Patrick said:
Why even use a registry cleaner to begin with? It offers absolutely zero positive performance impact whatsoever.
It seems you have not been following this thread. Please read through the links I provided to Fred Langa's study and Mark Russinovich's comments.
A 'smaller registry' in theory would have one assume that things load faster, etc, but in reality there is no performance difference whatsoever.
I agree - that is an invalid argument. That's why I have never used it. And this illustrates the problem and a source of my frustration. Too often, invalid arguments are used to justified a position. Contrary to what some believe, Registry cleaners in general, and CCleaner specifically do NOT compress, compact, or defrag registries. That's what ERUNT's sister program, NTREGOPT does.
You are putting your OS' life in an automated tool to be absolutely sure every key it is about to delete is 100% unnecessary.
Hardly. Again, CCleaner prompts to backup the Registry and restoring from a backup works. Regedit has no backup facility and any change you make is immediate - with no way of backing out unless you remember what was there. Sure you can export and import, but that is hardly explanatory or intuitive for newbies.
You say you have used registry cleaners for over 10 years and the outcome was far greater on the positive side than the negative, great! Why did you use these registry cleaners as an IT Professional as opposed to tackling the problem manually, especially if it's a system that is not your own? Simply because if things went south, CCleaner has a backup method? Would you do it if it didn't?
Does being an "IT Professional" mean you automatically are, or must be an expert in
all things IT??? Does being an IT Professional mean you are a master programmer? Know operating systems inside and out? Are intimate with Ohm's Law and current flow through a circuit? Does being an IT Professional mean you fully understand TCP/IP? Network layers? Security? Word Processing? File systems? Packet switching and all communication protocols?
IT is industries within industries. I am a certified master electronics technician who specializes in computer and network hardware and their "secure" operation. I am an IT Professional But I am not a programmer. I don't care to know about SQL, C++, or even HTML. Must I fully understand the difference between volatile and non-volatile hives to understand the Registry?
For the record, I have been an "IT professional" since completing extensive formal classroom, advanced correspondence, and 2-years of extensive hands-on OJT (on-the-job) training, and passing grueling evaluations to become a "certified technician" in 1973 (another 3 years to become a "master" technician). To this day, I am still learning, and discovering that there is so much more to "IT" yet to learn.
Please note I said repeatedly Registry cleaners are NOT to be used to fix broken computers.
Would I use a Registry cleaner without backing up the Registry first? No. Sorry, but that seems like a silly question.
satrow said:
Seriously, guys, spend a little time actually studying the CCleaner options and how it works
I really wish the naysayers would heed this excellent advice instead of automatically condemning CCleaner
ONLY BECAUSE of what you heard about other Registry cleaners from years back.
or just uncheck the top 2 to 4 boxes in the Registry section ...
:) Excellent suggested. For those unfamiliar with CCleaner, when you "scan for issues" CCleaner simply lists the findings, not change them.
Patrick said:
I am genuinely curious as to why you are so pro-registry cleaner.
Actually, it not that I am so "pro-registry cleaner", it is that I am so against unjust bashing and I will defend any product, person, company or organization that is not given due process - especially when misinformation is presented as argument points.
Sadly there are MANY "experts" and "IT Professionals" working these forums who immediately "pounce" on any thread if there is even a hint of using a Registry cleaner with all sorts of horror stories of impending doom. Yet the numbers don't pan out.
"If things went south"??? If I based my life on what would happen "if things went south", nothing would get done. The problem here is the naysayers are
assuming things will go south - almost to the point of fear mongering.
But again, the numbers don't pan out.
We can all cite exceptions to illustrate out points - but exceptions don't make the rule. To the naysayers, I have provided links to two respected experts who illustrate the advantages. I ask again to show us a real study that shows today's established cleaners, and in particular, CCleaner, "WILL" break your computer.
