You sometimes need to do a registry clean up to fix a corrupt registry

It can be dangerous, so you need to know when to do it and what to avoid.

Does registry clean up really help?

There is a raging debate among Windows experts about how useful frequent registry cleanings are. Some say that it keeps their system in tip top shape. Others say that it really doesn't do much. Mark Russinovich, a well known windows expert and the author of the process explorer doesn't believe they accomplish very much.

Sometimes these programs do their work too aggressively and clean up things they shouldn't and introduce problems.

However, if one is experiencing strange problems, it pays to try the registry cleaner as long as the registry has been backed up before the attempt. In some cases, it can be a life saver.

Computer registry repair horror stories

In doing registry cleaner reviews, I searched for reports of problems and issues and unfortunately came across accounts of real disasters.

Regcure is a very popular registry repair program and many people claim to use it successfully. However, I discovered the following disturbing accounts.

One user reported using it on Vista and after running it and discovering a huge number of "errors", his system had reverted to Windows 2000 performance and many features didn't function properly. You can read the details of his account in this forum report.

Another user tried it and none of his programs ran, he couldn't get on the internet and his requests for support or refund went unanswered.

His tale of woe is on the complaints board.

Here is the story of someone who sold Regcure for years.

Regcure may be good for most but I could never recommend it in good conscience.

Registry mechanic is another popular registry fix program.

However, user ratings of this program were not encouraging.

Registrysmart came in for its share of complaints.

It made the big time when McAfee wrote up a report on it.

Spybot reported it as spyware.

Summary

Registry repair tools can be a great help when needed. However, you need to know when to use it. One should be particularly careful about which product they choose. That is why I only recommend TuneUp Utilities and RegSupreme Pro.

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3/22/2009