Does cleaning the registry improve performance or is it useless.

[wisegamer]

Many people say that cleaning the Windows registry improves performance and stability and others say that is it useless and may mess up your PC. So I would like to know which saying is true, and please give an explanation with your opinion.

 

[vrumor]

It wont make a difference and if you have no idea what you are doing, you could need a full Windows re-install when you are done.

 

[androbourne]

That is not accurate. Invalid/stale entries in a registry can cause all sorts of problems and delays in internal searches etc...

I often use CCleaner for registry cleaning to remove those entries. It often helps on systems that have been running for years without cleaning done on it. Removing old, stale registry entries that are not doing anything but increase system search times and causing problems with programs as they are trying to refer to old entries.

Just when doing anything with registries. Make sure to create a backup. CCleaner will ask you to make a backup before running the cleaner as well.

 

[wisegamer]

It wont make a difference and if you have no idea what you are doing, you could need a full Windows re-install when you are done.

That is not accurate. Invalid/stale entries in a registry can cause all sorts of problems and delays in internal searches etc...

I often use CCleaner for registry cleaning to remove those entries. It often helps on systems that have been running for years without cleaning done on it. Removing old, stale registry entries that are not doing anything but increase system search times and causing problems with programs as they are trying to refer to old entries.

Just when doing anything with registries. Make sure to create a backup. CCleaner will ask you to make a backup before running the cleaner as well.

So... one is saying that won't make a difference and the other is saying it might for systems that did not clean their registry for years. I have CCleaner and did not run a clean my registry for over a year, so might it make a difference
for me?

 

[androbourne]

This is a pretty straight forward process. People run registry scanners all the time. As I stated before, just make a backup of the registry before you run the scanner and you will be fine.

Just do it. Depending on your system usage, it may or may not help. Wont know until you do it.

 

[USAFRet]

A LOT depends on which "registry cleaner" you plan to use.
Some of them are quite hazardous.

This should not be done lightly, or without a full backup before you start. At least a backup of the Registry.

Yes, if the reg is clogged up with a lot of old useless entries, it can slow things down.
But generally, that is not often.