Web site, and download an evaluation copy of the software. If you want to register for this product, it costs $30.

Step 2: Launch the file named registry-cleaner.exe. Because this software lacks a publisher certificate, Windows XP security will ask whether you really want to install it. Since we're going to remove RegistryCleaner in the final step of this recipe, click the Run button.

Step 3: The next series of screens runs you through the installation process. If you let all the defaults stand, installation should take less than a minute, as you wait for several more screens to designate a target directory for install files, and to allow or deny creation of a desktop icon for the program. When you click the Finish button at the end, the program opens automatically. The software will recognize that it hasn't been used before, and will ask whether you want to make a Registry backup. This wins extra points in my book--click Yes.

Step 4: On the program-entry screen that shows up when CleanMYPC-Registry Cleaner is launched, you'll see icons in the left-hand menu labeled Scan & Clean, Backup & Restore, Startup Organizer and Internet BHO Organizer. We'll focus on the first two. In the right-hand pane on the program-entry screen, click the Check Registry button or the Scan & Clean icon to commence a scan of your system's Registry. Check boxes in the resulting right-hand pane cover all kinds of Registry contents. By default, all the items except the last one--File/Path Residence--are checked. For this Recipe, leave it that way.

Step 5: When the Registry scan is complete, the program automatically updates the report page that appears as soon as the scan begins. On that display, the middle area of the screen shows an entry for each of the Registry content items. If a red circled "X" appears to the left of any such entry, click the View Details link to see what the program has discovered.

Step 6: To exercise the software's repair capability, click Fix Selected Problems on the primary Scan & Clean page that comes up when you close the Details window. Next, you can elect to view ordering information for the software, or continue with your trial use by clicking the appropriate button on the resulting pop-up window.

Leave the program by clicking the Finish button. Then click the red "X" in the upper right-hand corner of the primary window. This will exit CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner altogether. (The best practice is to scan again to ensure that all items you told the software to fix have, in fact, been repaired.)

Step 7: Uninstall the CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner. Confirm deinstallation by clicking Yes on the pop-up query; restart your system.

The process takes at least half an hour per PC. Once you've finished cleaning a Registry, you may want to create another restore point or Registry backup. *

Ed Tittel ([email protected]) is a writer and trainer in Austin, Texas.