Manually Cleaning Your Windows Registry
So… your registry is in a mess,generating start up errors or programs just hang.
Or maybe it’s just bogging down your computer.
Either way, you can manually fix by your self.
I do have to warn you though, manually repairing a Windows registry is not for the faint of heart. It’s very time consuming and carries an extreme risk of damaging your computer.
There’s no “undo” option.
And you need to make sure you have a backup in case anything does go wrong, but there’s always the possibility of getting completely locked out of your computer and not being able to load that backup.
And even if you do everything right, you’re almost guaranteed to miss more than a few problem entries or duplicate files.
If you’re at all uneasy about doing the steps in this article (or value your time), I recommend using a software application to handle this for you.
Click here to Fix your computer errors
1. Launch the Windows Registry Editor All versions of Microsoft Windows come with a built in registry editor. It’s not the easiest to find, however, because of the reasons already mentioned.
To start the registry editor, follow the directions below for the version of Windows you are running:
2. First step is to make a Backup of Your Current Registry , before we make any changes. This is extremely important because there is a good chance you’re going to break something.
Fortunately, this step is an easy one (but restoring from a backup is never as easy).
3. Next we need to browse the registry carefully and remove all unnecessary entries this is the hardest part as you really need to know what you are looking for in the first place.
Have a look at the folders in the left hand pane? You need to expand them, drilling down as deep as you can go, and look for any entries from programs that you are sure you have UN-installed.
As you can see this will take a lot of time and Patience. That’s why most people recommend using a software application to do this for you.
If you want to save some time (but not be as thorough), you can limit your browsing to the following directories:
You can also search for program references you have removed by pressing Ctrl+F.
This is really all you can do to when manually repairing your registry unless you know the exact entry that is causing problems.
Chances are, there are thousands, even tens of thousands, of outdated and corrupt entries. And it’s next to impossible to catch all these on your own.
A registry scanning application will check every single entry and cross reference it with files on your computer, catching and repairing 99% of errors.
5. After you finish going through all those entires you’ll want to quit the registry editor, reboot your computer, and hope nothing went terribly wrong.
Or, you could just avoid all of this hassle and purchase a software application like the one below to fix or remove just about every corrupt entry's'
Click here to Fix your computer errors
Or maybe it’s just bogging down your computer.
Either way, you can manually fix by your self.
I do have to warn you though, manually repairing a Windows registry is not for the faint of heart. It’s very time consuming and carries an extreme risk of damaging your computer.
There’s no “undo” option.
And you need to make sure you have a backup in case anything does go wrong, but there’s always the possibility of getting completely locked out of your computer and not being able to load that backup.
And even if you do everything right, you’re almost guaranteed to miss more than a few problem entries or duplicate files.
If you’re at all uneasy about doing the steps in this article (or value your time), I recommend using a software application to handle this for you.
Click here to Fix your computer errors
1. Launch the Windows Registry Editor All versions of Microsoft Windows come with a built in registry editor. It’s not the easiest to find, however, because of the reasons already mentioned.
To start the registry editor, follow the directions below for the version of Windows you are running:
- Windows XP (or earlier): Click Start, click Run, type regedit into the text box, then press Enter on your keyboard.
- Windows Vista & Widows 7: Click Start, type regedit into the search box, then press Enter on your keyboard.
- Windows 8: Press Ctrl+Alt+Esc on your keyboard, select File > New Task (Run…), type regedit into the text box, then press Enter on your keyboard.
2. First step is to make a Backup of Your Current Registry , before we make any changes. This is extremely important because there is a good chance you’re going to break something.
Fortunately, this step is an easy one (but restoring from a backup is never as easy).
- Select File > Export…, choose a location to save your backup file, give it a File name, and press Save.
3. Next we need to browse the registry carefully and remove all unnecessary entries this is the hardest part as you really need to know what you are looking for in the first place.
Have a look at the folders in the left hand pane? You need to expand them, drilling down as deep as you can go, and look for any entries from programs that you are sure you have UN-installed.
As you can see this will take a lot of time and Patience. That’s why most people recommend using a software application to do this for you.
If you want to save some time (but not be as thorough), you can limit your browsing to the following directories:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
You can also search for program references you have removed by pressing Ctrl+F.
This is really all you can do to when manually repairing your registry unless you know the exact entry that is causing problems.
Chances are, there are thousands, even tens of thousands, of outdated and corrupt entries. And it’s next to impossible to catch all these on your own.
A registry scanning application will check every single entry and cross reference it with files on your computer, catching and repairing 99% of errors.
5. After you finish going through all those entires you’ll want to quit the registry editor, reboot your computer, and hope nothing went terribly wrong.
Or, you could just avoid all of this hassle and purchase a software application like the one below to fix or remove just about every corrupt entry's'
Click here to Fix your computer errors