Category: Geeks r Us
Hi,
i hope this post makes sence, because my brain's not working very wel. I have read in several places that by doing ascan of your registry, you can get rid of files that have piled up over a long period of time. For example, I have read that each time you delete or add a program, it makes a note of it in your registry. I'd imagine that would take up a lot of room, for all of those notes over a period of time. However, is there any way to get rid of those specific files with out having to do a clean of the entire registry? I'd like to get rid of those files specifically and also any other file types like temp files, that are pretty safe to delete. I'm of course not getting rid of any dll or exe files, since those are usually part of programs. I've never done a registry clean on my desktop. It's about 2.5 years old. I wouldn't be aooosed to doing one, however I wouldn't want to delete something that would potentially be dangerous, because I don't have a way to backup my files via external hard drive, unless there's another way to back them up? My desktop's running pretty well at the moment, however I'd like to bet I could get it to run even slicker, if I were able to delete some of this junk off of it. So, aside from tmp files, what other extentions are pretty safe to get rid of?
Thanks,
Dawnielle
Try CCleaner. You'll be amazed at the stuff you can safely delete.
Where would download it from and how would I know if I can safely delete it? I need someone to seriously walk through with me doing a clean on the registry and going through each file with me bit by bit to see what is junk and what I should keep. I'm not the greatest with computers and I really don't want to mess up my system. Unless Ccleaner puts the files in to two catigories deletable and undeletable or something, then I don't really trust myself to dig through there and delete a bunch of stuff. Maybe I'm being too caucious, but I'd rather be too caucious than too flexible and delete valuable files that are critical components of windows or something. Like I said, I'd be happy to do one, I just don't feel safe doing it with out having some clear guidelines, or someone trustworthy to walk me through it via skype/phone/msn.
Thanks,
Dawnielle
That's understandable. You can do real dammage by randomly deleting things you have no clue what they are.
CCleaner, someone said, used to stand for crap cleaner. It deletes temp files, cookies, and all that. Then, you have the option of doing a registry clean. Before it deletes registry files, it asks if you want to make a backup, you press on ok, and your good to go.
You can download from www.ccleaner.com , or download.com.
HTH
Sarah
try either c cleaner as they said of system macanic
There is a program that you must pay for. It is called registry mechanic. It is a good program for clearing out registry junk. CCleaner is great, but it doesn't go as deep into the registry as it should. TMP's are good to delete. Also, go into your C drive, and make sure that all the folders with your removed programs and files are erased. Honeistly, I don't think you need to worry about the registry just yet as the keys don't take up a lot of space. I can also walk you through going into regedit and searching for keys from old programs. They're safe to delete if the programs are off the computer already.
Nimer J
Ooo I'd be happy if you could walk me through that. I've got a couple programs that I can't get removed out of my add and removed programs, because it says they are not there to begin with, but they they are still showing up. Does that make sence? Other than that, I have gotten rid of all the programs I feel comfortable deleting from my add and remove programs list. It'd still be nice to know how to delete the little notesthat the computer takes every time a program is added or deleted, but I guess I'll never know and that's ok.
Thanks,
Dawnielle
C-cleaner is in that class of software that I ("almost") trust. It's powerful enough to do some real damage if you aren't careful, but almost user friendly.
For example, the thing to click on for cleaning the registry is something like "clear objects" which doesn't explain that it's going to clean out your registry.
If you have Norton as your protection program, their registry cleaner is pretty good, I think.
Actually, though, if you aren't having any real problems, I wouldn't worry about it. Most of these things don't take up much room in the registry, and you know the old saying about things not being broke...
Just my thoughts.
Bob
Thanks Bob, I appreciate yout thoughts. I think I should clen the registry because, I've installed and uninstalled a lot of programs over the years and every once in awhile, my computer runs really slowly, even when I've ran my virus protection and such. The rest of the time, it runs pretty well, but during those times when it's very slow, it sometimes takes honestly like ten minutes for it to realize that Ive asked it to do something. Thus far, I've managed to get it back on track the couple of times it's done this, but it's very freaky. I'd just like to maybe try to prolong it's life if I can, because when it gets sick, it's evident that it's very sick.
Thanks,
Dawnielle
Makes sense to me. Forget the "if it ain't broke" comment in my earlier post. Sounds like it is broke.
One thing you might try, if you are willing to go through a lot of hassle is "hijackthis". Google for it, it's easy to find.
It allows you to go through your registry by hand deleting things you know are outdated.
Bob
Bob
I use two programs called Max Registry Cleaner, and PC Optimize. It’s accessible with screen readers. Let me know if I can assist.
Hmmm thanks Bob. I might take a look for highjack this. I'd rather go through my registry by hand and delete stuff that I know I can get rid of, that would be nice. I also downloaded C cleaner a couple of days ago. I haven't ran it yet, but I put the set up file for it on my desktop,so that if my computer gets sick again, I won't have to dig through the internet trying to find it then. I can just run it. If I used highjack this, I probably would leave more than I delete, just to be safe, but in this case, I'd rather be a bit too caucious, then not caucious enough. Herbie and I are going to go out to dinner now, but I'll look for it when I get back. Thanks Bob for all your help.
Dawnielle
As for those other programs, I'll take a look in to them too. Thanks whild-card.
awe, come on ppl. There is no right h4x0r whose going to tell you there will be notes left on the registry. However, when a file is deleted the only thing that is deleted is the file name. There must be a good grip on understanding how file deletion works in the first place. Most computers have a broad use of the system catche. Now, this place is where some files are stored temporarily (when you instal a program for example) and are "flushed" every number of minutes that have been set in the registry. This is a setting many people shouldn't really worry about though. as for registry cleaning, I suggest you go to jfwlite.com (jfw lite dot com) and download reg scrub xp. This program is freeware. unfortunately it is not totally accessible via the pc cursor, so you'll have to use the mouse capabilities of your screen reader to read most of the ongoing progress. This program examines the registry first and afterwards will give you a choice to clean empty keys. The keys that this program clears are up to your selection and presented in a list view form. When data is deleted however, new data will usually overwrite this old data. If this does not happen several clusters will be unused, thus resulting in what is known as "disk fragmentation". Another good way to incresase your computer's performance is by disabling the indexing service. Go to my computer, select your hard drive, then press alt plus enter and there should be among tabs and check boxes one that allows you to decide on this option. Defragmentation is also recommended, especially if files are modified and deleted or created frequently. Hope that clears things up a bit more. An questions or anything else, drop me a private message or reply to this topic.
Ok, now I'm confused. I was going to try hijackthis, but I can't find it when I google for it. What I find that's hijackthis is a spyware removal program, not a registry cleaner. I could try regsscrub XP as an alternative I guess, but the thing I just thought of is I could find nothing that says that regsscrub will allow you to back up your data like C Cleaner does, so I might just stick with that. As for the disk fragmenttation issue, i thought if I ran disk defragmenter after running the registry cleaner, it would put things back in their propper place. Maybe I'm wrong? As far as for when you delete a file it only deletes the name of the file , as was stated above and leaves the rest of the file there? I've never heard of that. I guess I'm just getting too many choices tossed at me and too much info and my brain's not dealing with it very well. Since I can't find hihjackthis, I'll probably just stick with C Cleaner.
Thanks,
Dawnielle
Check
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html
for Hijackthis. This site also has a bunch of anti virus anti spyware tools etc. The good thing is, they are all rated.
Hope this helps.
Bob
regScrub XP does a great job, i use it all the time with no problems. it only deletes empty keys, so no harm done. it can restore fixes too i believe
Ok, thanks Bob for the link for hijackthis. If Regscrub XP only deletes empty keys, i'll try it. Hijackthis also sounds like a good program, just in case anything doesn't get deleted that I want to delete. I'll probably try both or either of those.Thanks again guys,
Dawnielle
I have used CCleaner and checked everything and amazingly no damage at all. It has been completely safe. Nice software.
yes. Let me explain to you the whole deleting process. Most file system, ntfs, fat (file allocation table) fat32, ETC. use a "table of contents" that addresses the different sectors in which files are placed on a storage device. When a file is deleted this will not cause the sectors to be overwritten, instead the entry in the "Table of contents" will be deleted.
By deleting this entry the assigned sectors are free for any following write operation. As long as the sectors are not overwritten with new data your files
are still present on the disk and can be unerased. This is why coppying the files from and audio cd never gives you the song, instead it gives you a string of (most likely) hex to show where the file is stored. Hope that clears it.
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