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Hello,
Does anyone knows where to find a good, fully automated registry cleaner?
I like ccleaner, but its reg cleaning routine can't be run in silent mode using command line switches. I would like to find a similarly good app which has this option.
Thanks a lot!
Cheers,
LArg
Automated registry cleaner
Started by
Larousse_off
, Dec 01 2009 09:32 PM
14 replies to this topic
Larousse_off
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#1
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Posted 01 December 2009 - 09:32 PM
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Posted 01 December 2009 - 09:32 PM
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Deleting registry entries is not a trivial or safe task, so it should not be automated away. If you are going to do it, you should back it up first, and then oversee exactly what's going to be removed.
Also, there's not much evidence that clearing the registry improves performance, UNLESS your machine is already infected with something, and in those cases, it's probably best to start over anyway, as a bloated registry is only the top of the iceberg.
You said CCleaner. I'd tend to agree. I used that on Win XP every month or so.
Also, there's not much evidence that clearing the registry improves performance, UNLESS your machine is already infected with something, and in those cases, it's probably best to start over anyway, as a bloated registry is only the top of the iceberg.
You said CCleaner. I'd tend to agree. I used that on Win XP every month or so.
#2
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Posted 01 December 2009 - 10:33 PM
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Posted 01 December 2009 - 10:33 PM
Larousse_off
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Hello,
this is a debatable point. I don't personally believe that the fact it is not trivial plays against its being automated - if the software you use is safe enough, then the risk of making a mess is low, though not zero but it never is anyway.
As for performance issues - it is a fact that plenty of apps leave rubbish in your registry even after uninstallation. This you could delete manually, but what about CLSID stuff, active X etc? Registry cleaning helps limiting the growth speed of your registry, and to my mind (used to DOS-like systems), whenever you can make it smaller, you should (also true for the windows directory, which can grow and use gigabytes of space if you don't clean it up from times to times).
Cheerio,
LArg
this is a debatable point. I don't personally believe that the fact it is not trivial plays against its being automated - if the software you use is safe enough, then the risk of making a mess is low, though not zero but it never is anyway.
As for performance issues - it is a fact that plenty of apps leave rubbish in your registry even after uninstallation. This you could delete manually, but what about CLSID stuff, active X etc? Registry cleaning helps limiting the growth speed of your registry, and to my mind (used to DOS-like systems), whenever you can make it smaller, you should (also true for the windows directory, which can grow and use gigabytes of space if you don't clean it up from times to times).
Cheerio,
LArg
#3
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Posted 02 December 2009 - 09:35 AM
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Posted 02 December 2009 - 09:35 AM
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If installing/uninstalling lots of different kinds of software is the norm for you, perhaps consider System Restore points or using some HD cloning tool like Norton Ghost (but there are free alternatives) to restore system state exactly how it was originally. Registry cleaners cannot guarantee that your reg will stay at a maintainable size (and also remember that artifacts are left on the filesystem).
And, if you still want to give it a go, I just googled "registry cleaner command line" and got this.
And, if you still want to give it a go, I just googled "registry cleaner command line" and got this.
#4
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Posted 02 December 2009 - 03:20 PM
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Posted 02 December 2009 - 03:20 PM
Larousse_off
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Thanks for the suggestion!
Cloning/restoring would be a good alternative but a bit too much for me, probably I would like to keep the system as clean as possible but I am not ready for the hassle of ghosts/restores etc.
I'll try eusing though it's mentioned there that there is a nag screen.
If anyone else has a suggestion (whether or not you agree with running a reg cleaner unattended - it's not the point) - please let me know!
Cheerio,
LArg
Cloning/restoring would be a good alternative but a bit too much for me, probably I would like to keep the system as clean as possible but I am not ready for the hassle of ghosts/restores etc.
I'll try eusing though it's mentioned there that there is a nag screen.
If anyone else has a suggestion (whether or not you agree with running a reg cleaner unattended - it's not the point) - please let me know!
Cheerio,
LArg
#5
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Posted 03 December 2009 - 04:32 PM
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Posted 03 December 2009 - 04:32 PM
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Doing the ghosting thing isn't too tricky, IMO. Just make a copy of the primary partition and hide it at the end of the disk. Whenever you want to restore, choose to delete the primary partition, copy the backup into its place and unhide it. It's all done after restarting.
Also, if you're interested, I'd like to see if you can take some performance benchmarks before and after cleaning the registry!
Also, if you're interested, I'd like to see if you can take some performance benchmarks before and after cleaning the registry!
#6
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Posted 03 December 2009 - 08:54 PM
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Posted 03 December 2009 - 08:54 PM
Larousse_Off
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Hello,
Ever since I installed windows XP on my computer (5 years ago? I can't really remember), I have run reg cleaning software regularly (2-3 times a months), always followed by a registry defrag (via ntregopt). Typically, every two-three weeks
.running ntregopt before reg cleaning gives me something like 1% reduction
.running ntregopt after reg cleaning usually yields 4-6%
What it means, is that a bimonthly odd reg cleaning reduces registry size by 4-6% each time it is run. Certainly I cannot claim it is a performance benchmark since I've never spent a month without doing some reg clean at least once; all I can say, is that I never had to reinstall windows, that it boots in 30-40 seconds and works like a charm (and the windows directory, which I like to keep lean as well, is never bigger than 1GB). Taking into account that every reg clean removes 5% of reg size on average (as a sidenote, the MRU stuff that keeps being re-populated is usally only a small fraction of what is removed), you can guess how huge it would be now if I had never done it in 5 years.
5% may not be much (and I doubt a performance gain could be measured after a single pass of reg cleaning - what were you thinking about, windows boot time, memory usage,..?), but 5%+5%+5%+5%+.... can make a difference in the long run.
Cheerio,
LArg
Ever since I installed windows XP on my computer (5 years ago? I can't really remember), I have run reg cleaning software regularly (2-3 times a months), always followed by a registry defrag (via ntregopt). Typically, every two-three weeks
.running ntregopt before reg cleaning gives me something like 1% reduction
.running ntregopt after reg cleaning usually yields 4-6%
What it means, is that a bimonthly odd reg cleaning reduces registry size by 4-6% each time it is run. Certainly I cannot claim it is a performance benchmark since I've never spent a month without doing some reg clean at least once; all I can say, is that I never had to reinstall windows, that it boots in 30-40 seconds and works like a charm (and the windows directory, which I like to keep lean as well, is never bigger than 1GB). Taking into account that every reg clean removes 5% of reg size on average (as a sidenote, the MRU stuff that keeps being re-populated is usally only a small fraction of what is removed), you can guess how huge it would be now if I had never done it in 5 years.
5% may not be much (and I doubt a performance gain could be measured after a single pass of reg cleaning - what were you thinking about, windows boot time, memory usage,..?), but 5%+5%+5%+5%+.... can make a difference in the long run.
Cheerio,
LArg
#7
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 05:52 PM
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 05:52 PM
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Take a look at "CleanAfterMe". Maybe, it may help you!
#8
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 06:01 PM
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 06:01 PM
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Well if you really haven't reinstalled Windows for 5 years, there must be truth to it! Very interesting to know... Still, personally, I like the 'smell' of a freshly formatted computer. It's half-subconscious, but that doesn't bother me. 
#9
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 08:39 PM
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 08:39 PM
Larousse_off
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Ah, I know what you mean 
I do like it as well, but what prevents me from doing it too often is the hassle of having to re-install and re-tweak everything, re-disable all the services I don't need, etc etc. Alas, I'm not so organised that I take note of everything, so I forget until, probably, I realise it's gone!
I think I just like the idea of having a computer "for good" (ie I'm ready to trade a bit of routine maintenance if it can save me formats and all that stuff)
And thanks for the suggestion, CleanAfterMe rings a bell but I don't think I've ever tried it or even investigated seriously - time to do it!
Cheerio,
LArg
I do like it as well, but what prevents me from doing it too often is the hassle of having to re-install and re-tweak everything, re-disable all the services I don't need, etc etc. Alas, I'm not so organised that I take note of everything, so I forget until, probably, I realise it's gone!
I think I just like the idea of having a computer "for good" (ie I'm ready to trade a bit of routine maintenance if it can save me formats and all that stuff)
And thanks for the suggestion, CleanAfterMe rings a bell but I don't think I've ever tried it or even investigated seriously - time to do it!
Cheerio,
LArg
#10
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 09:23 PM
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Posted 04 December 2009 - 09:23 PM
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Some time ago a writer on my site posted some Registry Cleaner Reviews. Registery clearning does make windows faster in some operations, but it could go wrong if you just select all and hit OK.
#11
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Posted 06 December 2009 - 04:15 AM
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Posted 06 December 2009 - 04:15 AM
TypingAid autocompletion program made with AHK.
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That's a good page of myths there. Makes for fun reading!
Cleaning the registry probably helps postpone bloatedness for a good period of time, but I think the 5% Larousse_Off mentioned is probably limited just to the size of the registry. This won't affect programs or HDD activity, and probably won't even speed up registry lookups themselves, since the keys are all hashed, so the OS will locate the information it wants in logarithmic time. Similarly, having millions of files on a filesystem won't have a noticeable effect on retrieving files if they are sorted into directories.
Whatever you're doing, Larousse_Off, to keep your XP machine alive for so long, it's probably down to everything else you do - presumably cleaning up stray files and directories, services and so on.
Cleaning the registry probably helps postpone bloatedness for a good period of time, but I think the 5% Larousse_Off mentioned is probably limited just to the size of the registry. This won't affect programs or HDD activity, and probably won't even speed up registry lookups themselves, since the keys are all hashed, so the OS will locate the information it wants in logarithmic time. Similarly, having millions of files on a filesystem won't have a noticeable effect on retrieving files if they are sorted into directories.
Whatever you're doing, Larousse_Off, to keep your XP machine alive for so long, it's probably down to everything else you do - presumably cleaning up stray files and directories, services and so on.
#12
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Posted 07 December 2009 - 10:04 PM
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Posted 07 December 2009 - 10:04 PM
Larousse_off
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Hello,
Indeed, I try to keep everything clean and have tweaked windows quite a bit over time. I don't think reg cleaning has that big an improvement for sure, but again it's the little things that count!
Yes, 5% was referring the the size of the registry, but if you remove 5% twice a month (again, not taking MRU entries into accounts), you can calculate how much junk you can accumulate over time.
Looking at what is removed, most of the time I find entries from old software (I install and uninstall lots of things just to try them out), invalid file associations, invalid CLSID/ActiveX stuff etc.
I have actually never understood why a single windows installation lasts so short a time on most people's computer - I mean, it's not that I do so much to keep it in shape and I spend very little time on maintenance, but I never had any major, or even minor problem with XP. Perhaps the most puzzling one I had was recently, when windows update refused over and over to install some updates for .Net. I found an answer to that - found out that only one of my applications actually made use of it, and removed both the application and .Net, freeing some 350 MB from the windows directory. Apart from that, everything works!
Cheers,
LArg
Indeed, I try to keep everything clean and have tweaked windows quite a bit over time. I don't think reg cleaning has that big an improvement for sure, but again it's the little things that count!
Yes, 5% was referring the the size of the registry, but if you remove 5% twice a month (again, not taking MRU entries into accounts), you can calculate how much junk you can accumulate over time.
Looking at what is removed, most of the time I find entries from old software (I install and uninstall lots of things just to try them out), invalid file associations, invalid CLSID/ActiveX stuff etc.
I have actually never understood why a single windows installation lasts so short a time on most people's computer - I mean, it's not that I do so much to keep it in shape and I spend very little time on maintenance, but I never had any major, or even minor problem with XP. Perhaps the most puzzling one I had was recently, when windows update refused over and over to install some updates for .Net. I found an answer to that - found out that only one of my applications actually made use of it, and removed both the application and .Net, freeing some 350 MB from the windows directory. Apart from that, everything works!
Cheers,
LArg
#13
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Posted 08 December 2009 - 07:23 PM
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Posted 08 December 2009 - 07:23 PM
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I think BoffinbraiN is right about using a partition image software.It is the only software i am willing to pay for!
Every month i set it back ( or create one after a major software install )and then do the microsoft update and make a new image ( keeping images of 6months back just in case).
It takes 6 minutes to create an image and 12 minutes to set one back.
I remember the update with the .net problem,my system just kept rebooting.
So i could set my previous image back and wait for smarter people to sort out the problem
Every month i set it back ( or create one after a major software install )and then do the microsoft update and make a new image ( keeping images of 6months back just in case).
It takes 6 minutes to create an image and 12 minutes to set one back.
I remember the update with the .net problem,my system just kept rebooting.
So i could set my previous image back and wait for smarter people to sort out the problem
#14
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Posted 09 December 2009 - 06:21 PM
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Posted 09 December 2009 - 06:21 PM
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It's partly down to the crap that computer companies bundle into Windows before they ship it to you. I think at its worst, my father's laptop had 20 taskbar icons and his machine took 15 minutes to boot.
But also, software we're supposed to 'trust' - the stuff that comes with devices we buy - are getting almost as bad as spyware in terms of their omnipresence in the background processes and the amount of 'feedback' they send back to company servers on user habits.
But also, software we're supposed to 'trust' - the stuff that comes with devices we buy - are getting almost as bad as spyware in terms of their omnipresence in the background processes and the amount of 'feedback' they send back to company servers on user habits.
#15
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Posted 10 December 2009 - 09:29 PM
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Posted 10 December 2009 - 09:29 PM
