Registry Cleaners-Proceed with Caution

Posted in: Tips & Tricks, blog by CW on 16 November 2010

It’s inevitable. The longer you use your computer the slower it seems to run. And that impression is not entirely false. Over time Windows builds up a lot of junk, applications that fail to remove all their system entries when deleted and software that bloats your system. Even something as simple as adding a new printer to your system can leave behind orphaned drivers and manufacturer-specific software that the new printer cannot use. Eventually Windows slows to a crawl, overburdened with useless software and invalid entries in menus and the registry. Applications like Ccleaner can remove references to deleted programs from your system and improve overall performance. But when asking an application to remove entries from the registry, caution is required. Removing an empty folder from the C:\ drive won’t hurt a thing, removing a necessary key from the registry can make it impossible to even get Windows to boot up.

So what is the registry and why is it so critical?

Microsoft describes the registry as a “central hierarchical database used in Microsoft Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 used to store information that is necessary to configure the system for one or more users, applications and hardware devices.

The Registry contains information that Windows continually references during operation, such as profiles for each user, the applications installed on the computer and the types of documents that each can create, property sheet settings for folders and application icons, what hardware exists on the system, and the ports that are being used.” (Microsoft) Microsoft’s TechNet adds, “In much of Microsoft’s documentation, the Microsoft® Windows® Registry is considered a central repository for configuration data. Just what does this mean? Well, I can’t think of any better way to put it than by stating that it’s simply a database for configuration files. The structure is hierarchical, meaning that configuration data is stored in order—much like a simple outline would be structured. Furthermore, each piece of data is stored in the outline as an order pair—that is, it has an associated name and a value assigned to it. It’s very much the way all of your online transactions are conducted. You’re assigned an account number (the name), and when you order, you’ve created a balance (the value).

The Registry serves dozens of innovative purposes, allowing features that were difficult, at best, to implement in previous versions of Windows. It keeps track of the software you install on the computer and how each program relates to the others.” (TechNet)

It would seem that cleaning out orphaned keys and unnecessary entries in the registry would be a worthwhile step in making a Windows system meaner and leaner. Yet because the registry is such a vital part of the Windows operating system extreme caution should be exercised when making any changes to it, whether you are adding or removing entries.

You can access the built-in Windows registry editor by typing regedit into the Command Prompt program. Before you do anything else, go to File/Export and save a backup copy of the registry to your desktop. That way if by any chance something corrupts your registry you can go to File/Import and with some luck, restore your system to its current configuration. One very important thing to know about regedit: any deletion you make to any entry in the registry is committed immediately. There are no warnings and there’s no undo. For this reason we strongly advise people not to make any changes to any entry within the registry unless you know exactly what you’re doing.

A registry cleaning program scans the registry for keys that refer to programs no longer installed on the system or keys that point to outdated versions of programs. If the program is well-written, like Ccleaner mentioned above or PC Pitstop’s PC Matic, it will show you a list of invalid and unnecessary keys it has found in the registry and offer the option to delete them or change them to the correct settings. The best rule to follow when deciding which keys to let these programs delete is this: if you don’t recognize the key as relating to a program you know for sure you’ve deleted from your computer leave it alone. Unnecessary registry keys are small files and in most cases will not interfere with the normal operation of your computer. It’s better to leave a key that you aren’t sure about than to remove a key that might prove to be essential to the system.

A practical alternative to printing

Posted in: blog by CW on 17 June 2009

Just because we’re in the business of supplying printer consumables doesn’t mean we think everyone should print out everything they need to transfer from one computer to another, or every picture on their camera. Even remanufactured consumables cost money, and saving money is something we are all interested in these days.

Many of us have several computers we use everyday, one at work, another at home and maybe a laptop we use on the road. There are times when I have a document or picture on my work computer I’d like to transfer to my home computer or have available to me when I’m out using my laptop. In the past I might have emailed that document or picture to myself, or even uploaded it to my webspace so I could download it when I needed it. These methods work, but they also require work. There’s a simpler way I’ve been testing and am pleased to recommend.

Dropbox is a web-based application that makes transferring any file as easy as dragging-and-dropping it from one folder to another. Dropbox works equally well in Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

When you install the desktop portion of the Dropbox application you’ll have a tray icon that, when clicked, opens a window on your desktop similar to a Windows Explorer interface. To save a file, folder or picture simply drag it from its location on your computer to a folder in the Dropbox window. Dropbox will synchronize itself on the server side, so that when you open the application on another computer all your files are there. You can also log into your Dropbox account from any computer. This makes it easy to share files with family and co-workers.

Best of all Dropbox is free for storage of up to 2 GB. Need more space? You can get a 50 GB account for $9.99 per month or $99.00 per year, and 100 GB for $19.99 per month or $199.00 per year.

I highly recommend Dropbox to anyone who frequently works from different computers or people who need a dead simple way to share files and images with others (and don’t mind giving out their account name and password).

Check it out for yourself at GetDropbox.com.

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