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The Basics of Cleaning Your Computer Registry

Your computer registry is a vital part of the operating system on your PC. This is a culmination of information to help you maintain a healthy computer system. Cleaning your computer registry should be done weekly and not left to chance.

Computer registry problems are often caused by invalid registry key entries in your registry. Windows registry problems can cause computer crashes, slow down performance and give you many error messages. Fixing registry problems after they occur is harder than preventing them in the first place.

Both Windows operating systems being Xp and Vista have a built in registry editor. This editor is not a scan and repair utility it is for manual editing only. If you need to scan or repair your registry then there are many software tolls online today that can do just that. If you have a need to edit your computer registry then make sure that you have already backed up your computer as any change in the registry could have dire consequences to the unwary.

Due to the actuality that many of the programs running within Windows XP or Vista use some of the same parameters common to them, cleaning and maintaining your registry file can become very dangerous for the inexperienced user. Since the registry entries are all essential for the optimum operation of the windows operating system, inadvertently deleting the wrong entry may end up slowing the system and may cause some genuine problems for the operator.

Each time you put new hardware or software on your system, or you reinstall software programs or hardware on your computer system, information about that software install is documented in your system's Registry Data. The system Registry File is a log of everything that happens on your computer as far as programs, services, and processes. Even if you follow all of the recommended steps to uninstall the software or hardware in the future, parts of files may be left behind in the Registry.

An unmaintained registry is likely to cause problems and crashes if left unchecked. It is vital that you clean your registry of any obsolete or cross linked files to ensure system stability and reliability.

A corrupt registry can degrade the overall performance, and this can eventually cause you problems. Furthermore, your PC is more probable to fail multiple times if you have at no time cleaned your registry. You are also more likely to encounter continuous error messages and on occasion the blue screen of death. Even if you clean up the bits and pieces of programs left behind after any un-installation found in the Program Files folder, you still need to clean up the Registry keys and values.

It is vital for you to maintain your computer registry, it is not a difficult procedure as long as you are extremely careful when removing any entries. Once you have removed a registry entry it is permanent and can not be undone. If you happen to delete a registry file that is needed it could stop your computer from running, so make a backup of all your files befor attempting anything like this.

If you really need to view you registry files you can commence by exploring your Registry by clicking on the Start then Run and typing in Regedit. Open the Registry Editor and click on the My Computer icon in the left-hand panel. Click Edit and Find. Put in a word that has some reference to the program you want to be certain is defunct from your registry. You can put in the term of the program or the program's publisher name. Be certain to tick the box labeled Keys, Values, and Data, then click Find Next.

If you want to fully clean your Computer Registry you can also do so during the start up operation. Windows will launch all .exe files during start up and uses information contained in your computer registry. You can see what is running by clicking on your Start button then selecting Run and type in the box msconfig and hit the enter key to start the System Configuration Utility. Once you've done that, you will see a sequence of tabs. Click on the Start-up tab, and you can see all the programs that are set to run during the start-up operation of your computer.

To maintain a healthy computer registry always follow the un-install directions of any programs you are removing. This should minimize the risk of creating orphaned files and corrupt DLL's that could interfere with your registry. It is advisable to conduct a computer registry scan at least once a week.

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