Clean registry

hey paiute,
As steven rightly put it registry cleaning is a myth. registry is a
critical component of windows and modifying it or even trying to do so
without being sure of what you are about to do can leave your system unusable
ie you will have to completely reinstall everything again from scratch. even
microsoft does not recommend editing the registry. registry edits are
available for various things on various websites but there is not much user
usable information being provided along with it. anytime you download and run
a registry editing file or try to do this manually review a checklist:
1>the registry edit applies to your problem: if you are not sure ask. post
on forums such as this and make sure you understand what you are about to do
and *only* then should you continue.
2>you have a complete backup of the entire registry: to do this you will
have to obviously open the registry editor and follow these steps:
=>click on start->click on run->in the box type in regedit and then press
enter
=>Once you have the registry editor window make sure you have highlighted my
computer and then click on the file menu and in the drop down select export.
=>In the export registry file window towards the bottom you will have a file
name text box. Here type in an intuitive name eg. RegBack1. Now click on save.
=>Before you click on save though, make sure you know where you are saving
this file. The textbox on the top of this window tells you the current
location. By default the location is my documents which is the most easily
accessible location for any novice.
=>After successfully backing up the entire registry continue with your
registry editing.

Tip: After doing the registry edit test your system for every possible
functionality that you would normally use. Like listen to your fav music and
watch your fav dvds as well as play your fav games. Test your system for at
least two days and make sure during that time you dont install or uninstall
anything from your computer. The reason for this is its *UNDER TESTING*. If
everything works fine go to the location where you saved that registry file
and delete it. The reason for this is to make sure this one does not get
restored again. not even by mistake.

There are plenty of registry modifying tools available. But i would never
recommend a person to use it until he himself has manually worked on the
registry and does not go by any *myths*.

one last thing to put here is the fact that registry edits do work alot
because quite a few malware/viruses use the same technique to get in. but
this in no way justifies to always try a registry edit. Anytime you have such
a problem follow this thumb rule:
=>first go by the normal routine antivirus/antimalware/antispyware programs
=>search, look, use your fav search engine for the problem/description of
problem.
most probably you will find all your answers here.
=>post on forums. a lot of help being provided in all of them
=>the last step should be registry edits. go search for them and apply them
to your computer to fix the problem.

Well you might want to think why the heck should you go in for all these
long and time consumin steps when you can fix it with a simple registry edit.
The reason for this is that during your search for the solution you will
learn a lot about your computer, through all the information that you get,
all the steps that you perform. Anything and everything you do during this
time will be a part of that learning. The next time you face a problem that
was fixed by a registry edit but this time it isnt then you will know exactly
what to do to solve it!!

I know, i know its been a long read up this and believe me i havent posted
such a long post in my life before.

hope this helps
yogi
"paiute2" wrote:

> I have been reading alot of these messages and noticed that alot of you are
> suggesting that the registry be cleaned for a solution. I have XP Home
> Edition/ Service pack 2 on my computer and I am try to keep it healthy. How
> do you clean the registry?
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

I had a pop-up come up that said it should scan my computer to see if my
registry needed cleaning and then it told me that I had 363 items that needed
fixing or my computer would slow down or maybe crash. Is this just a gimic to
sell their software or should I buy a Registry Cleaner?
--
justarookie


"M and D" wrote:

> I read the newsgroups too. It's a myth. A registry doesn't need cleaning.
>
> Keep reading newsgroup posts and you'll see how many people have damaged their computers with registry cleaners.
>
> Steven
>
> "paiute2" <paiute2 DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:70A36298-D3E1-4AE2-849D-36EA39B9FC03@microsoft.com...
> >I have been reading alot of these messages and noticed that alot of you are
> > suggesting that the registry be cleaned for a solution. I have XP Home
> > Edition/ Service pack 2 on my computer and I am try to keep it healthy. How
> > do you clean the registry?
>
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

If you fall for that, there's this bridge in Brooklyn I have for sale...

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"brandy" <jonlea.DeleteThis@my.lake> wrote in message
news:5132D46E-A7BA-4129-8432-68537B295AE4@microsoft.com...
> I had a pop-up come up that said it should scan my computer to see if my
> registry needed cleaning and then it told me that I had 363 items that
needed
> fixing or my computer would slow down or maybe crash. Is this just a gimic
to
> sell their software or should I buy a Registry Cleaner?
> --
> justarookie
>
>
> "M and D" wrote:
>
> > I read the newsgroups too. It's a myth. A registry doesn't need
cleaning.
> >
> > Keep reading newsgroup posts and you'll see how many people have damaged
their computers with registry cleaners.
> >
> > Steven
> >
> > "paiute2" <paiute2.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:70A36298-D3E1-4AE2-849D-36EA39B9FC03@microsoft.com...
> > >I have been reading alot of these messages and noticed that alot of you
are
> > > suggesting that the registry be cleaned for a solution. I have XP Home
> > > Edition/ Service pack 2 on my computer and I am try to keep it
healthy. How
> > > do you clean the registry?
> >
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

How much?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:%23Yyxi0wEGHA.3708@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl,
Ted Zieglar <teddy.z RemoveThis @notmail.com> hunted and pecked:
> If you fall for that, there's this bridge in Brooklyn I have for sale...
>
> --
> Ted Zieglar
> "You can do it if you try."
>
> "brandy" <jonlea RemoveThis @my.lake> wrote in message
> news:5132D46E-A7BA-4129-8432-68537B295AE4@microsoft.com...
>> I had a pop-up come up that said it should scan my computer to see if my
>> registry needed cleaning and then it told me that I had 363 items that
>> needed fixing or my computer would slow down or maybe crash. Is this
>> just a gimic to sell their software or should I buy a Registry Cleaner?
>> --
>> justarookie
>>
>>
>> "M and D" wrote:
>>
>>> I read the newsgroups too. It's a myth. A registry doesn't need
>>> cleaning.
>>>
>>> Keep reading newsgroup posts and you'll see how many people have damaged
> their computers with registry cleaners.
>>>
>>> Steven
>>>
>>> "paiute2" <paiute2 RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:70A36298-D3E1-4AE2-849D-36EA39B9FC03@microsoft.com...
>>>> I have been reading alot of these messages and noticed that alot of
>>>> you are suggesting that the registry be cleaned for a solution. I have
>>>> XP Home Edition/ Service pack 2 on my computer and I am try to keep it
>>>> healthy. How do you clean the registry?
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

To the guys of MICROSOFT

Sirs,

I would like to hear your professional opinion about my problem.

I made a mistake to click (distraction for a second) on a "greeting
card.exe" send by <name>@yashengeneers.com.
As you probably know, this is a trojan virus. As a consequence my machine
kept rebooting continuously and I thaught that the best thing to do was to
reinstall XP PRO (in another directory).
After deleting the first WINDOWS I cleaned the registry.
Starting up again passed without eny problem but then "messenger service"
began with sending all kinds of panic messages to clean the registry, from
alert to critical to stop immediatly...
Due to circumstances I continued working on the internet for a week without
any problem (besides the continously disturbing messages from "messenger
service".
Yesterday I reformatted the harddisk and reinstalled XP PRO again from
scratch to avoid further problems.

At last happy again and ready to start working in peace.

FORGET IT.

In less than 5 minutes the messages began to appear again!

Now that I am writing this mail to you I am not connected to the internet
and you know what? NO MORE "MESSENGER SERVICE".


Is this hacking, Collective SPAM (17 sites!) or what?
From you guys it certainly does not come because this commercial action only
looks like a window but has no "help" or "details" button which similar
WINDOWS messages always have.

This "messenger service" even uses the name "messenger"-service which even
let me, the user as millions others, imagine that it is generated by MSN
(MicroSoft Messenger) that most certainly has nothing to do with it.

How can my corrupt, critical, "STOP NOW", ... registry keep on functioning
for a week without problems? How can it be that the problems are resolved
when I disconnect Internet?
How can a reformatted harddisk after only installing XP PRO already have a
corrupt registry?

Can you explain me what is happening? Who is responsable for this mess?

Thanks,

Moderacion

"paiute2" wrote:

> I have been reading alot of these messages and noticed that alot of you are
> suggesting that the registry be cleaned for a solution. I have XP Home
> Edition/ Service pack 2 on my computer and I am try to keep it healthy. How
> do you clean the registry?
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

Since this is a peer-to-peer newsgroup, and not MS support, you'll need to
contact MS.

"Moderacion" <Moderacion.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:72AB7109-DAF0-4274-946A-739021ABB4E2@microsoft.com...
| To the guys of MICROSOFT
|
| Sirs,
|
| I would like to hear your professional opinion about my problem.
|
| I made a mistake to click (distraction for a second) on a "greeting
| card.exe" send by <name>@yashengeneers.com.
| As you probably know, this is a trojan virus. As a consequence my machine
| kept rebooting continuously and I thaught that the best thing to do was to
| reinstall XP PRO (in another directory).
| After deleting the first WINDOWS I cleaned the registry.
| Starting up again passed without eny problem but then "messenger service"
| began with sending all kinds of panic messages to clean the registry, from
| alert to critical to stop immediatly...
| Due to circumstances I continued working on the internet for a week
without
| any problem (besides the continously disturbing messages from "messenger
| service".
| Yesterday I reformatted the harddisk and reinstalled XP PRO again from
| scratch to avoid further problems.
|
| At last happy again and ready to start working in peace.
|
| FORGET IT.
|
| In less than 5 minutes the messages began to appear again!
|
| Now that I am writing this mail to you I am not connected to the internet
| and you know what? NO MORE "MESSENGER SERVICE".
|
|
| Is this hacking, Collective SPAM (17 sites!) or what?
| From you guys it certainly does not come because this commercial action
only
| looks like a window but has no "help" or "details" button which similar
| WINDOWS messages always have.
|
| This "messenger service" even uses the name "messenger"-service which even
| let me, the user as millions others, imagine that it is generated by MSN
| (MicroSoft Messenger) that most certainly has nothing to do with it.
|
| How can my corrupt, critical, "STOP NOW", ... registry keep on functioning
| for a week without problems? How can it be that the problems are resolved
| when I disconnect Internet?
| How can a reformatted harddisk after only installing XP PRO already have a
| corrupt registry?
|
| Can you explain me what is happening? Who is responsable for this mess?
|
| Thanks,
|
| Moderacion
|
| "paiute2" wrote:
|
| > I have been reading alot of these messages and noticed that alot of you
are
| > suggesting that the registry be cleaned for a solution. I have XP Home
| > Edition/ Service pack 2 on my computer and I am try to keep it healthy.
How
| > do you clean the registry?
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

Moderacion wrote:

> To the guys of MICROSOFT


Lest you think you are addressing Microsoft, let me clarify that this is the
Windows XP General newsgroup (you may not reven ealize that it's a newsgroup
since you are accessing it through the horrible web-based interface to it).

It's a peer support newsgroup. We are all just Windows XP users here,
helping each other if and when we can. We are not Microsoft employees (not
even those of us with "Microsoft MVP" behind our names; that's an honorary
title for having provided consistently helpful advice) except for an
occasional employee who posts here unofficially on his own time.

If you want to contact Microsoft, you'll have to do it elsewhere. You can't
do it here.


> Yesterday I reformatted the harddisk and reinstalled XP PRO again from
> scratch to avoid further problems.
>
> At last happy again and ready to start working in peace.
>
> FORGET IT.
>
> In less than 5 minutes the messages began to appear again!


Almost certainly, you are running Windows without a firewall enabled. Be
sure *never* to do that. Do not even connect to the internet a single time
without first turning on the Windows firewall. In SP2, the firewall is
turned on by default, but it has to be turned on manually in pre-SP2
versions. It would seem that yours is pre-SP2.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

Thanks for the reply. I understand that I made a mistake by not using a
firewall, I didn't even know that it was inside of XP.
1. Can you tell me where I can find it?

2. Could you also help me with the problem of the messages "Windows has
found CRITICAL SISTEM ERRORS" that I still keep receiving? I thaugt that
after reformatting and a clean istalling of XP that problem would be over.

3. Does anybody know who is the SOB who is responsable for it?

This would mean a lot to me.



"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

> Moderacion wrote:
>
> > To the guys of MICROSOFT
>
>
> Lest you think you are addressing Microsoft, let me clarify that this is the
> Windows XP General newsgroup (you may not reven ealize that it's a newsgroup
> since you are accessing it through the horrible web-based interface to it).
>
> It's a peer support newsgroup. We are all just Windows XP users here,
> helping each other if and when we can. We are not Microsoft employees (not
> even those of us with "Microsoft MVP" behind our names; that's an honorary
> title for having provided consistently helpful advice) except for an
> occasional employee who posts here unofficially on his own time.
>
> If you want to contact Microsoft, you'll have to do it elsewhere. You can't
> do it here.
>
>
> > Yesterday I reformatted the harddisk and reinstalled XP PRO again from
> > scratch to avoid further problems.
> >
> > At last happy again and ready to start working in peace.
> >
> > FORGET IT.
> >
> > In less than 5 minutes the messages began to appear again!
>
>
> Almost certainly, you are running Windows without a firewall enabled. Be
> sure *never* to do that. Do not even connect to the internet a single time
> without first turning on the Windows firewall. In SP2, the firewall is
> turned on by default, but it has to be turned on manually in pre-SP2
> versions. It would seem that yours is pre-SP2.
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry 

Moderacion wrote:

> Thanks for the reply. I understand that I made a mistake by not using
> a firewall, I didn't even know that it was inside of XP.
> 1. Can you tell me where I can find it?


Go to Start | Help and Support, and enter Firewall. You'll find instructions
there.


> 2. Could you also help me with the problem of the messages "Windows
> has found CRITICAL SISTEM ERRORS" that I still keep receiving? I
> thaugt that after reformatting and a clean istalling of XP that
> problem would be over.
>
> 3. Does anybody know who is the SOB who is responsable for it?


It's presumably one of the several malware programs that you've let in by
running without a firewall.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup
 >> Stay informed about: Clean registry