Cleaning your Computer's Registry for Improved Performance

What you are about to read is the culmination of information from numerous different places and resources on cleansing your computers registry and overall maintaining a healthy computer system. I hope you make use of it. Invalid registry keys are the major cause of computer errors, crashes and slow downs. Invalid registry keys are usually want is left behind from a program that has been uninstalled from your computer. You need to repair these registry entries to ensure a smooth running computer as leaving them can lead to many problems. Both Windows operating systems being Xp and Vista have a built in registry editor. This editor is not a scan and repair utility it is for manual editing only. If you need to scan or repair your registry then there are many software tolls online today that can do just that. If you have a need to edit your computer registry then make sure that you have already backed up your computer as any change in the registry could have dire consequences to the unwary. Due to the actuality that many of the programs running within Windows XP or Vista use some of the same parameters common to them, cleaning and maintaining your registry file can become very dangerous for the inexperienced user. Since the registry entries are all essential for the optimum operation of the windows operating system, inadvertently deleting the wrong entry may end up slowing the system and may cause some genuine problems for the operator. Every time you install new software or hardware on your computer it is logged in your computer registry. This happens whether you are installing or un-installing programs or hardware. In a nutshell the computer registry file in Windows is a log of all events that take place on your computer system. Unfortunately whether you follow the correct un-install procedures or not there will always be some form of the program left behind in the registry. An unmaintained registry is likely to cause problems and crashes if left unchecked. It is vital that you clean your registry of any obsolete or cross linked files to ensure system stability and reliability. Removing and installing programs can cause corrupt entries in your computers registry. This can in effect degrade the overall running of your computer which could lead to your computer failing to start altogether. If you have not done so already it would be a good idea to consider cleaning your computer registry to stop any further or future problems developing. It is not an extremely difficult operation. It is vital though, that you be extremely careful while cleansing. Deleting things from the Registry File is permanent. It cannot be undone. If you erase something your system needs to run, you will be out of luck in terms of restarting your computer in the future. So make a backup before attempting any changes to your computer registry file. If you are confident enough to edit your registry then here is how you can access it by clicking on the Start then Run and typing in Regedit.Open the Registry Editor and click on the My Computer icon in the left-hand panel. Click Edit and Find. Type in the word that has some reference to the program you are searching for to be certain is removed from your registry. If you want to fully clean your Computer Registry you can also do so during the start up operation. Windows will launch all .exe files during start up and uses information contained in your computer registry. You can see what is running by clicking on your Start button then selecting Run and type in the box msconfig and hit the enter key to start the System Configuration Utility. Once you've done that, you will see a sequence of tabs. Click on the Start-up tab, and you can see all the programs that are set to run during the start-up operation of your computer. To maintain a healthy computer registry always follow the un-install directions of any programs you are removing. This should minimize the risk of creating orphaned files and corrupt DLL's that could interfere with your registry. It is advisable to conduct a computer registry scan at least once a week.